Garage Doors: An Abundance of Options

In the process of replacing your home's garage doors? If so, you might also be thinking about replacing your garage door openers. Before you spend your hard-earned money on new openers, however, there are a few things you should know.

1. You Don't Always Need New Openers With New Doors

First of all, don't assume that just because you need new garage doors, you have to replace your openers at the same time. Generally, you can expect the motor on a garage door opener to last anywhere from 10-15 years before needing to be replaced. With this in mind, if your openers are less than 10 years old and still in good working condition, you may want to put off replacing them until the motors begin to show more signs of wear and tear.

2. "Smart" Door Openers Can Be Worth the Investment

These days, there are all kinds of convenient and innovative features available on garage door openers. Consider spending a little extra money for a "smart" garage door opener that you'll be able to control through your smartphone, tablet, or similar device. Not only is this a great way to upgrade the smart technology in your home, but it can be a nice selling point if you're planning to sell your home in the near future.

3. How to Operate Your Door in a Power Outage

Before you buy a new garage door opener, be sure to ask about how the opener will be affected in the event of a power outage. Some openers will come equipped with battery backups, which will allow the motor to continue working even without power. If your opener does not have a battery backup, you'll want to be sure that you can open your garage door manually.

4. You Might Be Able to Install It Yourself

If you're looking to save some money on a new garage door opener, consider installing it yourself. Installing a garage door opener is typically not too complicated, especially if you have an existing one in place that can simply be swapped out. If you'll be installing a garage door opener for the first time, however, this is probably better left to a professional.

Replacing your home's garage door openers doesn't have to be a huge hassle or expense. By knowing what to look for in your new openers as well as how to handle the installation, you can check this home improvement project off your "to-do" list in no time.