Garage Door Openers Reviews

Consumer Reports has the best comparative testing of garage-door openers. But the report is so old that nearly all of the recommended garage-door openers have been discontinued. Instead of Consumer Reports, we turned to reviews on home-improvement forums as well as owner-written ratings posted to Sears.com, Epinions, Amazon.com and HomeDepot.com. We also consulted James Dulley's website, Sensible Home, which provides recommendations, as well as notes on product features, installation tips and a troubleshooting guide.

Once seen as a luxury, a garage-door opener is now a standard convenience. Although you'll see a variety of brand names on the shelves, two companies make virtually all of the models on the market (which explains why they tend to look similar). Chamberlain makes openers under its own label, as well as Craftsman and LiftMaster models (LiftMaster garage-door openers are available only through professional installers). The Overhead Door Company also has a house brand, in addition to making units under the Genie moniker.

In the reviews we found, owner satisfaction corresponds fairly tightly with price. For example, we found excellent reviews for the Craftsman 53990 3/4-horsepower chain drive garage-door opener (*est. $230) and the nearly identical Chamberlain PD752D (*est. $250). However, owners are not as happy overall with the less expensive Craftsman 53910 (*est. $130), a 1/2-horsepower chain-driven unit. Dozens of owners of this garage-door opener complain of some disintegrating parts made of low-grade plastic. What's remarkable is that so many owners complain of the same problem -- shredded plastic gears. Many owners comment that when the garage-door opener began making scary noises, they were greeted with a shower of powdered plastic when they removed the cover.  ... Continued

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Of the three basic types of garage-door openers, chain drives are the least expensive and offer all of the standard features, but are significantly louder than other available technologies. The Sears Craftsman 53985 (*est. $180) gets middle-of-the road reviews, but it is inexpensive. If you have a larger, heavier garage door, consider one of the few models with a 3/4-hp motor like the Chamberlain PD752D or similar Craftsman 53990. Screw-driven garage-door openers are significantly quieter than chain-driven models. In this category, we found good reviews for the Genie H6000A-2, a basic model without an outside-access keypad. Belt-driven garage-door openers are the quietest technology, but are also more expensive. Reviews say that Chamberlain’s Whisper Drive is quiet, reliable and easy to install. The iDrive is expensive, and requires professional installation in most cases, but is just the ticket if you like testing cutting-edge technology or need extra head space for an RV or boat.