Basic Overview of Garage Door Openers

The opener is a crucial component to your garage door installation that does all of the grunt work, so to speak: it's the single part that provides the power to actually lift and close your door. Depending on the age of your home and the budget involved when the garage door was installed, your opener may be something old and worn or something completely new and cutting edge. Today we'll be going over some of the basic garage door opener types, along with the various benefits and drawbacks of each.

Chain-Driven Openers

This is one of the most common garage door opener types, though it tends to be spotted mostly in older homes. With this opener, a chain pulls a trolley with an arm that lifts and lowers the garage door. Chain openers are one of the cheaper options due to the cost of parts and common usage. However, due to the nature of the design, chain openers have a few problems that can prove to be dealbreakers for some homeowners. Since the moving parts are all metal grinding on each other, chain openers are the noisiest of them all, and can cause rattling, screeching and vibrating whenever the door is opened. Also, in some parts of the country which are more humid, the metal chain may be subject to rusting if it's not made out of specific materials. On the upside, newer models are substantially quieter, but these are definitely things to keep in mind.

Belt-Driven Openers

Belt openers operate on the same principle as chain models, where a chain is pulling a trolley that lifts the door. The key difference here is that instead of a metal chain, belt openers use a belt made out of various non-metallic material, such as fiberglass, polyurethane, or reinforced rubber. The biggest upside to this is all but eliminating the noise generated by chain units, since the softer texture of the belt doesn't cause vibrating and rattling like metal-on-metal would. However, as a result of this belt-driven openers are a good deal more expensive than chain-driven ones.

Screw-Driven Openers

These openers use a threaded rod that carries the trolley, and a motor rotates the rod to move it back and forth on a track. Due to the least amount of moving parts, this design is one of the quietest; however, its design can leave the rod bent or broken quicker than a chain or belt would wear out. In parts of the country with extreme weather conditions, the rod will expand and contract with the heat and cold, shifting its performance seasonally. Screw-driven openers are still used in some parts of the country but are generally not as common as the first two types.

If your garage door opener is running into problems, the first thing to consider is whether it's appropriate for your household needs. A detached garage would be fine with a chain opener, while a belt opener may be more appropriate for an attached garage close to a bedroom or home office. If you suspect your opener may be losing steam due to years of usage, be sure to call your local technician to have it checked out before it's too late.

Afficient Garage Door is a Murrieta garage door company servicing the entire North San Diego County. Family-owned and operated, Afficient handles all facets of the industry from basic maintenance and parts replacement to reinstallations and emergency service calls. Contact Afficient at 951-541-0460 for a free consultation anytime.