Once asked what is the best garage door opener you’ve ever seen, the answer was the one I used for years and hardly heard. And that’s one of the advantages of direct drive garage door openers – just to get started on the right foot.
So, how do direct drive garage door openers work?
Unlike the typical chain and belt drive garage door opener, direct drive openers have one moving part. The motor. The standard openers for garage doors – as we know them, comprise several moving parts. The philosophy of direct drive openers is closer to that of screw drive openers, where there’s a rod moving. Yet the technology is much better and newer.
With the classic carriage openers, the motor is stationary. With direct drive garage door openers, the motor is the only component moving. While there’s still a chain, it is the garage door motor that moves, while it connects with the door via a J-arm. And so, when fewer components move, the noise is reduced enormously. And that’s the biggest advantage of such automatic door openers.
The overall advantage of direct drive technology
Direct drive openers still consist of a rail where a stationary chain is found, while the motor carriage is the one that it moves. With only one part moving, the operation is more silent than even the quiet belt drive openers. Another advantage here is that the parts don’t wear and tear fast. Less movement, less damage.
While it highly depends on the quality of the garage door opener installation, the fewer moving parts also indicate minimum vibrations as well. Naturally, as all other modern openers, such types support a rolling code technology and include a range of safety and security features.
What’s more, the technology is rather new. Such openers are very strong, long-lasting, with a sturdy rail where the motor smoothly glides onto. One of the models includes also a smartphone controller. And so, the user has the opportunity to operate the garage door from anywhere, check the status, receive notifications. Do everything a smart garage door opener can do.
And then, this is an opener that has it all – innovation, smart technology (if you choose so), beauty, and lifetime warranty. And so, you can sleep well at night knowing that you have paid for a lifetime and are not bothered by its noise, if your bedroom is adjacent to the garage.
Why direct drive garage door openers are not broadly used?
Direct drive openers are made in Germany and broadly used in Europe. Although they are distributed across the Atlantic, the AC and DC chain, screw, and belt drive garage door opener technology has evolved enormously as well. And so, the direct drive technology is set aside – so to say. Add to that the rather high price – close to the belt drive opener cost range, and it’s not hard to see why most households settle for the products they already tried and tested.
There are quite a few differences in the way the standard carriage openers work when compared to the direct drive openers. But the advantages are so many with this innovative technology that chances are high that we will soon talk and use direct drive openers more broadly than today.