How to Open My Garage Door in a Power Outage

Young-Woman-opening-garage-door-in-power-outage

Most people take their garage doors for granted. The nature of their simple function makes them one of the most underappreciated and overlooked features in a home. Your garage door most likely runs off of electricity. And unless it’s happened to you before, you probably wouldn’t even dream of being trapped in your garage during a power outage. 

Young-Woman-opening-garage-door-in-power-outage

Power outages are not an uncommon occurrence and can happen at the most inconvenient of times. For those that don’t have a battery backup unit installed on your garage door opener, you may benefit from the following information. When a power surge happens and the lights go out, knowing how to free your car from the clutches of a deadweight garage door is a useful skill. 

Intuitively, both Chamberlin and LiftMaster took power outages into consideration when designing their garage door openers. And even more fortunate for you, Precision Garage Door Las Vegas carries and installs both of these garage door opener brands. Their intelligent design allows for a fast and easy exit during a power outage. 

How to Open Your Garage Door During a Power Outage   

  1. First things first, grab a nearby flashlight or use the flashlight on your cell phone. If it’s dark outside and there are no windows or light in your garage, you’ll need some light to execute the following steps. 
  2. Before you try to disengage the garage door from your garage door opener, which will ultimately allow you to manually lift the door yourself, make sure the door is in the down position. Your garage door opener is the box that houses the gears that give your garage door the ability to go up and down. 
  3. Underneath your garage door opener should be a red emergency cord. You’ll want to pull that red cord down. This will effectively disable the trolley operator that is responsible for pulling the door, and allow for manual lifting. Move it back about an inch or so.  
  4. Find the lifting handle. The lifting handle is often installed on the bottom panel, but could be located in the second section of the door. Assuming that your garage door is well-balanced and the spring system is in good condition, you should have little difficulty lifting the garage door with one hand. Once the garage door is successfully open, pull your car out and then attempt to reconnect the door to the garage door opener. 

Reconnecting the Opener to the Garage Door 

  1. When you have accomplished your goal and/or the power comes back on, you’ll want to reconnect your garage door to have it operate automatically again. This may require an extra set of hands. 
  2. Find the carriage unit. This is the device attached to the track that works by lifting and lowering the garage door. Make sure that the carriage unit is positioned close to the motor near the center of your garage ceiling. If you have another able-bodied adult around, one of you should pull the manual release handle again, while the other person pushes the garage door upwards until it clicks into place. 
  3. Some garage doors will let you reattach the door automatically by clicking the garage door remote. In this instance, the carriage will move to reconnect with the door on its own when they automatically move to reach each other. 

Is there an easier way? Sure! Both Chamberlin and LiftMaster offer garage door openers that do have a battery backup system, but not all models have this feature. If you are in an area that is prone to blackouts, it may be a good idea for you to invest in a garage door opener that has a battery backup system. 

What Not To Do! 

  • Do not force the door open. There is no reason why the garage door shouldn’t open with ease after disengaging it from the opener and trolley, no matter how heavy the door is.  
  • If your garage door is opening unevenly or is giving you difficulty, then it may be due to a faulty tension spring or cable. This could be part of a much larger issue. Pro tip: Opening your garage door manually is a great way to uncover repair issues. Garage door technicians suggest manually opening your garage door a few times a year to suss out worn-out or defective garage door parts  

What You Absolutely SHOULD Do! 

If you want to upgrade your current garage door opener, repair broken garage door springs, or repair your existing garage door, you’ll absolutely need the help of Precision Garage Door Las Vegas. Our highly trained technicians can be there in under 2 hours, with a fully stocked truck, ready and able to fix the most difficult of garage door problems. Call today: 866.265.4824