Cutting-Edge Garage Door Technology

The garage is keeping pace with the technological advances moving into the modern home. While garage door openers started out as simple mechanism for opening and closing the door, they are rapidly evolving into integrated electronic devices that predict and respond to our household needs before we even become aware of them ourselves.

Garage door openers, and the doors themselves, saw many changes in design and construction during the last decades. One of the first technological advances was the introduction of photo-eye sensors and door reversing mechanisms for preventing people and pets from getting trapped under a closing door, introduced in 1993. Soon after that, remote-control openers, back-up battery systems, and more advanced springs, rollers, and tracks also became available.

Garage doors started out as large, rigid panels which opened as a single unit by swinging outward, then up. These types of doors are harder to lift manually during an emergency and are also potentially more dangerous if they get out of control. Now, most garage doors are made with horizontal, sectional panels tied together with hinges. These newer designs take less energy to lift and are safer and easier to install.

The garage space itself has also evolved from being a utilitarian space for keeping the car out of the elements to the main entrance to the home in many households. As cars become smaller, and auto paints become even more forgiving of outdoor storage, the garage continues to evolve into a multi-purpose space for household uses ranging from laundry room to artist studio to fully-equipped granny unit.

It is hard to say exactly what the future of the garage will be, but we can say that the future is already here with some of the cutting-edge garage door technology already available.

Controlling Your Garage Door from Anywhere

Driving off from home, and then having to return to check if you left the garage door open, is now a thing of the past. New garage door openers are integrated with smartphones and can be accessed from anywhere. Simply log onto the app, and you can check the status of the door on your phone or computer. If you left it open, you can close it with a flick of your finger from wherever you are.

Since the garage door is the main entrance to many homes now, controlling it from anywhere also means an end to worries about how to let a child in after school, how to give access to a delivery person, or how to let in unexpected guests who just arrived from out of town.

This smartphone adapted garage door technology also goes both ways: If someone comes in through the door, the opener can alert you with a text message. New, advanced garage door openers can communicate with you, giving you more control over home security. Smartphone controlled garage door technology also means you do not have to carry keys or a garage door opener remote control when you leave home.

Garage Doors with Home Monitoring Systems

Besides giving you remote control over the garage door and giving you real-time alerts when someone uses the door, new garage door opening systems can also monitor and record what happens with the door. This can be useful for creating a record of when your children come and go from the house or for keeping track of babysitters or other household workers and visitors.

The most advanced garage door opening systems are also integrated with other devices in the home, like temperature control units, lighting, and security systems. These devices now have the capacity for communicating with each other to create a home that adapts itself automatically to your activities without you having to do the thinking.

Installing an advanced garage door control system is not necessarily expensive or complicated. If you already have a smartphone and Internet connectivity at home, downloading an app and moving the router closer to the garage, or installing a router extender, may be all you need to do, besides buying and installing the unit itself. Once the unit is installed and connected, there are no ongoing charges.

There are even adapters available for retrofitting an existing garage door opener and turning a smartphone into the remote control device.

To find out more about cutting-edge garage door technologies available now, contact your local garage door professional and make an appointment.

Sources:

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/02/09/garage-door-opener-technology-makes-life-safer/

http://www.wsj.com/articles/review-why-a-smart-home-starts-in-the-garage-1433871673