Here at Chicago Garage Door, we strive to provide our customers high-quality, custom-tailored garage doors that match form to function, and satisfy all aesthetic tastes and practical requirements. In this blog entry, our garage door opener installation experts will detail the various styles of garage door openers.

Chain Drive Garage Door Openers

This older garage door opener model has the benefit of being cost effective and affordable – often the cheapest garage door opener type on the market. They’re ideal for opening heavy garage doors, and can even last up to 15 years!  The potential downsides of chain drive garage door openers is that without regular care and maintenance they may experience rust. Chain drive garage door openers are also louder than other types of garage door openers.

Belt Drive Garage Door Openers

Belt drive openers are similarly constructed to chain drive openers – except they utilize a flat but taut belt rather than a chain. Belt drive garage door openers have the advantage of quiet operation – an especially good benefit to those who use garages in the morning. Due to their limited parts, they also only require a small amount of maintenance. These garage door openers, however, are slightly more expensive than chain drive openers, and are made to lift slightly less weight than chain drive garage door openers can.

Screw Drive Garage Door Openers

These garage door openers utilize a long screw that turns in order to open the garage door. Screw drive garage door openers are slightly louder than belt drives, but still very quiet, and they open garage doors very quickly. Screw drive garage door openers are additionally very small, making them ideal for small garages – however they are on the higher cost end of garage door openers, and require regular maintenance and lubrication.

Jackshift Garage Door Openers

These garage door openers sit against the wall by your garage and open it with a pumping motion. They are quiet, but slightly louder than belt drive garage door openers, and have the smallest amount of moving parts out of all of these garage door types. Jackshift garage door openers are ideal for garages with limited space, and often come with smart control capabilities, meaning they can be operated with your phone. This technology comes at a higher price, but it’s really worth the excellent convenience!