Garage door openers have gained so much importance since they add safety, security and convenience to garage doors. In fact, it is nearly impossible to think of garage doors without garage door openers. Garage door openers are manufactured by a number of companies including Genie, LiftMaster, Chamberlain, Linear, and Sears Craftsman. While choosing to buy anew garage door opener, customers need to look in to several aspects such as power, noise level, safety and security features.
With regard to power, remember that the garage door opener must be able to handle heavy garage doors. Most residential garage doors are operated by ½ HP motors. These kinds of motors are suitable for residences and it is better to go for ¾ HP motors if you come across one. Also, garage door opener is the main source of power for the light inside a garage. Therefore, look for openers that can power about 100 watts in addition to the motor. Also, it is always an advantage to go for openers that come with power back up features. Several new models have this facility. This will be highly helpful to run the motor when there is a power outage.
The noise level of garage door openers depends on the type of opener that you install. If the garages are adjacent to living rooms, then quiet openers might be crucially needed. Therefore, go for such openers that are built with dependability and quiet operation. The four main types of openers include belt drives, direct drives, screw drives, and chain drives. Belt drives feature a strong rubber-like belt something like a car’s fan belt to operate the garage doors. These kinds of drives are usually long lasting and known to be among the quieter types of openers. Direct drives have openers that feature moving motors that moves along the stationery chain. These drives seem to be quieter than belt drives. Since the moving parts are very few (circuit board, motor, chain, and rail) when compared to other kinds of drives, direct drives are more reliable and require lesser maintenance.
Screw drives have a long and strong metal rod that is threaded like a screw to lift and close the garage doors. They have very few moving parts and fall in mid-way between chain drives and belt drives in terms of noise level, i.e., quieter than chain drives but noisier than belt drives. Chain drives have a metal chain to operate the door. Though these kinds of drives are the most popular and the less expensive, they are noisier when compared to any other kind of opener. These kinds of openers also need regular maintenance.
With regard to security features, look for openers that have rolling code technology that selects a new code every time when the door is opened. Since it is nearly impossible to tamper and detect these codes, they can ensure more security from burglars. Also, look for openers that come with a sound safety system including a safety reversal mechanism that drives the door back if some object is detected on the way by the sensors attached near the bottom.