• Menu
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to secondary navigation
  • Skip to main content

Before Header

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

This Electric Home

Keeping It Clean, Quiet, and Easy

  • Blog
  • About Us
  • Disclosure
  • Privacy Policy
  • Blog
  • About Us
  • Disclosure
  • Privacy Policy
  • Home Maintenance
    • Air Compressors
    • Carpet Cleaners
    • Pressure Washers
      • Greenworks
      • Homdox
      • Ryobi
      • Stanley
      • Sun Joe
    • Snow Blowers
      • Electric
      • Single Stage
      • Two-Stage
      • Ariens
        • Ariens Compact 24
        • Ariens Deluxe 24
        • Ariens Deluxe 28″
      • Honda
      • Husqvarna
        • Husqvarna ST224P
      • Troy-Bilt
        • Troy-Bilt Squall 2100
    • Water Purification
      • Reverse Osmosis Systems
      • Water Softeners
      • Whole-House Water Filters
        • Aquasana
      • Under-Sink Water Filters
  • Home Climate
    • Air Purifier For Smoke
    • Electric Fireplace
      • Dimplex
      • Duraflame
      • Corner
      • Free Standing
      • Infrared
      • Linear
      • TV Stands
      • Wall Mount
    • Dehumidifiers
    • Dehumidifiers for Basements
    • Garage Heaters
      • Fahrenheat
      • King Electric
      • ProFusion
    • Tower Fans
    • Window Air Conditioners
  • Home Necessities
    • Food and Drinks
      • Cold Brew Coffee Makers
      • Electric Tea Kettles
      • Hot Plates
      • Electric Skillets
      • Electric Grills
      • Charcoal Smokers
      • Electric Smokers
      • Pellet Smokers
      • Propane Smokers
      • Pellet Stoves
      • Wood Stoves
    • Garage Door Openers
      • Quiet
      • WiFi
      • Chamberlain
        • Chamberlain B550
        • Chamberlain B970
        • Chamberlain WD832KEV
      • LiftMaster
        • LiftMaster 8355
        • Liftmaster 8500
        • Liftmaster 8550W
      • Ryobi
  • Leisure
    • Electric Skateboards
    • Home Relaxation
      • Bathroom Vanities
      • Infrared Sauna
      • Massage Chairs
      • Oil Diffusers
      • Sleeping Needs
        • Futons
          • For Everyday Sleeping
        • Mattress Toppers
    • Paitball Guns
  • Pets
    • Air Purifier For Pets
    • Aquarium Heaters
    • Automatic Dog Feeder
    • Carpet Cleaners for Pets
    • Dog Clippers
    • Electric Dog Fence
      • Extreme
      • GPS
      • Halo
      • PetSafe
      • Sit Boo-Boo
      • SportDOG
      • SpotOn vs. Halo
      • SpotOn
      • WIEZ
    • Self-Cleaning Litter Boxes
  • Contact
  • Disclosure
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Home Maintenance
    • Air Compressors
    • Carpet Cleaners
    • Pressure Washers
      • Greenworks
      • Homdox
      • Ryobi
      • Stanley
      • Sun Joe
    • Snow Blowers
      • Electric
      • Single Stage
      • Two-Stage
      • Ariens
        • Ariens Compact 24
        • Ariens Deluxe 24
        • Ariens Deluxe 28″
      • Honda
      • Husqvarna
        • Husqvarna ST224P
      • Troy-Bilt
        • Troy-Bilt Squall 2100
    • Water Purification
      • Reverse Osmosis Systems
      • Water Softeners
      • Whole-House Water Filters
        • Aquasana
      • Under-Sink Water Filters
  • Home Climate
    • Air Purifier For Smoke
    • Electric Fireplace
      • Dimplex
      • Duraflame
      • Corner
      • Free Standing
      • Infrared
      • Linear
      • TV Stands
      • Wall Mount
    • Dehumidifiers
    • Dehumidifiers for Basements
    • Garage Heaters
      • Fahrenheat
      • King Electric
      • ProFusion
    • Tower Fans
    • Window Air Conditioners
  • Home Necessities
    • Food and Drinks
      • Cold Brew Coffee Makers
      • Electric Tea Kettles
      • Hot Plates
      • Electric Skillets
      • Electric Grills
      • Charcoal Smokers
      • Electric Smokers
      • Pellet Smokers
      • Propane Smokers
      • Pellet Stoves
      • Wood Stoves
    • Garage Door Openers
      • Quiet
      • WiFi
      • Chamberlain
        • Chamberlain B550
        • Chamberlain B970
        • Chamberlain WD832KEV
      • LiftMaster
        • LiftMaster 8355
        • Liftmaster 8500
        • Liftmaster 8550W
      • Ryobi
  • Leisure
    • Electric Skateboards
    • Home Relaxation
      • Bathroom Vanities
      • Infrared Sauna
      • Massage Chairs
      • Oil Diffusers
      • Sleeping Needs
        • Futons
          • For Everyday Sleeping
        • Mattress Toppers
    • Paitball Guns
  • Pets
    • Air Purifier For Pets
    • Aquarium Heaters
    • Automatic Dog Feeder
    • Carpet Cleaners for Pets
    • Dog Clippers
    • Electric Dog Fence
      • Extreme
      • GPS
      • Halo
      • PetSafe
      • Sit Boo-Boo
      • SportDOG
      • SpotOn vs. Halo
      • SpotOn
      • WIEZ
    • Self-Cleaning Litter Boxes
This article may contain affiliate links, read our disclosure for details.

How Garage Door Openers Work

October 14, 2018 //  by Tom Collins

Garage door openers are wonderful things. They are very handy when you come home from a long day of work. You pull into the drive way and with a quick click of the remote, the garage door opens smoothly and you drive right into the garage. Avoiding all of the elements of rain, snow and wind. You are now able to park your car and retrieve to your safe haven in your house. The garage door opener is great gadget. Lets look and see how it really works.

Early garage door openers worked by using radio transmitters and receivers. These simple radio transmitters and receivers were all the same. This was a problem because one remote would open all garage doors. Imagine your neighbor pulling up in front of your garage and clicking their remote. Your garage door would open exposing all of the good tools and machines you have hidden in there. That was not good. The garage door opener needed to be reevaluated. It needed to be reconstructed so that one remote did not open all of garage doors when pointed at them.

Yellow Lamborghini

Modern day garage door openers are little more technical. They work much smoother and have better security in place. Each garage door opener has its own remote for that opener. The neighbor can no longer come over with their remote and open your garage door without your permission. The modern day garage door openers are actually radios. They operate at 315 MHz. When the remote button is pressed, the opener hears a signal given off by the transmitter and the motor starts working on the garage door opener.

There is a binary number that is encoded in the radio signal of the modern day garage door opener. When the remote (the transmitter) is pressed, the receiver (the garage door opener) looks for the matching binary code. If the receiver hears the correct binary code, the door opens. In order for the security on the garage door to work correctly, a new code is generated each time the remote is pressed. The transmitter and the receiver are aligned with the same chip so that they generate the same code at the same time. This prevents thieves from listening with a radio and picking up the code that the garage door opener uses. The codes that the transmitter and receiver use are different every time.

There are also wifi controlled garage door openers. These garage door openers are more for the tech savvy. They actually hook up to your wifi and you can control the garage door opener with your smart phone, from anywhere. These garage door openers are like computers and the signals are passed to each other using wifi. This is more of a high tech garage door opener with video security. This type of garage door opener is not for everyone. It is an option out there, but is only available to smart phone users.

Garage door openers work using either a trolley system or a direct drive. When the receiver picks up the signal the transmitter motor starts running. The motor causes the trolley system to lift the garage door. When the trolley system is working it is connected to the arm on the bottom of the garage door. when the trolley begins moving,the door begins to lift into position.The chain trolley is really used just like a pulley system. The chain starts at the bottom arm of the garage door and continues to the back of the garage wall. The fact that the trolley system works like a pulley is really an advantage of this type of system. If the garage door opener is malfunctioning or the power is out there will not be an issue opening the garage door. With this type of system, you can use the chain trolley which represents a pulley to open the door right open.

Work gloves on work bench.

There are three types of trolley systems used. They are the chain drive, screw drive and belt drive. Depending on which drive is used, depends on the cost and the noise level the garage door makes when it opens and closes. The screw drive has a threaded steel rod that is used to work the trolley that opens and closes the garage door. This mechanism lowers and lifts at the rod states. It is much quieter than the chain drive and has less pieces to the garage door opener. The belt drive is a garage door opener that is opened using a trolley also. However, it uses a belt instead of a chain or a rod. The belt is much quieter and requires less maintenance.

The direct drive is another garage door opener that is used. It does not use a chain, belt or rod. This type of garage door opener is very quiet and ideal for any situation. The motor of the garage door opener is what move the trolley itself. There are no other pieces needed to move the trolley.

The garage door opener itself plugs into the wall. The remote that directs the garage door opener runs on batteries and there is usually a switch on the wall of the garage that also controls the garage door opener. You want to make sure other electronic devices are not being used or plugged into in the garage. If they are plugged it, it can cause problems with the radio frequencies that the are being given off by the garage door openers. The frequency waves can cross, which makes the garage door opener not work properly. There are also safety sensors on garage doors. These sensors are in place to stop the garage door from closing if something or someone runs underneath.

Modern day garage door openers are very simple to use. If installed properly, they can really make your life easier. Garage door openers have really evolved over the years. They are becoming easier and more efficient to use. Garage door openers really aid in day to day life.

Category: Garage Door Openers

About Tom Collins

Hey, I’m Tom Collins!

General contractor extraordinaire, I have a flair for testing out and reviewing some of the best home products money can buy. My team’s reviews have helped thousands of folks across the globe and my career in home improvement has given me a lot of insight into what makes a good, lasting product, and what is just crap.

Poke around, explore, and welcome to This Electric Home!

Previous Post: « Electric Skateboard Tricks
Next Post: Why Does My Water Taste Like Metal? »
  • Contact
  • Disclosure
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions

Copyright © 2023 This Electric Home · All Rights Reserved · Powered by Mai Theme