Electric overhead door openers became popular in the 1970s and have evolved into a massive market with a wide variety of different kinds of automatic garage door openers for domestic and commercial garages. Motorized garage door openers took the hassle out of having to get out of the car to personally open the garage door.

There are four styles of garage door openers: chain drive, belt driven, screw driven, and jack-shaft. Each kind works in a different way and your specific requirements will direct you to the best opener for your garage door.

Details to take into account when searching for an opener:

Do you want more safety functions for your opener? If you have children, this is especially important.
Are you trying to find a very quiet opener?
Do you live in a climate with extreme temperature levels (in which a screw drive opener will be the best selection)?
Do you require remote access?
Does your garage allow ceiling installation of the opener, or do you have high ceilings (which would make a jack-shaft the most ideal choice)?
What is your budget? Chain-drive garage door openers are the least expensive of the four choices.
Chain Drive
Chain-drive overhead door are among the most popular of the four kinds of garage door opener. They are the least pricy. Although they are the noisiest of the four types, they are very durable and are a solid overhead door opener option.

Belt Drive
Because they use rubber belts, belt-drive openers are more quiet than chain drives. They cost a little bit more than chain-drive openers and are best for those with living rooms at the top of or next to the garage. There are also reduced vibrations related to this opener type.

Screw Drives
This garage door opener style is commonly used in climates with harsh temperatures since they are built to hold up against temperature changes. Screw-drive openers won't suffer from frosted chains or other weather-related issues. The tracks are plastic-lined and there is very limited servicing involved.

Jack-shaft
Jack-shaft drives are good for getting rid of that massive overhead door opener box on the ceiling of your garage. Jack-shaft openers are installed on the side wall of your garage and are great for website garages with tall ceilings. Another bonus is that they are very quiet.

Find a local garage door expert who can help you decide if you are uncertain about more info which garage door opener is most ideal for your read more garage.


Automatic garage door openers became popular in the 1970s and have evolved into a huge market with a plethora of different kinds of automatic garage door openers for residential and commercial garages. Automatic garage door openers took the inconvenience out of having to get out of the car to manually open the garage door. When safety is such an important issue, as it is with garage doors and garage door openers, it's simply better to leave it to the experts.