For doors that are more than 16 feet wide or very heavy an even large opener that s 1 horsepower or higher can reduce strain on the motor.
Should i get a bigger garage door opener.
Two car garages or one car garages with insulated or wooden doors need at least a 3 4 horsepower garage door opener.
The weight becomes more critical when you get to the heavier larger garage doors.
You don t want to come home from a long drive on a cold dark evening and have garage door issues.
Here s a list of the ranking of our openers based on power and speed.
It s important to identify the source of the problem before you decide to replace your garage door remote or motor.
If you have a wooden or insulated double car garage door up to 16 feet wide and 8 feet tall you may want to move up to a 3 4 horsepower opener.
The most popular out of the three choices this opener works best with single and double garage doors that have an average weight such as a carriage style door.
Larger rail sizes are available with more powerful openers since a more powerful opener should be paired with a larger door.
The batteries provide the power to send the signal.
It is the cheapest of the three and least power.
Modern openers generate electronic beams that extend across the garage door opening to provide entrapment prevention and protection.
One car garages with steel doors only need a 1 2 horsepower garage door opener.
It s the medium option in both price and power so it works for a large number of households.
This size opener is the most popular out of the three and is recommended for single or double garage doors with average weight ex.
What type of garage door opener should i get.
Garages with carriage doors should opt for 1 hp garage door openers or higher.
A lower voltage in the battery will reduce the garage door opener s range.
Doors between eight and 12 feet in width are no problem.
While garage door opener remote controls are more tolerant than television remotes they won t transmit through heavy metals such as lead.
If you have a very heavy wood door or a commercial garage door then you need to use an opener that is rated for the weight of the garage door you have.
If you have an older garage door opener manufactured before jan.
If your door has a max height above 8 ft.
1 1993 consider upgrading the device to take advantage of safety features.
Then it requires an opener with more power.
Keep an eye out for holiday sales online and at your local.
Although it is used for lighter doors one could get away with using it on a heavier door if they understood that they might need to replace the opener more often than one with more horsepower.
The last thing you should worry about is your garage door opener malfunctioning.
Even if your garage door opener isn t in desperate need of replacing there are still more than a few reasons to splurge on an upgrade.
The power rankings and speed.