The average garage door opener in Calgary should last anywhere from 10 – 15 years depending on how often you use it. If you’re scrupulous about having it professionally maintained you might get 20 years out of it. But at some point it will need to be replaced. In fact, even if your opener seems like it’s working fine and hasn’t needed garage door repair lately you should consider replacing it if it’s more than 10 years old. That might seem counter-intuitive but it’s not, because new safer, more dependable, more versatile models are being introduced all the time. Below we’re going to look at some very good reasons to upgrade your garage doors opener.
6 Good Reasons to Upgrade Your Garage Doors Opener
Replacing your old garage door opener before it starts generating problems left and right is a wise idea. Here are 6 more good reasons to replace your garage door opener.
- Auto reverse – If your garage door is more than 25 years old it doesn’t have an auto reverse mechanism on it. These mechanisms were introduced in 1993 as a response to the growing number of children who were being killed and seriously injured when they would wander under a garage door as it closed. The auto reverse mechanism is two-fold. First, it has an electric eye that reads a light beam that passes from one side of the door to the other. If anyone breaks this beam the opener stops the door and reverses back to the open position. The second part of the auto reverse feature set is the “reverse on contact” feature. In this case if someone were to touch the door while it was closing the opener would stop the door and return it automatically to the open position.
- Less Noise – The older garage door openers get the more noise they make. That’s something that you can’t really do a lot about. It’s the nature of mechanical devices. Some of today’s best garage door openers by contrast feature nearly silent operation. This is especially true of belt drives and screw drives. This silent operation is a benefit to everyone who lives in the house. No one wants to be awakened by a clangy, screechy, jangly garage door in the wee hours of the night. Replace your garage door opener now and let everyone get back to sleep.
- Enhanced security – Older garage doors used a fixed key security code to open them. In many cases a single code would open numerous garage doors in a particular neighborhood. This was a major security issue. And for homeowners that still have one of those older garage door openers it still is. New garage door openers generate a new random code every time you use them. This way no one can open your garage door with someone else’s security code. Talk to the garage door repair experts at B&W to learn more
- Keyless entry – Many new and relatively new garage door openers are compatible with keyless entry. You simply walk up to the keypad mounted on the side of the house, enter your private PIN number and you’re in. In some cases some new keypad entry systems don’t even require you to remember a PIN. All you need to do is walk up to the keypad box, touch your fingertip to the reader and the door pops open. Older garage doors just aren’t equipped with this fingerprint ID option. So this is one case where even if your garage door opener seems like it’s running fine an upgrade can make life easier for everyone. This type of fingerprint access is becoming more widespread. It’s a great way to ensure that even if the kids forget their keys they can still get back into the house in a hurry, safe and sound.
- Backup battery – Most garage doors opener systems from even just a few years ago didn’t have a battery backup available in case of power outages. Many new ones, however, do. This provides a distinct advantage in the event lighting knocks out the power to your Calgary neighborhood. You or your family members can easily get back into the house. Or, if desired, can easily pile into the car and go to a relative’s house while you wait for the blackout to end. This is yet another compelling reason to upgrade your garage door opener.
- Join the internet of things – These days millions of devices are connected to and controlled by smartphone apps. Everything from coffee makers to security cameras to cars to, yes, garage doors. Collectively this massive network of electronic devices is known as “the internet of things”. Imagine this: you’re at the airport ready to fly overseas and it suddenly dawns on you that you might have left the garage door open. So you take out your smartphone and open the garage door opener app. Through it you have access to the security camera in the garage that shows you proof positive that you did leave the door open. You then hit another button on the app and the door closes and you can go to Paris without worrying. Garage door openers from just 10 years ago did not have this feature or anything like it.
The Bottom Line
We could keep going with more reasons to install a new garage doors opener in your home but you get the idea. A new garage door opener won’t cost a lot and it will enhance the security, safety, convenience and performance of your garage door. And simply holding on to your existing one because you haven’t wrung every last hour of potential operation from it is not a strategy with a future. As the most trusted garage door repair company in Calgary we help match concerned, enlightened homeowners with the right garage door openers for their situation.
Give us a call on (403) 275-6048 and speak to one of our highly trained repair and replacement experts. They’ll provide you all the information you need to make an informed decision regarding a new garage door opener.
