Power outages can seriously upend life in any home. Your automatic garage doors are among the crucial components that can be affected when the electricity stops coming in. However, these days, you have the option of installing a backup battery to combat exactly this type of situation. That means the garage door can be operated when there is no power in the rest of the home, and you can take your car out the way you would normally.
What is a Garage Door Backup Battery
Most commonly, this is a compact 12-volt battery unit, which the door opener can draw power from. There are several brands and models to pick from here; some batteries are meant to be inserted directly into the motor housing, while others are installed on top of the motor. You need to make sure the brands of battery and door opener are compatible with each other.
Interesting Features
A fully charged garage door backup battery is capable of supplying sufficient power for the door opener to function for 24 hours. This covers 20 cycles, where a single cycle comprises an opening motion and a closing one. The ambient temperature should normally be between 60°F and 70°F. You can fully recharge the battery in under 5 hours, and it can be recycled as well, just like plenty of other battery types.
Knowing When to Change the Backup Battery
Based on the model you pick, you would hear a beep every 2 seconds or half minute, or a duration in between. You would also see an indicator light telling you the charge status of the thing. Further information would be available on the manufacturer’s website, or you could call a garage door panel repair technician and ask them to help with this.
Are These Batteries Expensive?
In one word: yes; and with good reason. A mid-range backup battery would set you back about $100, but considering the utility it can deliver when you need it the most, it is worth the price and more. If your door opener initially has a battery installed into the motor housing, then you would end up paying just $50 to $60 more than what a regular opener costs, and nothing extra for garage door installation service.
The Alternative
This is not very complicated – without a backup battery to assist, you could not get the garage door to move during a power outage, except through a protracted process. That would require pulling down the emergency release cord, lifting the door manually, taking the vehicle out, closing the door, and then reattaching it to the release.