Electric overhead door openers became popular in the 1970s and have evolved into an enormous market with a range of different types of automated garage door openers for commercial and residential garages. Automated garage door openers took the hassle out of having to leave the car to physically open the garage door. Many garage door openers may be set up by seasoned do-it-yourselfers, but for most, installation should be entrusted to the experts. When basic safety is such an important issue, as it is with garage doors and garage door openers, it's just much better to leave it to the professionals.

There are four styles of overhead door openers: chain drive, belt drive, screw driven, and jack-shaft. Each type works in a different way and your specific requirements will lead you to the very best opener for your garage door.

Things to think of when buying an opener:

Do you prefer additional safety capabilities for your opener? If you have children, this is especially important.
Are you shopping for a very quiet opener?
Do you live in a climate with extreme temperature levels (in which a screw drive opener will be the best selection)?
Do you require remote access?
Does your garage allow ceiling installation of the opener, or do you have high ceilings (which would make a jack-shaft the most ideal choice)?
What is your budget? Chain-drive garage door openers are the least expensive of the four choices.
Chain Drive
Chain-drive garage door are the most favored of the four types of garage door opener. They are the least pricy. Although they are the noisiest of the four kinds, they are very durable and are a solid overhead door opener choice.

Belt Drive
Because they use rubber click here belts, belt-drive openers are more quiet than chain drives. They cost a bit more than chain-drive openers and are best for people with living areas above or next to the garage. There are also minimal vibrations associated with this opener type.

Screw Drives
This overhead door opener type is oftentimes website used in climates with extreme temperatures since they are developed click here to withstand temperature changes. Screw-drive openers will not suffer from iced over chains or other weather-related problems. The tracks are plastic-lined and there is very limited servicing involved.

Jack-shaft
Jack-shaft drives are good for eliminating that massive garage door opener box on the ceiling of your garage. Jack-shaft openers are attached on the side wall of your garage and are excellent for garages with high ceilings. Another advantage is that they are super silent.

Find a local garage door specialist who can assist you choose if you are not sure about which garage door opener is better for your garage.


Automatic garage door openers became popular in the 1970s and have evolved into a huge market with a plethora of different kinds of automatic garage door openers for commercial and residential garages. Automatic garage door openers took the inconvenience out of having to get out of the car to manually open the garage door. When safety is such an important issue, as it is with garage doors and garage door openers, it's simply better to leave it to the experts.