What are the quietest garage door openers

Below are our TOP 3 picks for the quietest residential garage door openers that we can recommend to Calgarians.

Liftmaster 98022 or Chamberlain RJO70
Liftmaster 87504-267 or Chamberlain B6753TC
Liftmaster 84501 or Chamberlain B6713T

Keep reading for more in-depth explanations about quiet garage door openers.

What is the quietest garage door opener?

Garage door openers have come a long way in the last 50 years. Initially, they focused on the most basic operations of opening and closing the garage door without much attention to safety or noise. However, they have evolved into programmable machines that calculate the door’s weight for auto-reverse, connect to your home Wi-Fi, and even film your garage with a 360 security camera. But there’s one thing that some of the brand-new openers and those from the early ’80s have in common—they are noisy.

Garage door opener noise can be a disaster for those with an attached garage and a bedroom right above it. In Calgary, where many homes feature this design, a loud garage door opener can disrupt the sleep and peace of the residents. Some garage door openers are loud enough to wake the kids sleeping above the garage. If you are in a similar situation, let us walk you through the guide to the quietest garage door openers.

First, it’s important to understand why most homeowners think that all garage door openers are loud. It’s not a secret that the vast majority of home builders will use the cheapest materials to maximize their profits, including in Calgary’s rapidly developing neighborhoods. Therefore, it is common among contractors to install the most basic, entry-level, cheap, and loud garage door openers in homes with little to no soundproofing. Many homeowners wonder if there is such a thing as a “quiet garage door opener”.

By default, garage door openers are installed during construction and will be the most basic units. Only after its failure does the homeowner have a chance to compare it to a different and hopefully quieter garage door opener.

What are the different types of garage door openers?

There are four main types of overhead garage door openers: screw drive, chain drive, belt drive, and jackshaft or wall-mounted opener. Some of them are more popular than others and might have different noise levels depending on several factors.

What type of garage door openers is the quietest?

Rated below are the quietest types of garage door openers based on our experience:

Jackshaft opener
Belt drive opener
Chain drive opener
Screw drive opener

Why are some garage door openers quiet?

Several factors should be taken into account when answering this question: opener type and whether it has a DC or AC motor. As mentioned above, some types of garage door openers are louder than others by design. Screw and chain will always make more noise than a rubber belt or a jackshaft opener, which barely exposes moving parts.

What is the difference between AC and DC garage door openers?

Even more significant noise impact comes from the type of motor used in the garage door opener. DC motors, typically used in openers, are much smaller and barely make any noise. So, if you compare two chain drive units, one with DC and one with AC motors, the DC version will be significantly quieter. The most widely used garage door motor type is AC, simply because all popular brands have started transitioning away from noisy AC motor designs to DC systems only in recent years.

How do I make my garage door opener quieter?

Many homeowners in Calgary wonder why their garage door opener is so noisy. If your opener is loud but you’re not ready for an expensive upgrade, below are a couple of steps you can take to make your garage door opener quieter:

Check if your garage door is balanced. Pull the manual release cord and try to lift your garage door by hand. If the door feels heavy, it sure affects the operation of your garage door opener. Hire a local garage door professional to add tension or replace your garage door springs.
Belt or Chain tension. Having your belt or chain too tight or loose can cause extra vibration and a loud ticking noise coming from the opener. That would be your chain or belt hitting the steel boom, causing excess noise. Adjust the tension as needed to mitigate this.
Lubricate the chain, garage door tracks, hinges, and rollers. Sometimes homeowners complaining about a noisy garage door opener have more noise coming from the door itself because of lack of maintenance and lubrication. Use a silicon-based spray to lubricate all moving parts.
Is your opener strong enough for your garage door? If you have a heavy garage door with a wooden overlay, we suggest having at least a 3/4hp opener installed. A standard 1/2hp garage door opener may do the job for a while, but it will fail sooner and will be very loud in operation.

Upgrade to a new and more advanced garage door opener. If none of the above steps brought you the change you wanted, the next step would be replacing your current garage door opener with a new unit. From this article, you will find out what are the best options when it comes to quiet garage door openers.