Few homeowners think much about their garage door openers until something goes wrong or it’s time to replace them. Choosing the right opener– either to replace an old one, or for a new installation– is crucial to making sure nothing goes wrong in the first place. Here’s what you should know when choosing a new garage door opener.
First you have to decide what brand and style, and if you should buy online or at a Home Depot store. The Home Depot carries a large selection of styles, power ratings and brands to make shopping a breeze.Whether it’s Genie, Chamberlin, Skylink, Sommer or another of our premium brands, we have the opener for you. We’ve taken care of safety by ensuring that we sell openers with elements that prevent damage to any objects as the door is closing.
As you shop online for a new garage door opener, be sure to read our customer reviews to see what other consumers think about the models you’re considering. You’ll also find it useful to use our homedepot.com “compare” feature on the Garage Door Opener product list page. You can compare one model against the other to find the right opener for you. You can compare the specs, price, warranty, dimensions, weight, features… it’s all there.
Our online comparison feature and consumer reviews help you make a smart decision
Here’s a quick comparison of the different types of garage door openers available at The Home Depot
Style and Function:
Garage Door Openers come in three distinct types, Belt Drive, Chain Drive & Screw Drive. Each has its benefits, depending on the type of garage door it’s lifting. Things you’ll want to be aware of are the height and width of the garage door, the insulation and the construction material of the door. These factor into your purchase decision.
|
Belt Drive |
Chain Drive |
Screw Drive |
|
|
|
Horse Power:
How much horse power do you need to lift the garage doors that I have? It depends on your situation For example if your opener will need to lift a door close to 22’ width you will need at least ½ horsepower. Oversized and heavy doors will need at least ¾ horsepower. Also don’t forget about opener speed–the average opener lifts the door at about 7 inches-per-second, but some models can lift the door twice that speed.
|
1/2 Horse Power |
3/4 Horse Power |
1 Horse Power |
|
|
|
There are other factors to consider, too. If you need more light in your garage, look for models that utilize 100 watt bulbs or equivalent LED bulbs. The Home Depot And how about a keyless entry pad? The Home Depot has models that come with combination entry or even fingerprint entry.
Get It Installed
Ready to make your selection? Let us install it for you, hassle free. For professional installation by The Home Depot, visit our Garage Door Opener Install page and learn more or schedule your install.
[...] http://ext.homedepot.com/community/blog/how-to-choose-the-right-garage-door-opener/ [...]
1. My door opener is an old model, made in 1989, but still in good shape. However, the receiver is gone. Can I just purchase the latest receiver model to replace it?
2. The door torsion srpings also broke. Do yolu have service to replace them?
Hi, Raymond.
I posted your question over on our online How-To Community, where you can get answers to just about any home improvement question– including finding replacement parts.
Just click —> here to see where I posted it, and where you can find the answers you seek.
-Craig, from The Home Depot
When choosing a garage door opener it is important to understand the warranty.Genie gives a warranty. But parts only. I purchased a Genie model #1000 in October of last year and It just completly died on me yesterday. I called Genie customer service and they explained to me that it was a circuit board. They were happy to send me a new. But I had to pay for the shipping if I wanted it. Then I would need to hire someone to put it in for me and re program everything. Wow this unit is less than a year old an I need to pay to have it fixed!!! Their attitude was horrible. In fact they made me feel like I was putting them out by sending me the circuit board (“do you want it or not”). So, my advise would be to steer clear from Genie garage door openers.
Hey Scott, thanks for the heads up.