There are three different types of garage door openers on the market, and each of them works better with different garage doors. Here are a few examples of types of garage doors and the best garage door opener mechanisms to pair with them.

Heavy Security Doors

If you have a heavy garage door for security purposes in order to make sure people stay out, you will need a garage door opener drive that can handle the added weight. Businesses that contain more valuable equipment may need heavier garage doors to make them harder for thieves to break into, or even to make them harder to break accidentally due to accidents.

Regardless of the reason why you need a heavy garage door, one of the best options for opening them is the chain drive. This type works with just about any garage door, but the metal links make it particularly effective at pulling up heavy doors.

In particular, you should look for a chain drive that's connected to a motor with 1 horsepower. This will open even the heaviest doors around without any problem. If your door is only moderately heavy, you can get away with ¾ horsepower which can be better if you care about long term durability.

Doors You Need Quiet

If you have a door that's particularly noisy, or if the garage is located in a sensitive area for noise like right under someone's bedroom or the dining room, then you should go with the quietest drive, which is the belt drive.

The mechanism of this opener is similar to a chain drive, except that a belt is used instead of a chain. This means that the movement of the belt along the mechanism is much smoother than a chain since it tends to bang around less. The result is a quieter operation overall.

Belt drives can also be made with rubber, so the sound and vibration is minimized since there's less metal on metal action.

One-Piece Tilting Doors

If you have an overhead door that moves forward and up all in one piece, the best option is often to use a screw drive. The drive uses fewer moving parts as well so it's not as hard to maintain as other types. The screw drive uses a trolley that moves on a threaded-steel rod. The rotating action from the motor moves the door. This is what causes the smoother opening action that works well with one piece doors.

Once you know what your priorities for your garage door are, you'll be able to figure out which opener mechanism will be the best for you.