Your garage door needs periodic maintenance of you want to avoid replacing it before the expiration of its service life. Many people don’t know how to replace garage door springs. One component of your garage door that contributes to both it’s curb attractiveness and efficiency is its opener.
Typically, there are two generic openers. The first is a “Belt Drive” while the second is the “Chain Drive”. Every type of opener in the open market falls under either of these two generic openers.
This article highlights the differences between these two types of openers and offers you a few tips on how to choose that opener that will be perfect for your garage door.
Belt Drive Opener:
Belt Drive openers are those openers that derive their name from the use of a rubber belt pulley system instead of a metal chain system.
The immediate benefit of this type of opener is that it offers a much quieter operation when compared to Chain Drive openers.
However, when compared to the Chain Drive Opener, Belt Drive openers are considered to be costlier and also require a substantial amount of skills and care during installation.
Chain Drive Opener:
Chain Drive openers are common and readily available in the open market. It’s availability is what makes it the first option of choice for many homeowners looking to install a typical garage door.
But unlike the Belt Drive, Chain Drive openers make a lot of noise when you operate your garage door. It is for this reason alone that a lot of homeowners prefer not to use this type of opener for their garage doors preferring to stick with Belt Drive openers instead.
When you speak of garage door opener brands out there, there are quite a number. The more popular brands include; Chamberlain, LiftMaster and Craftsman. Each of these aforementioned brands have their merits and demerits. They all also offer a remote system option for homeowners wishing to operate their garage door using a remote.
5 Tips On How to Choose a Perfect Garage Door Opener
If you want a less problematic and efficient garage door, then choosing one with the right opener is a crucial step you would have to take. Below are five (5) tips on what you should seriously consider when choosing an opener.
- Consider the noise
As mentioned earlier, Belt Drive openers tend to be much less noisy than Chain Drive openers. So, when considering what type of opener to procure for your garage door, choosing one that uses a Belt Drive should be most desirable.
- For convenience, go for a remote-controlled opener
If you want to be able to control your garage door while still seated in the safety of your vehicle, then having a remote-controlled opener is the way to go. Apart from safety reasons, a remote-controlled opener also offers you comfort and convenience as it puts the control of your garage door literally in the palm of your hands.
- Get an opener with dual-frequency
To avoid a situation where your garage door opener signal clashes with that of a neighbor, you should get one with a dual-frequency added feature. Better still, the garage door opener you decide to get should be able to alternate between the two frequencies at will or automatically. This way you will avoid any clash in signal between your openers do that of a neighbor.
- Get an opener with a backup battery
You would never know when you could experience a power outage. During a stormy night this can be an almost certain experience. However, with an opener equipped with a battery backup, you would still be able to control your garage door even when there is a power outage.
- Get an opener with a Rolling-Code Security feature
You need to be able to keep burglars out of your property as much as you need to be able to easily gain entry into your garage as quickly as possible. This is where a Rolling-Code Security feature becomes very important. You garage door opener should come equipped with this technology to enable unscrupulous individuals from gaining access into your home through your garage door.
In conclusion, when getting a garage door opener for your home, you should place security, ease of access and convenience as the priority considerations. These should take precedence over cost as buying an expensive opener that has a poor security feature is no different to buying a cheaper opener with a porous security access. Internet connectivity and keypad entry features are therefore other considerations you need to make before you invest in a garage door opener for your home.
