For very heavy or tall garage doors look at a 3 4 hp or even a 1 hp model.
How to determine hp for garage door opener.
Depending on the type of drive you pair it with the 1 2 hp motor can lift most garage door types.
Listed below are the three different sizes and the suggested doors that can be used with them.
Consider 1 2 hp models for standard doors.
Garage door openers are found in three different sizes which are determined by horsepower.
Up to 150 pounds.
Garages with carriage doors should opt for 1 hp garage door openers or higher.
This is the area available immediately adjacent to the door opening.
1 2 hp is the standard for most garage doors and it is also the most popular motor speed.
Or horsepower.
Single garage door openers generally do fine with smaller openers while double doors may need a little more horsepower.
According to liftmaster the following is the recommended garage door opener horsepower by garage door weight.
If you have a sectional double car garage door a 1 2 horsepower motor should be sufficient but a higher power model will operate with less effort and less wear and tear on the motor.
Liftmaster does have weight ratings for their garage doors that we can use as a guideline.
The price difference is usually only 50 to 100 depending on the brand.
Horsepower is really just a starting point for garage door openers.
Doors that are 10 feet wide by 8 feet tall are single car garage doors.
Can technically lift any garage door as long as the garage door is balanced properly and the weight is evenly distributed but is not always recommended because the long term benefit isn t high.
Measure the width and height of your garage door with a tape measure so you know what you have.
The height of the garage door opening is the distance from the floor to the top of the garage door opening.
Doors between eight and 12 feet in width are no problem.
Look for horsepower hp ratings to compare the lifting power between garage door opener models.
This type of horsepower is often used for single garage doors that are not heavy ex.
Up to 350 pounds.
A minimum of 3 5 to 4 5 is required on either side of the door opening.
Two car garages or one car garages with insulated or wooden doors need at least a 3 4 horsepower garage door opener.
Balance your garage door and take care of periodic maintenance.
The most popular out of the three choices this opener works best with single and double garage doors that have an average weight such as a carriage style door.
This is a very important measurement that determines if you will need an extension kit when purchasing your diy operator.