Garage Opener Guarantee

Purchasing an automatic opener with an accompany guarantee is imperative.  Garage doors with electric garage door openers guarantee a smooth and quick operation and a lifetime of trouble-free operation. Things don’t always go according to plan, and openers do break.

The length of the guarantee is an important point to consider. A lengthy guarantee demonstrates the manufacturer’s confidence in its products. Furthermore, a manufacture’s confidence demonstrates value for money including product excellence.

Electric Garage Door Speed

While doing a quote for a gentleman in Woking, Surrey, I was asked a rather interesting question: Is there a difference in the speeds between automatic garage door openers?

Unfortunately, this will depend on the manufacturer of the opener.  In most cases, the more expensive garage door opens much faster, cutting down the waiting time on your driveway.

Although they will close much faster, the same theory does not hold true for closing. The quicker opening models still close at a slower speed for safety reasons.

With that explained, be sure to check that the garage door opener is equipped with soft-start/soft-stop technology (which is usuallly the case). If not, we suggest you take the time to invest in a different garage opener.

What is soft-start, soft-stop?

The greatest benefit of having a garage door which features soft-start and soft-stop technology is that it is very quite, a great benefit for those of you who have a bed or family room situated above your garage.

With a soft-start/soft-stop opener, the door is accelerated until it reaches a predetermined rate of constant speed. Just before closing, the door is decelerated.

The technology was devised as a means of lengthening the life of garage door openers.  Stress is reduce on the drive train making the technology particularly beneficial on larger, heavier doors.

How long does it take to install a garage door opener?

The time required for the installation of a garage door opener will vary depending of your mechanical skills.

If you are not a professional installer, a good portion of your time will be spent reading the accompanying installation manual. It is always a good idea to familiarize yourself with the task at hand before picking up any tools.

After unpacking, the installation time will amount to around 1 to 4 hours. We always advise having a second pair of hands available simply for holding. While not necessary, it will reduce your installation time further.

Garage Door Lighting

Concerned about the lighting of your garage?  Well, if you invest in a garage door opener, it is likely that your new opener will include a light that can be either automatically or manually operated.

Benefits of a garage door light include

• Security: What’s worse than driving it a dingy, dark, garage?  It’s enough to make the bravest of adults scared.  Think about the benefit of being able to see into the garage before you drive in.
• Sight: How often do you need to fetch something from the garage? How often do you find yourself packing the car inside the garage?  An automatic opener light is a great alternative to a lamp or any other temporary fixture.

The light stays on just long enough for you to step out of your vehicle and get into the house. What’s more, the amount of time that the light is ON is completely adjustable.  Configure the light to fit your lifestyle.

The light comes on automatically when the garage door opens and will then shut off a couple minutes after the garage door has been closed.  This ensures that you don’t have to worry about unnecessarily wasting electricity.

All the openers included in our automatic garage doors come equipped with a light as described above.

Automatic Garage Door Maintenance

Maintenance is always a concern if you’re looking to buy an automatic garage door opener.  You might be pleased to know that little if any effort is required in maintaining optimal operation on your automatic opener.

The latest openers offered by the likes of LiftMaster and Hormann are literally maintenance-free. Today’s automatic openers are equipped with so-called “self-adjusting technology” which will adjust the drive tension essentially eliminating the need for wasted time and costly service calls.

Garage door openers are constructed with precisely engineered and lightweight aluminium.  In combination with the self-adjusting technology, you can be assured that you garage door opener will require no maintenance but an exceptionally long life-span.

Automatic Opener – Power Consumption

Concerned about the effects your garage door opener has on global warming? Little need to worry…

Notable amounts of electricity are only consumed while the garage door is in motion – a period which consists of around 10 to 15 seconds. The majority of motors take in a 24 DC current and output as little energy as 100 Watts. Just how much energy are we talking? 100 Watts is less than or equal to your modern home computer.

The rest of the time, the garage door operator remains in a standby state where no significant power is utilized. It should be noted that most modern openers are equipped with efficient energy-saving transformers ensuring that your carbon footprint is minimal.

Security of an Automatic Garage Door

If you’re looking to invest in an Automatic Garage Door, security is probably one of your main concerns.  Thankfully, most manufacturers have all the bases covered.  There are a few checks that you need to perform before you consider a purchase

Remote Control

Ensure that the automatic operator uses rolling-code technology in its remote control handsets.  In a rolling-coded unit, a new random code is generated upon each use – it is utilized while the handset and operator communicate.

This superior security feature prevents your neighbor or any other “Joe” from opening your garage door (or vice versa).  The chance that any two units will use the same sequence are small – I suggest that you stick with the lottery.

Fixed Wall-Controller

A wall-mounted unit is fixed onto an inside wall of the garage providing easy access to open/close the garage door.  While some manufacturers will include this as a feature with their line of operators, others will not.  What is so beneficial about having a wall-mounted controller?

Manufacturers have started packaging their openers with a special “lock” feature.  The feature is inteded for those situations when the home-owner will be on holiday or the house will be vacated for a long period of time.  The lock essentially disables any remote control device  from being able to open the garage door.  Only those individuals who have access to the interior of the garage can open the lock (which should only be the homeowner).  The lock is disabled with a mere press of a button.

Security Light

It’s not only children who are afraid of the dark. It is why manufacturers have started incorporating a light into the operator.

Again, most operators are fitted with a security light, yet I would advise that this as a requirement when shopping for an operator.  The light comes on during an open/close operation and remains on for a couple minutes thereafter before switching off again.

If your operator includes a wall-mounted switch, a button is usually included on the panel to switch on/off the light.  Some handheld, remote controllers have a digital light switch included on the keypad.

Which garage doors are suitable for an automatic opener?

With as many types of doors as there are styles (well, not quite), you are probably wondering which types of door are suitable for automatic garage door operation.

You’re in luck! Most leading manufacturers design and construct new garage doors with automation in mind.  As a result, the 5 leading door types consisting of roller, sectional, retractable, canopy and side-hinged are all able to be automated.

Prices do vary considerably depending on the type of door – side-hinged and roller garage doors are notable examples.

Emergency Garage Door Release

Well you have these great plans to automate a garage door, but you’re worried about the electricity cutting out.  No need to worry, there are two effective solutions to your problem.

1.  The first option is to purchase an opener that provides an “emergency release latch”.  The latch allows you to manually open the garage door by hand.  Thankfully, all of the automatic openers that are sold in the UK are required to provide an emergency release mechanism.  In turn, it should be cheap and included in the price of the opener.

Lifting up a garage door is a trivial action for the majority of us; nonetheless, utilizing the emergency release latch can turn out to be a daunting task for the elderly or the young.  There is an alternative…

2. A battery-operated power backup is a proven and effective solution; although, it does come at a price.  Essentially, the battery backup is powered by the mains when not in use and kicks in automatically when required.  Due to the fact that it is battery operated, it has a limited number of uses before recharging is required – an important note for those prolonged power outages.