Thinking About Garage Door Openers
You are familiar with garage door openers. You may assume that, unless you have an old-fashioned manual garage door, there is one primary type—a simple button remote that activates mechanics, and then opens the door. There are options for those mechanics, however, and as with anything in your home, you want to get what’s right for you.
Garage door openers and their mechanics use drives; a chain, a belt, or a screw drive. These are the three primary types:
Chain drives are the most common. You’ve probably seen them in homes, or perhaps you have had one. The mechanism pulls a chain to open and close your door. Because they’re so standard, they’re relatively affordable. Most people also consider them to be sturdy and reliable. They can be loud, however; if you have ever heard your neighbor’s garage door open and noted its noise level, there is a good chance they had a chain drive.
Then, there is a screw drive. These open the door using mechanics and a threaded rod. They are not uncommon; if you have ever noticed metal rods leading from the garage door to a small machine on the ceiling of a garage, that’s a screw drive. These can also be somewhat noisy when opened.
Belt drives function much like a chain drive, but are more costly. They are moved with a belt made of rubber, or a similar substance. As a result of switching from a metal chain to a belt, this type of drive is much more quiet—the most quiet of the options, in fact.
Ultimately, what matters for you and your home is what your budget will allow. How much reliability can you get for what you’re willing to pay? If noise isn’t a real concern for you, then perhaps you will be happy with an affordable, but sturdy chain drive. Or, perhaps you have the money to purchase the quieter belt drive.
We know garage doors at Abstract Overhead Door and Fence. Ask us questions about your doors, your openers, and more today.
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