For modern homeowners, most of the following features can make a garage door opener more convenient in numerous ways:
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Remotes
One of the most convenient things about an electric garage door is that you can activate its movements via remote control. Garage doors use wall-mount buttons or keypads, where you enter a private code that opens or closes the door. There’s also usually a remote to allow opening and closing from the inside. Additionally, most homeowners use handheld remotes to activate the door externally. Most wall mounts are compatible with single as well as multiple garage door units.
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Manual release
There might be times when you want to raise and lower the garage door manually rather than via remote control. For times like these, there’s the manual release feature, which allows you to disengage the door from its electric mechanisms. This way, you can raise the door to whichever height you need it to be at any given time.
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Security light
Whether you’re coming or going, it’s good to have light from overhead as you walk or drive your vehicle through an open garage door. For added convenience, modern garage doors are usually installed with security lights that automatically power on whenever the door is activated. This way, you can easily see your way inside when pulling your car into the garage after dark. Unlike regular garage lights, the security light will also power off after a few minutes of inactivity.
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Key-chain remote
For remote activation of your garage door from your car or from inside your house, most door openers come with miniature remote devices that can fit to your key-chain. When you’re pulling into your driveway, you don’t have to hop out of your car to activate the door — you can use the control attached to your key-chain instead. If you don’t enjoy waiting for your garage door to go up, you can even prompt the door to open up from down the block.
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Home automation system with your garage door opener
Modern homeowners are increasingly adopting home automation systems, which allow you to control a multitude of prompts, including the garage door, simply by voicing a request. This way, if your kids have been out playing and you want to let them enter the house through the garage door, you could simply say something like, “Alexa, open the garage door,” and the door will open.
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Wi-Fi integration
Another feature that can be added to many of the newer opening systems is Wi-Fi, which makes it possible to control a garage door from anywhere on a smartphone or tablet. Arguably, this is better than a home automation system, because Wi-Fi allows you to control and monitor things from anywhere. You don’t even have to be within a certain radius of your property to make this work.
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Vehicle compatibility
Certain newer cars are being manufactured with built-in smart technology. These vehicles operate much like smart homes, where lights and doors can be activated by prompts or voice commands. When you have the prompts for your garage door integrated with the smart technology of a vehicle, you don’t even need a key-chain remote because door activation can be prompted from the smart system within your car.
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Auto-close
An auto close function allows you to pre-program your garage door to be lowered at a certain time, be it five, ten or thirty minutes later. For example, on hotter days, you might keep your garage door open for a select period of time after you’ve parked and gone inside.
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Battery backup
When power lines go down, the experience is more than annoying. When you consider all the electrically powered equipment in your house, a blackout can be a scary prospect. With a battery backup to your garage door opener, the door will still open when the power goes out.
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LED Lights
On certain remote control units, LED lights will activate when problems arise with your garage opener. This allows you to stay on top of any maintenance issues that might develop with the system.