Select the Appropriate Opener for a Custom Garage Door
Homeowners who choose to install unique, well-built custom garage doors should also invest in a high quality custom garage door opener.
Grand Timber Doors makes highly insulated custom garage doors and trusts just one brand of opener, the
LiftMaster.
Custom wood garage doors are heavier than typical doors and standard openers tend to wear down over the years. Grand Timber Doors recommends that any custom garage door be operated by a 3/4 horsepower opener. Using a 1/2 horsepower motor generally leads to maintenance issues over time. The LiftMaster Elite Series of openers runs on a 3/4 horse power motor strong and durable enough to lift these heavy custom doors without fail each and every time.
Grand Timber Doors has come to rely on the quality of the LiftMaster Elite Series custom garage door openers to safely and securely lift all the doors it creates. Some of the benefits of the LiftMaster Elite Series, include:
- The ability to lift doors up to 14 feet tall depending on weight;
- Excellent performance in extreme weather conditions thanks to a high efficiency motor;
- Programmable security codes;
- Safety sensors to stop the door from closing on objects or people;
- The patented PosiLock system to keep the door secure when closed;
- The patented Motor Vibration Isolation System to make the LiftMaster 3595 the quietest chain driven door on the market;
- And several other convenience, safety and security features.
After investing in a beautiful, custom garage door, be sure to invest in a quality garage door opener as well.
Benefits of Garage Door Insulation
When people look to upgrade a home or build a new house, they rarely consider adding garage door insulation to the list of must have necessities. However, a well-insulated garage door has several benefits for homeowners. These benefits include increased energy efficiency and thus utility cost savings, reducing a home's carbon footprint, and keeping homes and garages warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer.
Save Money
As with home insulation, higher R-values protect better against the heat and cold. Most garage door manufacturers use wood frames with polystyrene material to insulate garage doors. These wood based sections provide an R-value in the 5-7 range. For comparison, Energy Star recommends insulating attics in the Rocky Mountain region with insulation that has an R-value of 49 to 60.
Higher quality garage doors built with steel sections as the base have an R-value of 13 to 17.5. The higher the insulation value, the less heat homeowners will lose through the garage door. By lowering heat loss with garage door insulation, homeowners reduce their overall utility bills.
At Grand Timber Doors, we tested the heat loss of our garage doors against standard polystyrene insulated doors. Heat loss with standard doors was about 1,500 BTUs per hour for an annual heating cost of more than $200. Steel insulated garage doors lost between 300 and 450 BTUs per hour, saving homeowners an average of $185 a year.
Going Green
In addition to saving money, homeowners will reduce their overall carbon footprint by adding garage door insulation. When it takes fewer resources to heat a home, there is less a demand for energy from the grid and fewer fossil fuels being used for heating needs. Insulated garage doors also make the ideal choice for new home construction looking to achieve LEED standards for homes. These standards award additional points for enhanced insulation and reduced air infiltration. Garage door insulation meets both these requirements.
Home Comfort
Saving money and helping save the planet are reason enough to consider garage door insulation. But home comfort should also top the list of reasons to look into well-insulated garage doors. Doors with steel bases and polyurethane insulation reduce the overall air infiltration to a garage by as much as 83 percent. With less outdoor air leaking into a garage, the garage stays at a more even temperature. A more even temperature means the items in a garage are at less risk for weather related damage from either heat or cold. It also means less air will leak into a house from an attached garage, which forces the thermostat to fight harder to make a home comfortable.
A home's focal point is often the garage. And while beauty and style are considerations when purchasing or upgrading a garage door, homeowners and builders should add garage door insulation to their checklist. Insulated garage doors will pay for themselves through savings in utility bills, lower a home's carbon footprint and make a home more comfortable. Contact Grand Timber Doors today to learn more.
