In times past when it was time to purchase a new automatic garage door opener you the customer only had a few choices to choose from and all the garage doors were pretty much the same. Today there are many choices and most importantly the garage doors today require a garage door opener specific to the weight and operation of the garage door.
If you currently have a standard raised panel steel garage door or an old school wood garage door you can use virtually any type of drive or horsepower and as long as you buy a name brand professional garage door opener you would be ok.
If your garage door is a carriage style garage door and especially if it’s a 3 section door then the only type of garage door opener that will long term operate your carriage garage door is a screw type garage door opener. Screw drive garage door openers are available from Liftmaster, Genie and Overhead and they’re available in ½, ¾ and 1 horsepower equivalents. For a 3 section carriage garage door more horsepower is better and although a chin drive machine or belt drive machine may initially operate the garage door it won’t do it for long.
If your overhead garage door is a 4 section or more raised panel steel or wood garage door any of the different drives will work just fine. Liftmaster, Genie and Linear make an excellent selection of chain, belt and screw drive machines. A basic garage door opener installation will be a chain drive opener and if you want something a little quieter the new screw drives are pretty quiet.
Ultimately the quietest garage door openers available today are the belt drive openers with a DC motor which offers very smooth starting and stopping and almost silent motor noise.
