Choose from chain, belt, screw, or direct drive garage door openers
There’s nothing worse than a noisy, rattling garage door opener—unless it’s a garage door opener that doesn’t work at all. If you’re tired of your old garage door opener waking the entire household whenever someone comes home late at night, it’s probably time to replace it. You might be surprised to learn that there are many different styles of garage door openers available. Here are some pros and cons about the four main types of garage door openers.
Chain Drive Openers
Chain drive openers are the oldest type of garage door opener design. They work by using a chain to move a trolley connected to a metal bar that opens or closes the garage door as it moves. This type of garage door opener can produce serious noise and vibrations, and you definitely wouldn’t want to put it under a bedroom. However, for a detached garage where noise isn’t a problem, it would do fine.
Belt Drive Openers
Belt drive openers work pretty much like chain drive openers, except instead of a chain a reinforced belt is used to move the garage door. This belt could be made from fiberglass, polyurethane, or rubber reinforced with steel. This type of opener offers quieter performance, but the quiet comes at a cost—belt drive openers are typically $30 to $60 more than a chain drive model.
Screw Drive Openers
Screw drive openers work by using a motor to turn a threaded rod, or screw. The trolley rides along this rod in order to raise or lower the door. Screw drive openers are sometimes considered low-maintenance because there are fewer moving parts in the system. They are also able to raise garage doors 2-4 inches per second faster than other types of openers. The down side is that they can be noisy.
Direct Drive Openers
In a direct drive garage door opener, the motor itself, rather than a trolley, moves along the overhead rail. An attached rod raises and lowers the garage door as the motor moves. This design is often lauded as the quietest type of garage door opener, with a cost comparable to a belt drive opener.
AC or DC Power?
For all of the above types of garage door openers, you will probably have the choice of AC or DC power. DC power is usually your best bet, because DC motors are quieter, lighter, and smoother than AC ones.
Don’t Have a Traditional Roll-Up Garage Door?
If you don’t have a traditional roll-up garage door, you’ll need a specialty garage door opener that can handle the motion of your door. Carroll Garage Doors can help you find opener systems that will work with swing-up or swing-open garage doors.
