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Choosing best garage door openers becomes quite easy when you have the knowledge of what to look for in one of these gadgets.
There are four types of garage door openers as below:
Chain, belt, and direct drives have an overhead rail. The chain drives and belt drives roll the garage door overhead. As such, the garage door lays adjacent to the ceiling or the top of the garage. The chain drive operates by a moving chain which rolls against the rails. It is noisy but ideal for heavy doors and durable. It is also cost-effective. The modern type of chain drives come with a chain separator. This gadget allows you to set how far down your garage door goes to prevent the noise created when a garage door hits the floor. The belt drive differs from the chain drive in that it works using a rubber which moves along a cogwheel while moving the door up or down. It is relatively quiet. When using a direct current power source, the starts and stops are usually soft and smooth. Alternating currents, however, jerk the system because the full strength of the motor is employed. Some noise may be audible in such cases. Thus, when purchasing a drive, the current the motor uses should matter. The direct drives and jackshaft drives are alternative garage door openers. They are not very common, but in the era of smart homes and gadgets, these alternative openers are slowly gaining popularity. Jackshaft drives do not have any overhead apparatus. The usually attach to the front of the Garage door and operate through a system of pulleys that roll through a torsion bar. The systems have an automatic system that locks the door providing extra security. They are quite pricey since they can be Wi-Fi enabled for smart homes. They are computerized, digital and technology savvy. Thus the price but offer value for money. Another release from the expansive LiftMaster Elite Series, the Liftmaster 8500 Wall Mount Garage Door Opener Package is the real deal. The quality of the door is excellent, and the system is designed to satisfy the easy opening and closing of garage doors. Any shopper looking for an automatic yet reasonably priced garage door opener will soon come to rely on the 8500 Series from LiftMaster. Expounding on this opener, the automatic operation of the Liftmaster 8500 Wall Mount Garage Door Opener Package means that you can quickly open your garage without having to get out of your vehicle. It features an automated remote system that you can use to open the garage door, drive in, before closing it from the comfort, convenience, and security of your car. It also comes with the following product features: Liftmaster 8500 Jackshaft Complete Install – Video Guide With the Sommer 1052V000 Direct Drive 1.0 hp Quiet, Durable and Strong Garage Door Opener comes with the smooth, safe, quiet, and durable operation. It has a heavy-duty 1 HP motor that further boosts its performance. Additionally, it has a 7ft to 8ft height kit which makes it so convenient that you can easily ensure that your door is secured. The operation of the opener is also quiet, meaning that you should not be able to hear any vibrations whenever you open and/or close your garage door. If you are looking for an excellent solution to help you handle the opening and closing of your garage door, therefore, Sommer 1052V000 Direct Drive 1.0 hp Quiet, Durable and Strong Garage Door Opener is the product to get. It even comes with 2 transmitters that you can place in your garage to help you move in and out without so much as having to press a button. Apart from the above features, this Sommer garage door opener has Rolling Code Technology for maximum control, as well as safety beam sensors that will alert you should the garage doors get opened without your knowledge. This feature will further boost the safety of your vehicle, as well as anything else you might have stored inside the garage. Looking for a garage door opener designed for DIY installation? Then you might want to give Liftmaster/Chamberlain/Sentex Garage Door Openers a try. These garage door openers are energy efficient because they are always charged and ready for use around the clock. With them, therefore, you should be able to close and open your garage door for up to 20 cycles even when there’s a blackout. In the same way, when battery power is operating your door, you will hear clearly audible signal sounds. The opener also comes with bright LED lights that will let you know whenever this charging system is operational. Designed by the leading brands in the industry, the Liftmaster/Chamberlain/Sentex Garage Door Openers are as professional as it gets. They come with a wide variety of desirable features that your neighbors will soon be enquiring after. Consider the following benefits that you will get when you invest in these garage door openers: However, like with any other amazing products on the market, the Liftmaster/Chamberlain/Sentex Garage Door Openers come with their disadvantages, the chief of which is that they only feature one remote control; this means that if someone else has the remote, you might have to pack outside until they arrive. Still, this is not too big a problem, and you should soon become used to operating the door using only one opener. The design features and overall operating mechanism of the Chamberlain WD1000WF 1-1/4 HPS Wi-Fi Garage Door Opener are attractive for many homeowners. For starters, it only weighs 32 pounds and measures 7x17X10 inches. This design feature makes it convenient to carry right into the garage and install. Additionally, this Chamberlain garage opener comes inside a blue housing covered by clear light lenses on both sides. Behind these, you can also install two bulbs to increase the visibility of the unit. The manufacturer (Chamberlain) recommends that users do not add LED bulbs to the opener because this may reduce the range of operation of the remote controls. Right behind the left side lens, there are programming buttons that you can use to adjust the movement of your garage door. With these buttons, you will now be able to control where your door will come to a stop in every position. One of the buttons will also connect the garage door opener to your Wi-Fi (wireless) network for easier operation. With a horsepower of 1 and %, this garage door opener fully meets the manufacturers recommended pulling force specification for a 1.25 horsepower. When you buy the unit, you will get two remote openers, an interior control panel, a backup battery, and an exterior keypad. Silent, this is perhaps the garage door opener on account of the push and email notifications, as well as the web and mobile apps that you get with the Chamberlain WD1000WF 1-1/4 HPS Wi-Fi Garage Door Opener. Overall, this device will allow you to open and close garage doors from the comfort of your car using a PC or your Smartphone. It also works quietly and will send you notifications in case your door has been closed and opened without your knowledge. The last of the garage door openers, the Sommer Direct Drive 1042V001 3/4 HP Garage Door Opener has some rave reviews from current users. Powered by a horsepower motor, it will move all along the rail with a single moving part. This opener uses a chain drive that has always been noisier than a belt drive. However, since it comes with a single moving part, the noise is reduced to minimum levels. Once you get used to the opener, you won’t even notice the small sound the moving part makes. Another feature that comes with the Sommer Direct Drive 1042V001 3/4 HP Garage Door Opener is that the motor is appropriately located close to the connection with the garage door and not at the back of the device. As a result, you should be able to quickly open and close your garage door without much of a hassle. Although the design of this product is pretty unconventional, you will be glad to note that everything is made up for in the 3/4 horsepower motor. This motor is so powerful that it will lift doors that are up to 550 pounds heavy. It also works for standard sections and double -wide wooden garage doors. The rail included in the Sommer Direct Drive 1042V001 3/4 HP Garage Door Opener is also tall enough for 7 to 8 -foot doors. If your door is 10 foot tall, there’s a separate extension that you can buy to use with your Sommer garage opener. A garage door opener may be the main entry point of your home. You, therefore, need the perfect garage door openers to avoid being stuck outside your home. If you come from work and leave in your car, the garage door will be the main entry point to your home. Thus you need a suitable model that will not fail at the most awkward of times. If the garage holds two or more cars, then you need the high-quality garage door opener to handle the heftiness of the door and its frequent use assuming that your spouse uses the other vehicle. Below is a more detailed explanation of the factors to consider when shopping for good garage door openers. A garage door opener provides an optional entry route into your private space. You need security in that you are sure that when you close the door, it shuts firmly and when you open the garage door, you are there in person. Otherwise, a garage door that opens when you do not around pose a significant burglary risk. A garage door opener that closes your garage door and automatically locks it is quite valuable. The pricing, however, may pose a challenge thus other drives come into play. Some garage door openers respond to the neighbor’s remote control devices. This poses a risk because you are never sure of the safety of your home. Ensure peace of mind by choosing wisely a garage door opener with the ability to differentiate between frequencies such that your garage door opener will not respond to the neighbors’ remote control devices. A garage door is heavy. Picture the door falling on an object. It would cause severe damage. Likewise, if the door happens to hit a human being or a pet, an emergency will be imminent. This calls for safety. Fortunately, there are safety regulations put in place that manufacturers of these devices have to meet certain safety standards. Sensors detect motion and stop the door from closing in on a moving object. Immediately the gadget detects movement it reverses the door avoiding unsightly accidents. Other sensors emit a beam of light that is usually not visible to the naked eye on the opening of the garage door and immediately stops any garage door movements. When selecting what garage door opener you need, safety is a very crucial aspect. It beats logic to go ahead and install a cheap gadget that can cause severe damage to property and injure a pet, you or someone else – resulting in unnecessary pain and hospital bills. Enough time will also be spent tending to accidents. Correct installation of garage door openers is quite an advantage. There is a technology of entering a new code — automatically by the remote device called rolling code. It ensures safety in that your remote control device cannot respond to different frequencies. It is important to get a garage door opener controlled by a remote control gadget with the rolling code feature. Lighting is not optional when looking for the top garage door openers. The thing is, check whether the door has to open and/close so that the lights function. The lights need to operate independently of the garage door movements. By so doing, they will ensure that the inside of the garage is lit without having to open the door. Talk of efficiency redefined. Lighting ease can go a long way in keeping your garage organized and safe. Say, it is in the night; you need something in your garage, and you do not need to open the garage door; this independent lighting will come in very handy. Some garage door openers have the ability to switch on the lights automatically. The garage door openers have motion sensors that detect any movement in the garage and illuminate the whole room. Again, efficiency redefined. The advantage of Wi-Fi enabled garage door openers is that they allow you to make your home a smart one. As a result, you get to control your garage as long as you are online. You can confirm whether you closed your garage door when you left home for someplace else. And of course, you can also open your garage door as you make entry through the gate through the driveway and slide your car smoothly into the garage parking. You can never be too sure that electricity needed to control your garage door opener will never fail. A battery option is important as it provides the needed power in case of a power outage. In the event of a battery option missing, your garage door opener should have a lever that allows the door to roll open or closed. On account of this need, you will have to enter your home using a different door in order to get access to the manual device for releasing the door. Otherwise, locating the manual lever for controlling the door poses the risk of burglary. What strength of motor that operates your garage door opener you require will depend on the size of your garage door and other factors such as how often you use the garage door. The heavier the door is, the more powerful the motor. The motor comes in three strengths; 1 or 2 horsepower, 3 to 4 horsepower and the most powerful motor being horsepower. Depending on the door weight, size, how often you use it; all these factors determine the strength of motor you require. The advantage of using a powerful motor is that your garage door is bound to open seamlessly and with little effort and strain to your garage door opener. As a result, the less strain your garage door opener requires to move the door up and down, the more the durability of the garage door opener. There are insulated garage doors that weigh about 87LBS (39.5kgs). The size is 7 foot by 8 foot. This kind of garage doors requires a 3 to 4 horsepower motor. A 3 to 4 horsepower for an engine is powerful enough to operate any residential garage door with ease. Insulating material adds weight to the garage door hence you need more power to move the door. Garages for two cars having a single garage door will also fall in this category. They are usually 16 foot (4.9 meters) wide by 7 feet high. Garage doors are also 8 foot high. Insulated 8 by 8 garage doors, range between 100-108Ibs (45-49kgs). Customized garage doors are available too. These require one horsepower motors. They are usually larger and insulated garage doors for commercial building garage doors and very large garage doors. Since these garage doors are customized, their insulation and size can make them quite weighty. The weight of garage doors depends on the insulation steel gauge used; the amount of rain a wooden garage door soaks etc. Most people underestimate the heaviness of the door and use an inappropriate motor power. Here, noise is the issue. You have to consider the drive type. Depending on “how loud is loud” levels, you decide whether a chain type of a garage door opener will do or you opt for the more expensive but quiet mechanism of the belt that the door rolls on up and down the garage. There are also more costly and mute such as the direct drives and the not so popular jackshaft drives. If finances do not pose a problem, direct drives, rare but gaining popularity are a reticent option. Again, if you get the garage door installed below a child’s room, direct/belt mechanism will not interrupt the child if she or he is sound asleep. A chain drive will wake your child up and probably announce your presence or absence to nearby neighbors. Direct drives have an overhead rail, but the motor moves with the door either up or down. Instead of the chain moving, it is the motor that runs. Due to this peculiar mechanism, these garage door openers quiet. They almost always come with warranties of a lifetime. Jackshaft drives usually work only on sectioned garage doors. These garage door openers work without rolling the door overhead. That is why they can only work on sectioned garage doors. These types of door openers attach on the front of the garage door. They move the door up and down using a pulley system and a torsion bar that enables the pulley system to roll up and down the garage door. These systems have an automated lock system that guarantees added safety once the door closes. The door closes automatically. This digital system makes these door openers very costly. Chain drives are cost effective. They are also durable, and they require little maintenance. Belt drives are usually on the higher end of pricing and require constant lubrication. Chain drives are ideal for insulated, cumbersome or wooden garage doors which soak up rain and become heavier. Jackshaft openers and direct drives are not cost effective. These options should not be under consideration when cost-effectiveness is under consideration although it has a myriad of other advantages. When you want to install the garage door opener in your home, you need to ask yourself some few questions. Are you able to DIY? Some systems with the overhead system require you to stick things on the wall, fine tune the system to be able to close and open your garage door correctly. It can be a daunting task for someone who is not a DIY enthusiast. Fortunately, the retailers can always recommend a professional for the job. You will need to hire someone to fix the system for you. Considering that the system opens about 79Ibs of weight, it’s important to ensure the system is sturdy to avoid a serious accident. There are two types of electrical current – alternating current and direct current. These types of currents affect how most garage door openers work. Usually, motors operating on direct current are costlier. Engines using direct current were most common on belt drives, but nowadays the other kinds of garage door openers use direct current. Direct currents usually offer soft starts and smooth stops, unlike alternating current which jerks the door into motion. Battery options are also provided for in systems employing the direct current mode.
Different Types of Garage Door Openers
Chain Drives
Belt Drives
Direct Drives
Direct drives usually have an extended arm that moves the motor as the door moves. This door has very few movable parts. Since it is the motor that moves along the chain, the noise levels are low while the price is high. The warranties usually last a lifetime.Jackshaft Drives
Top 5 Best Garage Door Openers Reviews 2020
#01: Liftmaster 8500 Wall Mount Garage Door Opener – Recommended
Highlighted Features
A. 24V DC Motor Performance
Efficient and powerful, this Liftmaster product operates at 24V, meaning that you get a smoothly operating opener.
B. Ultra Quiet Mechanism
Although the system is pretty robust and stable, the closing and opening mechanism is discreet and quiet.
C. Auto-Force
Last but not least, the auto -force mechanism on the Liftmaster 8500 Wall Mount Garage Door Opener Package means that you can monitor your garage door system around the clock. It has been set up in such a way that you can adjust the temperatures as well as track the floor heights and any movements.
#02: SOMMER 1052V000 Direct Drive 1.0 hp Quiet, Durable and Strong Garage Door Opener
Highlighted Other features that come with this garage door opener include:
#03: Liftmaster/Chamberlain/Sentex Garage Door Openers
Highlighted Features
#04: Chamberlain WD1000WF 1-1/4 HPS Wi-Fi Garage Door Opener
Highlighted Features
In terms of features, the Chamberlain WD1000WF 1-1/4 HPS Wi-Fi Garage Door Opener comes with a 1.25 HPS motor. It also uses a belt -drive system for opening and closing your door.#05: Sommer Direct Drive Garage Door Opener
Highlighted Other features that come with this opener include:
How to enable and connect your Chamberlain® Wi-Fi
Buyer’s Guide of Top Garage Door Openers
Security
Safety
Another safety feature to watch out for when purchasing the garage door opener is the automated reverse factor. This feature makes the door to automatically go back on its chain or belt in a reverse motion.
Lighting
D. Wi-Fi Enabled Garage Door Openers
Battery
Motor Strength
l or 2 horsepower motor is powerful enough to move most typical garage doors. A standard garage door is 7 foot high about 2.1 meters by 8 feet wide about 2.4 meters and weighs about 79LBS (35.8kgs). These garage doors are also called standard garage doors.
A garage door that requires one horsepower is usually larger in size and meant for industrial use. Commercial and garage doors with a massive size need one horsepower. The price matches the industrial use, so it does not make practical sense to install this garage door opener for a garage holding a single car.
Decibel Levels
The garage door location plays a significant role. If you live in a densely populated region, you may need to check on the noise. Opt for a belt or a direct drive mechanism. If the garage door is old and loud, opting for a quiet belt opener may not solve the noise problem completely.
If you reside in a house with vast lands around it then a chain mechanism may not be such an issue. If your garage is detached from the main house, a chain drive garage door opener poses no decibel related problems. And again, if your garage is far from the bedrooms and the living area such as a bungalow setting, a chain drive will present no problem. Upgraded chain drives will be fitted with a chain separator to prevent the garage door from hitting the pavement or track. Opt for chain drives with this feature to cut back on the noise.Cost Effectiveness
Installation
Energy Supply
In summary, choose the type of a garage door opener that is not too noisy and it is safe. Also, it has security features that make burglary hard to happen and has a battery span that is quite good, possibly an above average performance. That is using the correct energy type and if it is possible. Yes, it should come with an adapter for alternating current and direct current. Don’t worry, it is installation-friendly and Wi-Fi enabled if it gets installed in a smart home. Of course, it has a powerful motor that is capable of handling the workload and it has proper lighting. If you are planning to install a garage door opener, the retailers of the product can recommend a professional.
Remember, you do not have to install the garage door opener. This will come at an extra charge.
Your TurnsOver and above everything, there are many garage door openers out there. To pick the right, perfect garage door opener, you might want to make your choice from any of the devices listed above. Innovative and powerful and yet quiet in operation, each of these good garage door openers is unique in its way. Irrespective of the one you end up buying, you will be getting a good bargain and good value for your money.
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