3 Signs You Need To Replace Your Garage Door Opener

Garage door openers are particularly long-lasting household devices. They're fairly simple and uncomplicated machines, which means that they're less likely to break down or need repairs than the more complicated devices in your home. However, even if you think your garage door is working normally, it may be obsolete or out of date, and you may want to think about replacing it with a new one. Here are a few signs that you need a new garage door opener.

No Safety Reversing Feature

Every automatic garage door opener made in the last few decades comes with a reversal feature. This is a safety measure meant to prevent children and animals from being crushed underneath a heavy lowering door. You should have an electric eye at the bottom of your door, and if you place something in the path of the electric eye while the garage door is going down, the door should stop and go back up.

You can test your door's reversing feature by placing a block of wood underneath the garage door as it's closing. If the door doesn't stop and reverse its course, it may be time to replace the opener. And if by some chance you have a garage door opener that's old enough not to have this feature, you definitely need to replace the opener.

Not Enough Security

Developers are adding new security features to garage door openers all the time, so the newer your opener, the better your home security. For example, older garage door openers used remote controls with a static code to open the garage door. Thieves have been known to use devices that can detect and duplicate these codes, allowing them to open your garage door without the remote, and without having to force their way in. Newer garage door openers address this problem by using rolling codes that can't be duplicated.

Other new garage security features include the ability to check from your smartphone or laptop to see whether your garage door is closed or open – a great feature if you've ever gotten to work and wondered whether you remembered to close the door – and keypads that allow you to open the door with a passcode of your choosing. Some garage door openers can even be opened and closed with your smartphone, eliminating the need for a separate remote. If you are looking for ways to improve your home's security, the garage door opener is a good place to start.

Too Much Noise

Does your garage door wake you up when someone comes home late at night? Does the sound of your garage door cause the dogs to start barking? Have your neighbors complained about it? If your garage door is noisy enough to disturb people in or near your house, it's probably an older model with a chain drive.

The chain drive looks like a bicycle chain – look near the motor of the opener to see if that's what you have. Chain drives are very reliable, but they're also quite loud. Many newer garage door openers have screw or belt drives that are considerably quieter. Consider replacing your noisy garage door opener with one that will give you a little more peace and quiet.

Sometimes an upgrade is called for, even if the device in question still works correctly. Upgrading your garage door opener can give you a safer, more secure, and quieter home. Check out the garage door opener options at a garage door company in your area today.