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Liftmaster Garage Door Openers Bucks County PA

Steich Overhead Doors is a proud dealer for LiftMaster garage door openers. LiftMaster® residential garage door openers offer a broad selection in performance, features, and durability. All of their models offer the ultimate in safety and security features, and are available with a variety of horsepower levels and drive systems for all types of homes and applications. They are also proven to withstand even the harshest of elements and years of extended use, and are available with innovative accessories designed to make home access even more convenient.

Older garage door openers were not designed with the safety features of today’s models. The following information is from Liftmaster’s website:

Position on Garage Door Openers Pre 1993

We are committed to the highest standards of product safety. Over the years, the LiftMaster® brand has led the industry in introducing innovative product safety features. As a company, we have manufactured garage door openers for 50 years with a safety record that ranks as one of the best in the industry.

In the early 1990s, the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) enacted into law new rules ensuring that all garage door openers manufactured after 1992 had external entrapment protection devices, such as infrared sensors or sensing edges, in addition to the internal contact reverse mechanism. Garage door openers made prior to 1993 are safe and reliable if installed, tested, and maintained properly. However, the vast majority of these older units are not equipped with infrared sensors or other external entrapment protection devices, and thus do not meet today’s standards for garage door opener safety. To insure the highest degree of safety and customer satisfaction, we believe it is important that pre-1993 garage door openers are replaced, as opposed to being repaired.

Steich Overhead Doors does not recommend the repair of any pre-1993 LiftMaster garage door openers. We believe this decision will provide you with the latest in technology and more safety, security, and convenience features. We believe this decision is in the best interest of our customers, as safety always comes first.

Please visit us in Bedminister Pa. or call us at 215-795-2500 when you need to upgrade your garage door opener.

 

Garage Door Security

Your home’s garage door is normally the easiest point of entry for thieves.  Before you select a new garage door you should consider a few things relating to garage door security. Most overhead garage doors now incorporate multi-point locking mechanisms making it much harder to gain access.  You can also install deadbolts on garage doors. Don’t forget about the door from your garage to your house. Make sure this door is as secure as your front door.   It’s a good idea to install a high security kick plate or a quality deadbolt on this door as well.

When security is a major concern, you will need to choose a door style that offers a rugged construction such as composite clad steel doors with limited windows or no windows at all.  The most secure garage doors available tend to be roller garage doors and some even come with insurance rated levels of approval. This means you can reduce your insurance premiums at the same time as securing your property. Roller garage doors are extremely resistant to attack thanks to the doors design and the materials used in their manufacturing.

Automatic Garage Door Openers

All automatic garage door openers are required by law to have a safety release mechanism in case of an emergency that will manually release the lock and raise your garage door.  This is the small lever that is operated by a grab cord. While this is necessary for those situations that require a quick release of the door, it is also a very weak point in garage security.  Thieves, by fishing a wire through the top of the garage door, can trip this release and gain access to your garage in a matter of seconds, especially if your door is fitted with windows.  Some people recommend putting a couple of zip ties on this release which would break free with a vigorous pull on the emergency pull cord, but is strong enough to prevent activation with a wire.

Don’t Invite Thieves Into Your House

It would seem like common sense to make sure your garage door is closed, but crime statistics show that up to 50% of residential  break-ins can be attributed to open garage doors.  An open garage door is an open invitation to crime. I’m sure you can remember when your garage door was inadvertently left open overnight or during a trip to the mall or work.  You should also always keep the door from the garage to the house locked, even when you are at home.  There are devices you can purchase that will alert you if a garage door has been left open.

Garage Door Remote Controllers

The first garage door openers to hit the market were very simple and worked off of a remote device that transmitted at a certain frequency to a receiver which operated the opening mechanism. They all worked off basically the same frequency, so your remote would open all other garage doors as well.  These types of automatic openers are no longer available, but you might come across a used one for sale.  Most garage door openers are fairly affordable, and we recommend you purchase a new one for safety reasons as well as security.

The second version of a wireless system provided dip switches that the owner could adjust to create a unique code. These types of systems could provide up to 256 different codes and though they were better than the earlier models, they weren’t really that secure. This problem led to the third stage of technology which uses a frequency range between 300-400 MHZ and most rely on what is called a rolling code. Without going into the details of rolling code technology, it can be thought of as generating a unique code after each use.  According to manufacturers, because there are over a billion combinations of code, this makes it impossible for someone other than the owner of the remote device to open the garage.  You should treat your garage door remote control like your house key.  Don’t leave it in your car in plain sight or on the visor. Your best option is to get a remote that attaches to your keychain.

If you live in the northeastern Pennsylvania area and have any questions about garage door security or the latest technology in garage door openers, call or contact Jason Steich at SteichOverheadDoors.com.