Garage door openers are one of the most crucial components of any working residential or commercial garage door. It’s what gets your door moving whenever you want to open or close it. The brand and model of garage door you choose greatly impacts performance, durability, and price. Making the right choice means you’ll get excellent performance for years with relatively few maintenance issues. Conversely, the wrong choice can trigger frequent frustration and costly repair bills. 

At ADP Garage Doors, we do the work to make choosing the best door opener easy. Here’s some information to help you make the best decision for your home or business. 

Differences in Garage Door Power

Years ago, garage door companies touted higher horsepower as a way to lure customers into buying stronger openers with more powerful motors. These AC motors worked well, but they’re noisy, so they’re not a terrific choice for homeowners with bedrooms on top of a garage or people who live close to neighbors. 

Now, people want a garage door opener that gets the job done and helps reduce noise whenever the garage door opens or closes. They want a mix of performance and noise reduction, all at a great price they can afford. Lately, garage door companies have shifted away from AC motors toward quieter DC motors. While they aren’t as powerful, they still get the job done but make much less noise. The latest premium garage door openers have soft start options that guarantee smooth, quiet movement for your door. 

Whether old customers ever needed so much power is a question worth asking. Now, however, garage doors use lightweight components and spring systems that don’t require as much power to open and close. The counterbalance configurations make a door’s weight less of a factor. In addition, doors are made from lighter materials that offer the same or better strength. Ensuring your garage door springs are in good condition and seeing that the door is balanced correctly is just as important as the strength of your garage door opener. 

The team at ADP Garage Doors is here to keep your garage door in the best possible condition, so you’re never left wanting a more powerful opener. In addition, preventive maintenance will make it so you can choose a quiet opener that gets the job done. 

A Few of the Best Garage Door Opener Options

Choosing the best garage door openers for your home or commercial property isn’t always easy. There are many companies and styles to choose from. Some people prefer basic models; others want all of the latest innovative technology included. We do our best to make your choices easier by narrowing the field to include premium models at good prices. Here’s a look at some of the best garage door openers on the market today. 

The Best Side Mount Garage Door Openers for Residential Homes

LiftMaster has been the leader for years when it comes to the best residential side mount openers. Most of that had to do with the fact that the other major garage door opener companies weren’t putting out competing products. Still, these have been enormously popular; especially their premium offering called the LiftMaster 8500W.

However, Genie started making its own side mount garage opener called the Genie 6170HB in 2019, and it received a warm public reception. Additionally, garage door repair and installation companies recommend it as a reliable option. 

Choosing the LiftMaster or Genie residential side mount garage door opener is hard to go wrong. Folks love the integrated control panel on the 8500W, along with features like a time screen with temperature readings. A countdown clock also shows how long the door has before it closes automatically. Finally, LiftMaster’s MyQ app is generally better than Genie’s mobile app offering. 

The Genie 6170HB, on the other hand, is smaller, making it easier to fit in tight locations and small garages. It also allows installers to skip the need for a cable tensioner, making installation and repair much easier. You also don’t have to drill new holes into the garage door tracks to attach them. The wireless control panel, so you never have to run extra wires into your garage. That saves homeowners a lot of money and avoids dealing with safety codes and other red tape. 

The Garage Door Opener with the Best Tech Features

Many garage door models promise to be the best and latest tech gadgets that every homeowner needs to complete their smart home setup. However, the LiftMaster Secure View delivers best on the promise to be the tech lover’s dream garage door opener. Model 87504-267 is extremely quiet with its custom belt drive opening mechanism. It has a built-in HD camera, and homeowners can use the garage door openers as a two-way radio between app users and whoever’s in the garage. For example, you can tell your pet to come into the house or yell at the kids to tell them it’s dinner time. 

Performance is a breeze with a 1080p night vision camera that adjusts to low light levels. It’s amazingly responsive no matter what time of day you’re coming or going. What’s more, the camera offers 360-degree views of your garage, so it doubles as a nice home security camera. 

If you’re looking for the best mix of security, performance, and technology, this model from LiftMaster is likely your best bet!

The Best All-Around Garage Door Opener

What if you’re not looking for cutting-edge tech and you want to save a little money on a new opener? For people who want the best all-around garage door opener, the Sommer 2060 is a fantastic choice. 

German engineering guarantees you’ll never worry about long-term quality. It maximizes every inch of space it occupies, and the manufacturers make it small so that it will fit in almost any garage. 

The Sommer 2060 is incredibly versatile. You can fit it on a horizontal track, and it takes up almost no room compared to some traditional opener models. But, in many instances, people will have a hard time noticing it’s even there. 

One of the best things about this model is that it comes with a lot of accessories. So you can buy add-ons as needed or stick with the basic model that performs nicely on its own.