Why Choose a Garage Opener with a Battery Backup?
Does your garage door opener have a battery backup? While these are becoming more popular with newer garage doors, they are not a part of many of the systems on the market and in peoples’ homes today. Many people are not even aware that there is an option for a battery backup with some types of garage door openers, and they may not know why they are important.
Power outages could occur when there is damage to a power pole or transformer in your area when there are storms when there are rolling blackouts, natural disasters, and more. There are many things that could cause your power to be cut. If your car is in the garage at the time, it means that you will not be able to use the garage door opener to get out unless you have a battery backup, and that will require the manual opening of the door. This can present its own set of problems for some people, as mentioned below.
How Does the Garage Opener Battery Backup Work?
Most of the backup batteries will have a lifespan of about three years. The batteries are typically rechargeable, but that is not the case with all of them. Regardless of whether they are rechargeable or not, they are easy to replace. These will attach to your system, and they will be able to provide you with about 20 open and close cycles before running out of power and needing to be replaced or recharged. Hopefully, the power will be back on long before that happens.
In most cases, garage opener backup battery will connect to the opener itself. In some instances, the battery will have separate housing. It will depend on the model. Whenever the power goes out, the backup will kick in automatically. It should be seamless, so you can get into and out of the home like you normally do. Keep in mind that once the power has been restored, the battery will need to be recharged or potentially replaced.
California Requires Garage Door Openers with Battery Backups
As of July 1, 2019, new garage door and garage door openers that are installed in the state of California will need to have battery backup technology installed. This new requirement stems from wildfires that occurred in 2017. During the wildfires, there were many power outages, which meant that many people were not able to open up their garage doors with their remotes or manually. With the batteries, it will still allow the garage door to operate if there is a power outage, so people will be able to get themselves and their vehicles out of their garage in the event of an emergency and they are told to evacuate.
Check the Battery and Replace When Needed
If you have a backup battery, it can help when there is a power outage. However, it can only help if it has enough of a charge. Many batteries, such as LiftMaster openers with battery backups, will have LED lights on the opener that will let you know how much of a charge the opener has and whether a battery might need to be recharged or replaced. They will often have an audio alert, as well, which can be helpful for those who are unable to see the light.
You will eventually have to replace the batter. Whether you are taking it out for recharging or you are putting in a new battery, you need to be familiar with how to do it. It tends to be easy, but you will want to refer to the manufacturer’s instructions. Instead of waiting until the battery is actually in need of replacement to learn how to do the replacement, though, you should become familiar with how to do it now.
What Else Should You Know in the Event of an Emergency?
Many people who were unable to get out of their homes during the wildfires did not have a good understanding of how their garage door systems worked, and they were not aware that they could have pulled on the emergency cord, which would then disconnect the door from the opener. Once the cord is pulled, you will hear a popping sound, which will indicate that it is no longer connected. At that point, it is possible to open up the garage door manually.
Although this seems easy to do, that’s not always the case. Those who are elderly and those who have disabilities are not always able to do those things. This means that during emergencies, there is a chance that without a battery backup, they will not be able to get out of the home.
While some people may be able to call for help, not everyone has this luxury. In the case of the wildfires, when people were being evacuated, they needed to have their cars to flee. In addition, people were not always allowed to come into the areas to help people who were being evacuated, so those who were trapped would have to wait until help from the authorities arrived. The new law hopes to avoid these problems in the future. Only time will tell if the law helps.
Do You Need a New Garage Door Opener System?
Not all of the garage door systems that are in place across the country right now have battery backups. However, as you have seen above, they can be quite helpful in the event of an emergency. If your current garage opener is without a battery for backup, it might be time that you updated your system. Getting a better system will also ensure that you have all of the new features and benefits of the updated systems, as well. For example, it is possible to use your garage door opener through applications on the phone in many cases today, which can be quite helpful, since you won’t have to worry about losing yet another remote.
Resource:
https://blog.liftmaster.com/california-will-require-battery-backup-in-2019/
https://www.doityourself.com/stry/how-does-a-garage-door-opener-battery-backup-work
https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6598350975956770816
