In the rush to get to work in the morning, busy homeowners run the risk of forgetting to close their garage doors. During the cold winters of Calgary, garage doors being left open is a recipe for disaster. You could come back home one day to see your entire garage covered in snow and ice, damaging your summertime equipment and making you waste valuable time cleaning up. Just as worse, a garage door left open is an invitation to theft. You could come home one day after a careless morning to find your garage picked clean of its mowers and fishing gear.
But this doesn’t need to be the case. An automatic garage door opener is the perfect thing for the busy or forgetful homeowner. Besides that, modern garage door openers and accessories come with more functionality than ever, not only having your standard open/close timers but also added connectivity to your phone and home-connected devices like Alexa.
We here at B&W Garage Doors in Calgary have compiled a shortlist of some of the most well-reviewed garage door openers so that you can make an informed decision towards making your garage, and home a safer, more secure place for you and your family.
A few things we have kept in mind when looking at these products are the following:
Ease of Installation: how easy it is for you to install the opener/accessory. We know that homeowners in Calgary are as diverse as they come. So while some are tech-savvy millennials who won’t sweat a complex installation of multiple sensors and parts, others may just want an automatic garage door opener that’s set it and forget it. Our list aims to provide options for any homeowner, regardless of technology experience.
Connectivity: Besides the standard open/close functionality available to automatic garage door openers, what other features does each product offer? How useful would these features be to you, the homeowner? Do you need to buy any additional pieces of hardware besides the garage door opener to make use of additional features like phone connectivity?
A Review of Automatic Garage Door Openers
1. LiftMaster MyQ Control Panel Model 888LM
This model is actually a retro-fit upgrade for garage door openers by LiftMaster manufactured with the Security+ feature (products released between 1998 to present) to allow them to be used in conjunction with the MyQ app. The model has a timer for your garage door that you can set for 1, 5, or 10 minutes.
Ease of Installation: The LiftMaster 888LM is meant to replace an existing control panel to turn it into an automatic garage door opener. Installing it is just as easy. Make sure your old control panel is properly disconnected from electrical sources, remove the wires connecting the old one to your garage door opener and replace the panel with the 888LM while taking note of the proper wire colors. When installed properly, after a few minutes of charging, it should work just as well at controlling your opener.
Connectivity: This garage door opener control panel will work with your existing keyless entry pad as well as your existing remotes as well. As mentioned earlier, this control panel model is part of an existing MyQ line of products. As such, if you are looking to be able to control your garage door on your phone, you will need to purchase the LiftMaster Internet Gateway (Model 828 LM) in order to access MyQ app functionality. Your control panel will work just as well without it however.
The reputation and reliability of LiftMaster as one of the most well-regarded brands in the market is what carries this product. But the fact that it needs a separate piece of hardware in order to make use of the integrated MyQ functionality holds it back. This is still a choice to be considered however if you have no need for a smart-phone integrated garage.
2. DATONTEN Smart Garage Door Opener
The Datonten Smart Garage Door Opener is offered as an addition to your existing garage door, control panel, remotes and accessories. It is compatible with most brands but with certain model exceptions that are detailed in the product description. This device is meant to turn your phone into a garage door remote control that can work with Bluetooth or a Wi-Fi connection.
Ease of Installation: Installation of the device is extremely simple. You don’t need to uninstall any of your existing hardware to accommodate the Datonten Smart Garage Door Opener. All the device requires is to attach the two cables to your existing garage door opener unit and find an outlet to plug the device in.
Connectivity: The Datonten Smart Garage Door Opener’s best feature is its great connectivity. The opener can sync with up to 32 devices and provides a log of open and close times along with which connected profile opened the door at that time.The information sent between the opener and your phone is also encrypted making your interfacing with the opener secure. Picking up the Wi-Fi enabled model also allows you to monitor the current status of your garage door.
The Datonten comes in a Bluetooth Model which is good if you want to consolidate your garage control with your phone as well as keep track of when your garage door opens or closes. It does not however let you remotely control your garage door outside the Bluetooth range. For that you’ll want the Wi-Fi enabled model which lets you track current garage door status and control it from anywhere with an internet connection in addition to all the features the Bluetooth model has.
3. Genie Aladdin Connect Smartphone Garage Door Opener & Chamberlain MyQ Smart Garage Hub
These two upgrades to your existing garage door openers come right out of the box with everything you need to turn your regular garage door opener to a Wi-fi connected device. Both products are compatible with most existing garage door opener brands and not just with Genie or Chamberlain models as long as your garage door opener was manufactured from 1993 onwards.
Ease of Installation: Both products have the same general installation instructions. Putting the main wireless controller hub near the garage door opener then following the instructions detailed on the free app that you can find on the app store. A few things to note however is that the hub device needs to be close enough to the router to get a good signal. Otherwise, you may get connection issues when trying to control your garage door through the phone app. Both products are compatible with most brands of garage door and not just the parent brand. Genie does have some model restrictions however that you will need to check their website to find a list of.
Connectivity: Both these products will allow you to control your garage door with your phone from anywhere with a Wi-fi and set up automatic open/close times for it. The door sensor that comes with both products also lets you receive real-time notifications on your phone in case your garage door is opened for any reason.
The Genie Aladdin Connect and the Chamberlain Smart Garage Hub have pretty much the same feature sets so the decision between these two is largely up to your personal brand preference. It might be a good idea to choose the one that matches with your current garage door opener if you own one of the two brands already.
Adding a garage door timer or connecting your garage door controls to your smartphone through a wireless hub is a relatively cheap and simple way to ensure that your garage is never opened unless you need it to be. It provides an added layer of security for those days when you think you’ve forgotten to close the garage door on the way out, or for when you are out of town and need to keep an eye on your garage. You can go out in confidence knowing that your home is secured and you have access to it anytime.
But if you’re looking to make your garage door even safer, or need some damage on your garage door fixed, B&W Garage Door Specialist are the people for you. We offer garage door installation and repair services for your home anywhere in Calgary. Our same-day service and maintenance throughout the city is also available for those sudden emergencies so you don’t have to worry about the security of your home whenever your garage door breaks down. Contact us @ (403) 275-6048 for all of your garage door needs.
