Openers get sold on horsepower, and that is the wrong way round. The springs lift the door. The opener only guides it. Once the drive is strong enough for the door, more power buys you nothing except a louder motor.
Start with one question
What is on the other side of the garage wall and ceiling?
A bedroom above the garage changes the answer completely. So does a detached garage at the end of the drive where nobody hears it. Answer that first and the choice narrows to one or two options.
The four drive types
| Drive | Noise | Upkeep | Suits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Belt | Quietest | Lowest | A bedroom, office or living room above or beside the garage. An attached garage in a house where people sleep near it. |
| Chain | Loudest | Needs lubrication | Detached garages, heavy doors, and anywhere the noise does not reach a bedroom. The workhorse, and the cheapest. |
| Screw | Middle | Low | Fewer moving parts than either. Handles heat well, which matters in an inland garage that bakes in summer. |
| Wall mount | Quiet | Low | Low headroom, high or cathedral garage ceilings, or when you want the ceiling clear for storage or a lift. |
Belt drive
A reinforced rubber belt instead of a metal chain. The difference is not subtle. If a bedroom shares a wall or floor with the garage, this is the one, and it is the most common upgrade we fit for people who have lived with a chain for years.
Chain drive
A metal chain running along the rail. Loud in the way a bicycle chain is loud, plus vibration through the ceiling. It is durable, it is inexpensive, and on a detached garage it is a sensible choice that nobody regrets.
Screw drive
A threaded steel rod that the trolley rides along. Fewer parts to fail, which is its main argument. Older screw drives had a reputation for struggling with temperature swings, and modern ones handle it far better.
Wall mount, also called a jackshaft
Mounts on the wall beside the door and turns the torsion bar directly. Nothing on the ceiling at all. It is the answer when headroom is tight, when the ceiling is high, or when you want that space back. It needs a torsion spring system to work, so it is not an option on a door running extension springs.
California requires a battery backup
Under SB 969, every residential opener sold or installed in California since 1 July 2019 must have a battery backup that works during a power cut. This is not optional and it is not a sales upsell. Every current model from the major manufacturers includes one, because they cannot sell into California otherwise. The full explanation.
Horsepower, briefly
Ratings usually run from about half a horsepower up to one and a quarter. The honest guidance:
- A single door is comfortable on the lower end
- A standard double door wants the middle
- A heavy double, insulated, wood, or carriage style, wants the upper end
Going higher than the door needs does not make it open better. It makes the motor work below its rated load, which is not a benefit anyone can feel. What actually changes how the door runs is spring balance, and a door that feels sluggish almost always has a spring problem rather than an opener problem. Fitting a bigger motor to a badly balanced door hides the fault and wears the new opener out early.
Features worth paying for, and features that are noise
Worth it:
- Battery backup. Required by law here, and the reason the law exists is worth reading
- Rolling code security. The code changes every use. Fixed-code units from the mid 1990s and earlier can be triggered by a neighbour's remote
- Soft start and stop. Less shock through the whole door, which means less wear on hinges, rollers and springs
- A second remote and an outside keypad. Cheap, and you will use both
Judge for yourself:
- Wi-Fi and phone control. Genuinely useful if you take deliveries or have family arriving when you are out. Pointless if you never use it, and it is the feature people pay for and forget
- Built-in camera. Nice, though a standalone camera usually does it better and costs less
- Very bright LED lighting. Good, with one catch below
The LED bulb trap
Cheap LED bulbs broadcast interference across the same frequency band garage remotes use. Fit a few in or near the opener and the symptom is a remote that works at the driveway but not from inside the car.
If your range dropped after changing a bulb, that is the cause. Bulbs rated for garage door openers fix it. More on this.
Repair or replace
Most companies will tell you a 15 year old opener needs replacing. We usually will not.
Keep it if the motor runs, the gear is intact, the safety sensors respond, and it has rolling code security. A small part often buys three more years.
Replace it if it fails the auto-reverse test and cannot be adjusted back, if it has stripped gears twice, if it uses a fixed code, or if it lacks a battery backup and you want the door to open in a blackout.
How to test the safety system yourself →
Thinking about a new opener? Tell us what is above and beside the garage, whether your door is single or double, and whether it is insulated. That is usually enough for us to narrow it to one recommendation before we arrive. Estimates on site are free.