If you’re like most homeowners, you probably open and close your garage door multiple times on a day. Even when you’re not driving anywhere, it’s possible that you, like many people, use the garage as the primary entrance to your home. You probably don’t think much about your garage door opener during all of this, but you’re relying on it to work properly and do what you need over and over again, day in and day out. If your garage door opener is reaching the end of its lifespan, or if you just want an upgrade, it’s worth looking into the different garage door opener options to find out which one suits you best.
DC or AC Motors
When shopping for garage door openers, you may see two different kinds of motors available: DC motors and AC motors. You’ll probably notice more models that use a DC motor than an AC motor, and there’s a good reason for that. For most homeowners, DC motors are the right choice. In fact, in all but rare cases, a DC motor is the right choice for a residential garage door opener.
DC motors are smaller than AC motors. They’re also quieter, simpler, and are able to contain more complex reasons. AC motors contain more components and tend to be louder. If you have an older model garage door opener, it may run on AC power, but that doesn’t mean that you have to replace it with another AC motor – you can make the switch to DC.
Belt, Screw, or Chain Drives
The next thing that you need to determine is what kind of drive type your garage door opener needs. The three most common types of garage door opener drives are belt, screw, and chain drives. Which one is right for you depends on your preferences.
If what you really want is a quiet garage door opener, opt for the belt drive. As the name suggests, a belt drive opener operates with a rubber belt as opposed to a noisy metal chain or screw. Newer chain or screw drives are quieter than they used to be, but a belt drive is still going to provide you with the quietest experience.
A screw drive may be the right choice for you if you have a larger or heavy garage door. Screw drives offer the most power and can speedily open even a very heavy door.
If you just want to install a reasonably-priced garage door opener and forget about it, you probably want a chain drive. Chain drives are among the most reliable garage door drives and will last a long time. It’s also easier to find chain drives priced to fit a tight budget.
Features
For most people, choosing the various garage door opener features they want is the fun part. At a minimum, you’ll want basic features like the ability to operate the opener with a remote, as well as the ability to disengage the door from the electronic opener and open or close it manually instead. You should also look for an opener with a battery backup in case of a power outage.
After that, you could go in many different directions. Want security lights? Some openers integrate those. Want to integrate the garage door opener with your Alexa or Echo so that you can operate it by voice? That’s an option. Want to control your garage door opener with an app on your smartphone? You can do that too.
A new garage door opener is a great place to start when you’re upgrading your garage. For more garage renovation ideas, schedule your free design consultation.
