Advice on buying a Garage Door
No longer just the privilege of a select few, these days everyone can have a garage door. Garage doors have evolved and their good pricing, safety, and security have made them very attractive to a new, younger market.
It would be a good idea to rid your home of an old garage door, especially one with an old motor or the dreaded pulley system.
Some benefits to choosing a new garage door:
- Offers increased security, convenience and an element of luxury to your garage and your home.
- The electric operator has a smooth DC motor with 'Soft Start & Stop' for improved safety and less noise when opening and closing.
- A superb auto-reverse feature on the door retracts if a person or object is detected in the way.
- It features the Smart Entry System and energy-saving circuitry.
- An anti-thief 'back drive' feature provides further protection and security.
- You do not have to get cold or wet on those winter nights, as you won't have to leave your car to open the door.
- A built-in courtesy light operates every time you open the door.
Select the garage door by the type of system it uses: screw-drive system, chain drive system or a computer-controlled system.
Screw drive systems operate by a lifting mechanism that moves along a steel rod and mounts on the garage ceiling.
The chain drive system employs a chain to move the door along a pair of tracks. It can be a noisy exercise; however, it makes up for that by being one of the more affordable systems.
There are a number of styles to choose from: up and over, side hung, sectional, and insu-glide garage doors. You would be able to choose which style best compliments your driveway, and which finish will suit your home. The door opens with a remote, which will ensure you do not have to leave the car. All our sectional and insu-glide doors are fitted with electric operation.
More manufacturers are now offering computer-controlled drive mechanisms as these do not require any chains or screws, and the unit sits directly above the door. It leaves more garage ceiling space open for storage and is particularly helpful in garages with limited headroom.
The door’s power and speed at which it opens are two other factors that should influence your decision. Faster doors often mean a bigger cash outlay, but this feature will reduce the amount of time spent waiting for it to open. It should close slower to conform to EU safety standards.
Other safety features prevent the door from crushing objects or people. The law mandates that an electronic beam triggers when the door is in danger of hitting something, reversing the door’s direction. Computer controlled mechanisms can detect if a door is about to collide with something or if it is moving too fast. All our doors have secure multi-point locking, and the insu-glide doors have automatic motor locking.
Choose a door with enough power; larger motors normally last longer and the motor’s noise is another deciding factor when buying a garage door.
The new generation of garage doors has an enhanced security feature: random codes. Every time you open the garage with a remote control, the system generates a new random code. This measure prevents you from opening another garage and vice versa.
Several models now use this remote control and there are a number of different buttons. People with more than one garage should invest in a multiple button remote control.
Mount the controller on the wall near the garage door. This will allow the door to open without a remote controller, and a keypad will allow the door to close and still provide enough time to exit the garage.
*Based on a independently audited survey submitted to 3216 customers. The survey ran from January 2011 until April 2011 with a 70% return rate.
