“From safety and security to power, noise reduction, standby power and other convenient
features, it’s hard to argue against a new garage door opener.”
Why would you consider a garage door opener replacement, especially if yours works well? There are actually 6 very good reasons.
From safety and security to power, noise reduction, standby power and other convenient features, it’s hard to argue against a new garage door opener. If you can’t find a good reason from the list below, you either aren’t looking hard enough or you already have an excellent opener.
1. Garage Door Opener Replacement = Power for Heavier Garage Doors
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| Liftmaster Model 3595 3/4 HP Chain Drive Garage Door Opener |
Many older garage door openers are either 1/3 HP or 1/2 HP models. While 1/3 HP may be adequate to open a light-weight single or double car garage door, it won’t do so well with a newer, heavier door. Older models with 1/2 HP are more capable, but not if you upgrade to a heavy solid wooden garage door or carriage house door.
Today, many garage door opener manufacturers make models with 3/4 HP or even 1 HP motors. Either of these heavy duty models will do a fine job with heavy doors, and will likely do so more quietly. Mating a heavy garage door with an underpowered opener is not only harder on the opener, but creates a lot more noise as it struggles to lift the garage door.
Beginning in the early 1990s, DC powered motors began showing up in garage door openers and offered several new benefits over AC motors. Three of the most noticeable are slow start and stop (extending garage door life), the ability to constantly monitor and adjust opening and closing force (safer) and quieter operation. A fourth benefit is lower power consumption, allowing for the use of battery backup systems (more on this later).
2. Upgrade to a Quiet Garage Door Opener
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Chamberlain WD822KD 1/2 HP Belt Drive Garage Door Opener |
For decades, chain drive garage door openers as well as screw drive models were the only style of residential models available. For the most part, chain drives have been noisier than screw drives, but there just weren’t any more choices.
Today, if your garage is adjacent to or under living space in your home, garage door opener replacement allows you to install a quiet garage door opener with a belt drive lifting mechanism. Most manufacturers use steel strands to reinforce and strengthen the belts, so they are very strong. The concept is very much like a steel belted radial tire. Belt drive garage door openers with DC motors are almost silent.
If you must have a chain drive or screw drive model but you still want a quiet garage door opener, Chamberlain has added the Motor Vibration Isolation System (MVIS®) to many of its top models and to “private label” models it sells through other manufacturers. The MVIS® technology uses a “floating” motor mount to isolate motor vibration from the chassis of your garage door opener power head, thus reducing vibration and noise transmission to your home.
3. Garage Door Opener Replacement = Better Safety Features
Beginning in 1993, the Consumer Products Safety Commission (U.S.A.) began requiring garage door opener manufacturers to add anti-entrapment safety devices to all garage door openers. Examples include infrared garage door sensors that stop and reverse the garage door if an infrared electric eye beam is broken by a person, object, manimal, etc. Door sensing technology is another innovation that stops and reverses the garage door if a person or object is encountered by the garage door as it closes.
If your garage door was manufactured prior to 1993, it likely does not have these modern safety measures. Garage door opener replacement purely for added safety measures is reason enough for many people. Crushing a box or a bike is one thing, but crushing a cherished pet or a grandchild would be devastating and life altering.
4. Garage Door Opener Replacement = Higher Security
In the early 1990s and in prior years, the security code for garage door remotes was set using DIP switches. These small switches were set to match each other in the remote and at the power head (the motor unit). This type of security was adequate until criminal began hacking their way into garages by simply working their way through all the possible switch settings on their own remote control. With as few as 256 possibilities, it wasn’t that tough to break into someone’s garage.
Today, garage door openers use electronic “rolling code” technology to change the remote code after every use. This newer technology creates literally billions of possible remote codes, leaving “code grabbers” at a loss and the contents of your garage a lot safer.
Another neat feature of modern garage door openers is the “vacation lock” feature. Usually activated by a button on your wall control, this feature locks out all communication with your system. If you go on vacation or plan to be away from home for an extended period, this “vacation lock” is one more feature that adds peace of mind.
5. Garage Door Opener Replacement = Standby Power
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| Chamberlain WD962KD 3/4 HP Garage Door Opener with Standby Power  |
One more outstanding benefit of modern DC powered garage door opener motors is the ability to add standby power. Battery backup systems and standby power are not new. However, until DC motors were added to modern openers, it simply took too much power to allow for the use of a small battery backup system.
Since DC motors require as little as 1/4 the energy of a comparable AC motor, compact battery backup systems are now capable of opening and closing your garage door many times during a power outage. Chamberlain’s EverCharge® Standy Power system will actually open and close your garage door up to 20 times in a 24 hour period and then automatically recharge when the power comes back on.
The EverCharge® system is also available on LiftMaster garage door openers as well as other models manufactured by Chamberlain, including Sears Craftsman, Raynor and others.
6. Garage Door Opener Replacement = Keyless Entry
This often forgotten feature is a biggy for many people. When my family bought my grandparents their very first electric garage door opener, they didn’t know why they would need such a thing…until they used it. Wow, were they surprised at how convenient it was to simply push a button and pull into the garage.
For me, modern wireless, keyless entry keypads fit in a similar category. Why would you need such a thing? After using one a few times, you will likely answer your own question. If you have a trusted contractor who needs to do some work in your home while you are away, you can give them the code to the keypad rather than a house key. If you need to have a family member pick up something for you from your home, you can give them the keypad number rather than a key.
The best part is that you can easily change the code whenever you choose to. If the contractor is done working, change the code. If you have a falling out with your mother-in-law, change the code (just kidding).
Conclusion
At less than $200 for an outstanding modern garage door opener, it may be time for an upgrade. If you have it installed by a professional, add another $100 to $150 to the price. Think about all the benefits, not the least of which is safety and security, and this might be the best investment you have made in years.
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