Neighborhood Garage Door Service of Orange, CA has been in business for over 20 years. In that time, we’ve seen countless advancements in garage door construction and technology. One particular area that has seen a lot of innovation is garage door security and safety. These are the two most important areas of concern because they should be the top priority for you, as well as the garage door industry. What kind of advancements have been made?
Garage Door Safety
One of the greatest improvements in garage door safety has been the automatic reversal function. All overhead roll up doors are required by federal regulation to come equipped with this function. It works on a pressure system. If the door encounters any kind of obstruction while closing, the opener will register it and automatically reverse itself to prevent damage or injury. If an object such as your vehicle, or a person or pet is bumped by the door, it will reverse. This has drastically reduced incidents of garage door related injuries.
Another big innovation is the addition of sensors at the bottom of the garage door entryway. This pair of sensors emit and receive a laser beam. If the beam is broken by an object, person, or animal, it automatically reverses the door. The pressure based automatic reversal is great, but these sensors are designed to prevent contact at all. If a child is running through the doorway while it is rolling down, the door will reverse before ever reaching the child.
Garage Door Security
Garage door security has also come a long way over the years. When garage door openers became common place, they were an advancement in security already. They resist being opened manually unless the emergency pull cord is engaged, which is located inside the garage. Then, along came remote control openers. Eventually, people found ways around the security features built in, and could use any remote to open any garage. New methods developed as each new generation was broken by hackers. Now, remote controls are virtually unhackable thanks to rolling RF codes.
Recently, automatic timers have become a popular feature for newer openers. A custom time-frame can be set so that your garage door will close automatically if you forget to. This means that if you are busy, or your hands are full as you enter your home through the garage, you don’t have to worry about it staying open all day or night.
As with almost every other part of our lives, there are now garage door smartphone apps. These apps can completely replace your remote opener. But they also go further, adding features that no regular remote could do. You can open the garage door from anywhere you have an internet connection. This means that if you child calls or texts you to say that they forgot their key and are locked out, you can open it from where you are. You can also use your app from anywhere to set temporary passcodes that you can share and give access to a friend or family member. They can be set to time out, or expire after a specified number of uses. You can also get alerts any time the door is opened.
Exterior lights are a simple security measure. They aren’t a new feature, but are nonetheless effective. Simply lighting up your garage door with lighting serves as a deterrent to a would-be intruder. The more visible they are while attempting to break in, the less likely they are to try. Lighting can come in different forms. You can use simple floodlights. You can also match your home’s look better by using decorative fixtures. Both will have the same effect.
If you’re ready for an upgrade to your garage door security and safety, give Neighborhood Garage Door Service of Orange, CA a call. We can help you pick the perfect new door or opener for your needs. We can also install it quickly and professionally. We’re standing by, ready to help.
