Garage doors are no longer the regular roll-top ones, which have to be
pushed up by hand. These days, garage door openers are provided with
various accessories to make opening easier. No matter how heavy the garage
door, it can be fitted with the right kind of opener. These openers ensure
utmost safety and security for garages under any conditions. They are also
provided with several options and in various designs to suit the exact
requirements of the user. The best thing is, they can be installed within 3-5
hours. A professional can install a garage door opener in one hour!
Garage door openers are of two kinds depending on the use: residential and
commercial. In the commercial range of garage door openers, the main
models are: Trolley, Jackshift, Hoist and the Slide models. While Trolley
openers are used for standard lifting on sectional doors, Jackshift is used for
grilles, rolling doors and shutters. Hoist operators are similar to Jackshifts
but they are also suitable for heavy duty industrial doors. The slide door
openers are meant for single and bi-parting slide doors and also for fire
doors.
The main step in purchasing a garage door opener is to determine the actual
drive system. Garage door openers are of three kinds depending on the drive
system: belt driven, chain driven and direct drive. The most important points
to be considered in a garage opener system are the kind of motor and the
horsepower. Garage door openers differ in speed also. The average speed is
7 inches lift/drop per second. There are openers that operate at even double
this speed.
Garage door openers are provided with different kinds of warranties. Safety
is another important aspect while choosing the right garage door opener. It is
mandatory that all automatic door openers should be equipped with a noncontact
invisible beam system that can sense the approach of a person and
make the door to reverse back to the open position. Other mandatory
features of garage openers are: automatic lights, a timed reversing feature,
a manual emergency release cord and a force adjustment feature.
Garage door openers are usually noisy but some advanced models are being
designed to be really quiet. Proper maintenance and lubrication would also
lessen the noise made by garage door openers. On the whole, garage door
openers should be weather resistant, safe, and should have the least wire
exposure for long life.
Garage doors can also be operated by a remote control. This is especially
useful for people who have homes with multiple garages. However, it is
better to have a rolling radio signal code for the control as it is easy for
thieves to capture the code from thin air. Garage door openers can also have
an automatic light, remote control and a wall operator, as well as the option
of single/two/three button transmitters.