There is one common question for people who own a garage: how to make a dumb garage door smart?
Actually, the conversion of ordinary garage door to smart garage door is not as difficult as I was thinking. If you have few tools and a smart garage door opener, it requires only about couple of hours to make any dumb garage door smart.
In this guide, I’m not only going to help you make your dumb garage door smart but also help you to pick best smart garage door opener.
What Exactly Does The Smart Garage Door Can Do?
A dumb version of a garage door that is a standard staple door can only give you so much. The troubles of getting locked out, or the most prevalent one, whether it can be trusted or not.
If you are someone that lives in a shady neighborhood, then this just might be the most useful addition to your problems. You can safely tuck away your ride with smart garage door of today and forget about intrusion and theft.
These doors can do a lot of things for you. They can notify you whenever someone has opened the door, each time it does open up, the application will notify you as to who did it. If you have been locked out of the house and have forgotten your keys, well the smart door can provide you access with just a touch of a button on your phone.
You can remotely open and shut the door at will. Imagine being stuck outside when the weather is garbage, would you want to go out and get yourself drenched to open the garage door? No, this is where the automation is useful.
As far as safety is concerned the door is going to serve as an impenetrable wall that is not going to breached by ordinary tools. So either the thieves have to step up their game or just give in, of which I am sure that they are all just going to give in. Messing around with something that you don’t understand will only get you caught.
How To Choose The Best Garage Door Opener?
The first thing that you have to address is what exactly your need is?
Figure out the exact estimates and what will go into having the perfect automatic garage door. What are the dimensions of the door, how much power would you need?
What are the necessary safety measures you want your door to have covered? Can you set it up by yourself or you need a professional’s help?
All of these are some of the basic questions that you need to chalk out before you ever process the thought of purchasing a garage door opener.
I will provide you with a proper run on all the essential components that goes into the making the of an automated garage door. All you have to do is figure out your needs and see what fits best for you.
Low noise
No one would appreciate a lousy, loud car door opener that makes a ton of every time it opens up.
The automated tech needs to be silent and free from any unnecessary pollution; you do not want to ruin your relationship with your neighbor because of a lousy garage door opener.
Security & Remote operated
Security is a major concern when it comes to automated technology that is taking care of your valuables. So it takes center stage to pick out a garage door opener that is both secure and very difficult to breach.
Pick out an opener that comes with a rolling code security feature. This amazing feature would pick out a new robust security code that is currently not in use, thereby keeping the burglars guessing forever.
This technology also stacks up with other similar devices, ensuring that your security codes are unique and not repeated. No accidents will happen with this baby around.
Now that I am addressing the concerns of security let’s talk about what is needed. If you have purchased a garage door opener, but it does not come with a touchpad or keypad security, then please have it installed separately.
Do not go for something that does not stack up to the things that we have listed out. There are a ton of remote operated door systems out in the market, so you need to see if they check out a few things.
What motor type do they use? Does it sits well with what you need? Can you establish a home link with the door opener since a lot of cars they come with inbuilt remote controllers for automated garage door systems?
Always look for a controller that comes with dual frequency so that your system does not malfunctions and responds to other users. The dual frequency system serves as a countermeasure for that problem.
Right variant
There is a number of options that you can choose from when looking to make a purchase of a garage door opener. I will list them all out for you, and then you can determine which one is the right variant.
Another important factor is the horsepower and how often you are looking to make use of your garage door system. In most cases, the more powerful the motor and door system is the lesser the strain is exerted on the automated door openers.
In the case of standard doors, 1/2 horsepower system should suffice but if you are looking to operate it more frequently or have a larger heavy door. If that is the case, then it is recommended to go for the more powerful system that comes with more horsepower, the lesser the strain, the better.
Now let’s talk about a different drive system that you can choose from.
1. Chain drive garage door system- These systems make use of chains to lift and shut the door. The chain is made out of metal and aluminum, so it is going to generate a lot of noise. I do not recommend this system in a neighborhood that is quite cluttered, but in case you have a detached garage then this is a great choice. As chain drive systems are the most economical among its peers
2. Belt drive garage system- This precisely the opposite of the chain drive system that is well suited to a saturated neighborhood. This drive system makes use of a belt instead of a chain to move the trolley up and down. It has fewer moving parts and makes no noise at all. Well suited for people that are living in a congested area and the drive system has a low maintenance cost.
3. Screw drive system- This system makes use of a threaded steel rod to move the trolley and its mechanism to open and shut the door. Much quieter than the chain system, it has fewer moving parts than the belt drive system. It does not make a lot of noise, seems like a good choice, but the cost is not economical.
4. Direct drive system- The motor is your trolley, and it alone takes care of all the activities involved in managing the door. The motor treads all the up and down along the track to open and close the door. The motor is your trolley, and it is the only moving component in this system, maintenance cost is probably the least, but it is also the costliest choice.
Battery back-up
In the event of a power outage and you find yourself stuck between a rock and a dead place.
The battery back up on your car door opener should be reliable, in the emergencies, it should at least be able to handle the automated system.
I want to point it out that this is quite a rare feature and it usually missing in the majority of models.
However, I still recommend you to look for something that has it, and in case you can’t settle for one, ensure that it has a manual release system installed in its place.
You don’t want your ride to be stuck and be rendered useless, do you?
Internet connectivity
Internet connectivity is by far the most critical aspect that you need to have a look at. The door opener is supposed to be completely automated. So it becomes essential that internet connectivity is present when dealing with a garage door opener.
You need to scrutinize this aspect of the product, as you are bound to be making use of it through your smartphone or Homelink present in your car. A problematic system can toss you into a tricky situation.
Warranty
Brush up your knowledge on what your warranty card reads and what it offers. Check, if it covers labor cost, materials, parts replacement, and overall warranty coverage.
Another important aspect is the extended warranty scheme. See if the place of purchase offers for a price after the initial warranty period expires. It is indeed a good idea to have a garage door opener that comes with such offers.
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3 Best Garage door openers in the market
Talking about the best in the business, I have a list of our very own favorites that I would love to recommend for you.
I have selected them based on careful analysis. These garage door openers are both easy to step up and has simple instructions that you can follow through and set it up on your door. Turn your garage door into the smarter door with much ease.
1. Chamberlain B550
A powerful and yet extremely dependable device that easily take care of bigger size garage doors. The chamberlain B550 makes use of built-in MyQ technology, that can efficiently handle your garage doors.
It is super silent, smooth and is probably one of the better variants that is up for grab. You can easily install the MyQ app from the app store and use your smartphone to see what is the status of the door. Hell, you can even open it from as far as 1500 feet, now that is ridiculously impressive.
The Chamberlain B550 (click to see on Amazon) comes packed with a four-digit touchpad with over 100 billion code combination to choose from. Is security an issue? Nah, Chamberlain has got you sorted on that front.
It also has a great battery power back up that can sustain you for a long time, isn’t this just a great choice.
2. Chamberlain WD832KEV
The second Chamberlain (click to see on Amazon) on my list is the decked out WD832KEV. It is super efficient at what it does, has economic pricing and is jammed to the teeth with blistering features.
Chamberlain has most certainly produced something that is going to become best buds with your garage door, its squeaky clean operations that won’t make any sound.
One of the best features of this variant allows the door to automatically shutter down on it’s after the passage of a specific amount of time, ranging from 1 to 10 mins which you can adjust according to your liking.
This version can effectively manage doors that are built up to the height of 7-feet. In case you have a door that is much taller than that, you would probably need to purchase an extension kit.
The motor is of 1/2 horsepower so struggles a bit with heavy wooden and steel door, other than that everything is easy for it.
How to make your dumb garage door smart
As I already said, the conversion of dumb garage door to smart requires couple of hours.
If I mention all the steps here, this article become super-long.
Also, on the purchase of any garage door opener you will be provided with an in-depth guide on how you can actually have it installed. I guess you won’t get any trouble if you follow instructions provided with a smart garage door opener.
However, you can watch below video to install Chamberlain garage door opener:
Summary
You too can easily build a smart garage door of your own using WIFI and a smartphone; you have not much to do. A quick and easy guide has already been provided to you that you can work with.
I specifically chose the aforementioned method that anyone can easily understand and execute without a lot of problems. Make sure that you follow up on each step without fail and memorize what to do right after the other.
