The average lifespan of a garage door is dependent on the springs that come installed in the garage doors.
This spring has a lifespan of cycles, on average, it lasts around 10,000 cycles.
This average lifespan cycle can vary from brand to brand and product to product, it may go up to 25,000 cycles.
So, if you use your garage door almost every day, that makes a lifespan of around 10-years.
But what about the lifespan of the garage door opener? How long does a garage door opener last?
With every garage door, will you have to install a new garage door, or the old one will work just fine? This is where we are going to help you.
In this long-detailed guide, we will walk you through garage door opener, their lifespan, their purpose, and how can you ensure that your opener lasts long.
Let’s learn the types of garage door openers first and check which one of them suits you the most.
Types of Garage door Openers
Keep in mind, that not all garage door openers will suit your needs. Garage doors come in different sizes, different needs, and requirements, and budget ranges too.
You carefully look at them and see which one of them falls right on your requirements.
Don’t fall for the aesthetics, or buy a product just because your neighbor has installed it.
Check what you want, and after a careful inspection, go with the type of opener.
1. Torsion Spring drove Garage Door Opener
Well, I did not want to add this type to the list, because they are expensive, and people hardly have them installed for their regular residential garage doors.
Yes, big brands like them, and you may find them installed in big parking.
They operate using a torsion spring, but operate faster and less noisy, but way too expensive, and hard for residential users to have installed.
2. Chain driven Garage Door Opener
chain-driven garage doors openers are the most used and installed openers in the USA, for a reason.
They are very economical, easy to use, and handle big massive garage metal and wooden doors.
You don’t have to worry about them providing shaky or wobble experiences for heavy doors.
But they are very noisy, if you have your bedroom near the garage, they might disrupt your peace.
But, at the same time, that noise adds extra security and safety layers, if someone tries to break into your garage door, the noise can alert you and make you prepare for that.
Again, they are economical, most used, easy to install, but noisy and require regular maintenance.
3. Belt Driven Garage Door Openers
Belt-driven garage doors are the most modern and are in trends garage door openers.
They run on the belt rather than metal chains, faster, quieter, and easy to operate.
They are smoother, and faster too, but a tinier expensive than chain-driven garage door openers.
But, at the same time, they can’t hold big heavy metal doors, wooden doors, or double garage doors. Yes, good for a lightweight single garage door.
4. Jackshaft garage door opener
If you want a high-quality garage door opener, the one that works fast and secures your property from intruders better, go with jackshaft garage doors.
Their construction is reliable and sturdiness is unmatchable, they handle all-weight doors, and are a great suit for cathedral doors or high storage places.
5. Screw drive garage door opener
This type of door requires minimal maintenance and comes in handy at an affordable price range.
They consist of a long metal rod that makes the door gets opened and closed.
The only negative side of them is they don’t last long, their threads wear out quickly, especially in a humid region.
Average Lifespan of a Garage Door Opener
A good quality constructed garage door opener can last for around 10-15 years, if you maintain the door opener last.
Actually, most of us don’t think much of the opener, as long as it is working.
We hardly pay attention to its maintenance, if it is working fine. We pay attention to it only when it malfunctions, or is worn out completely and required replacement.
Keep in mind, that a garage door opener, like any mechanical product, does not last forever.
It lasts only 10-15 years, only case if you take good care of it, and it comes from a good brand that really pays attention to the quality of its products.
Sometimes, some parts of the opener start losing, we don’t pay attention to them, and the entire opener wears out.
You should check the date of manufacturing of the opener, see its different parts, and check if they require any replacement.
Even when you don’t know the expiring date of the garage door opener, you should inspect different parts of it, especially the metal part or metal housing.
Top Signs your Opener is Malfunctioning
Before your garage door opener stops working, completely malfunctioned, or is worn out, it shows many signs.
You must pay attention to those tiny signs and get them fixed as quickly as possible before your opener dies.
Noise
With time, the garage door opener starts losing its power. It becomes hard for the motor to lift the heavy metal garage door.
If your motor is losing its power, or the garage door is malfunctioning, you will start to hear different types of noises such as creaking noise, clanging noise squeaking noise, and other different types noises.
Opens and close too quickly
You may find it useful that your door is getting faster, and opens or closes very fast. But that too is a sign of malfunction.
Other than that, this can cause an injury, sometimes if the springs are dead or malfunctioning, they can slam the door close, which can hurt someone in the middle of the door. Have a notice of that, and fix it as quickly as possible.
Opening and closing faster is a sign of malfunctioning, but if it is happening otherwise; the door is taking longer to process than usual, this too is a sign of something bad is near to happen.
So, have an in-depth inspection, and check different parts of it making it slower than before.
Vibration
The vibration of the motor too is a sign of old age. That means, the garage door is wearing out, and its internal parts have started losing power. It got armatures, which with time start
losing its power, and sometimes you may have to replace them.
If you don’t give attention to this vibration, because it gradually increases, and you get to use the vibration unless someone else tells you about the vibration of the motor, or you notice that in someone’s garage door opener which is quieter and non-shaky compare to yours.
If you don’t get the vibration fixed, keep in mind, that the garage metal door can free itself from mounting in the wall and may end up on your car.
Not opening
You are ready for your business or job, press the garage remote control open button and the garage is not opening?
Its engine is sounding a humming noise, it tries to open the garage door but does not get that opened.
If that’s your case, that means the engine does not have the power to open it, the engine is trying hard to open it, but no response.
In some cases, there can be more than one reason for the garage door not opening or being stuck closed. You will have to give a detailed inspection to diagnose the issues.
Unpredictable
You see that sometimes the garage door gets opened on your command, and sometime it responds late, and sometimes it does not respond at all.
Or sometimes, it may take a lifetime to get the door opened, if it is happening with you, that is the time to get the door replaced, or at least have a professional inspection.
These were some common malfunctions, if you start to witness any of them, get them fixed right away.
But, can all malfunctions or issues be fixed? How would I know if that’s the time to get my garage door replaced?
Top reasons for garage door opener replacement
Some malfunctions, issues, or problems can be fixed with a garage door opener.
But there are some, if you start to witness them, you should replace the garage door right away.
Keep in mind, that it can happen even after a few years of installing the garage door opener.
You can’t say like, I had it installed a few years back, how could it be replaced so fast.
Production Date
All garage door openers come with a label. That label tells us about everything regarding the opener.
Its lifespan, date of installation, manufacturers, and many more. So, from there you can get an idea about the production date and expiration of the opener.
If it has been more than 15 years, and now the garage door has started showing many little malfunctions, it is time to replace it.
But what if you don’t have an idea about its lifespan, I mean, if you have bought the house with a garage door and opener installed.
In that case, you see if there are a series of issues you have been facing for a good long time, and it has been more than 10-years, you living in that house, it is the time to replace it.
Security and safety features
If security and safety features have started showing their concerns, and you have repeatedly fixed them, maybe the security or safety features have worn out, and have lived their lifespan.
Safety features such as photo eyes, security Pin, sensors, or control from the smartphones.
Burglary
If there has been more than one successful burglary attempt, maybe you have an old garage system installed.
Old garage systems lack modern features such as motion sensors, and many others.
Older models have only a few selected codes that an experienced burglar can easily hack and attempt breaking in within a few minutes.
Noise
Yes, old garage doors openers are very loud, especially if you have a garage near your home or bedroom.
The noise can be a reason you should replace the garage door openers because older ones are creak and Loudy, especially the ones with the chain drive mechanism.
Other inconvenience
There is more than one reason other than the above-mentioned to replace your garage door opener.
Most of the time, the old garage door opener does not come with electric power backup or batteries.
If there is a power outage, you would not be able to get the old garage door functional.
The same goes with some brands too. If the garage door you have installed belongs to a brand that does not exist or whose services can’t be found that easily, for that too, you should think of replacing the garage door, only if the garage door opener is old.
How to Increase the lifespan of a Garage Door?
In the last section, we want to help you with your door last longer.
If you follow these tips, I am sure you will enjoy a longer lifespan of your garage door opener.
Use Your Door as Less as You can
Well, it might look like an absurd suggestion, but in reality, it is true.
The garage door tracks come installed with the springs, these springs come with a lifespan cycle.
For instance, it can be 10,000 cycles of the springs, the more you open and close the door, the more cycles will be consumed and lesser will remain for you to spend.
I am not saying you should start parking your car outside of your house, I am saying if not necessary, don’t park in the garage.
Like if you are at home for a few hours, rather than standing it in the garage, park it outside or in the front of the garage.
Inspect the hardware
Garage doors come with lots of nuts, bolts, screws, and many other parts that pull them together.
These components over time can loosen and lead to serious accidents or injury to you and the door itself.
So, whenever you get some time, inspect the hardware, and check if anything is missed, or cracked so that you could fix them on time.
Check the door’s balance
Yes, if the door is imbalanced, that means, sooner or later it will show malfunctions.
To check the balance, but the garage door is on manual mode. Pull the red cord on the back of the motor, and open the door halfway.
If the door is balanced, it will be at its place where you leave it, or it will slam close.
If it does not stay where you leave it, call a technician and get the balance correctly aligned.
Maintenance
Last but not least is maintenance. If it is a chain-driven garage door, you must lubricate the metal chains and their moving parts on regular basis.
Not only chain but other garage door opener too, lubricate their hinges, roller, and other moving parts.
If it is a paneled door, you should lubricate the panels too, which are holding the different parts together.
Before you do maintenance, it is always better to have a look at the user manual.
In the manual, you will see everything in detail about maintaining the garage door.
Conclusion
In this guide, we tried to answer the lifespan of a garage door opener.
As we mentioned, a garage door opener does not last a lifetime contrary to what is established in your surrounding.
We also tried to mention when or not you should replace your garage door opener.
If the garage door opener is before 1993, you should replace it as quickly as possible because that can be easy prey for intruders.
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