From storms to accidents to major transformers blowing, we’ve all experienced a serious power outage at some point in our lives. Whether it was late in the evening when everyone was trying to get ready for bed or even if you came home from work to a dark house, the instant irritation, concern, and curiosity as to when power will return are all too familiar. Regardless of how it happened or why, the consequences could be many, ranging from simple inconvenience to a serious disaster for the unlucky few.
Most people don’t think twice about their garage door during a power outage—until they need it. What if you’re already late for work, or worse, what if one of your kids fell and got hurt and you need to get to your vehicle urgently so that you can take them to the emergency room or urgent care. Murphy’s Law likes to lurk, so don’t leave yourself vulnerable.
Even when the power’s out, the world is still turning. With an electric garage door opener, you could feel trapped. That is, of course, unless you learn how to manually disconnect and operate your garage door from both inside and outside of the garage. This handy knowledge could quite literally save someone’s life.
Power Outage? Don’t Panic!
Your garage door is connected to the electric opener, so that stops you from being able to open or close the door when the power’s out. Thus, you need to know how to break that connection.
Before you begin
Make sure everyone is out of the garage (including the family pets). You should be the only one in there.
CAUTION!
The garage door springs, which do most of the work when opening and closing the door, are under some serious pressure. Just like that cranky toddler that’s way overdue for a nap, the springs can snap in seconds and cause catastrophic damage. Always use extreme caution when working with or around them.
Remove the Garage Door Opener Plug from the Outlet
If the power’s out, why do you need to unplug the opener? Well, for starters, bad luck can happen to anyone. Or your power could kick back on at the exact moment that you’re working on disconnecting your opener, and suddenly, you’re feeling as frazzled as Marv when he gets jolted in Home Alone. Or worse, you could get a trolley right to the face, but instead of the movie humor, you’d be in some serious pain.
Light it up!
Keep flashlights handy and in accessible locations in case of a power outage. Even better, invest in an LED headlamp to keep your hands free and provide all the light you need from a compact source.
Step one should be having a headlamp located in an accessible spot so that you can always get your hands on it when the power goes out. Then, you’ll be ready to work and spend less time fumbling around.
When you need to get your garage door open right away, you don’t have time to scrounge around the house for a flashlight that works, new batteries, or even emergency candles. Instead of looking like a frantic person, plan ahead and save yourself a lot of precious time when a power emergency arises.
Want some more helpful insight? Consumer Reports has great tips.
Manually Opening the Garage Door from the Inside
First step – the garage door needs to be closed
Yeah, we know—if you’re trying to open the door, that obviously means that it’s closed right now. However, we have to make sure. It can’t even be open a crack—completely closed is a must or this won’t work.
If you try to manually disconnect your door while it’s open, you could put yourself in serious danger!
For one example, if you’re having issues opening your garage, but it’s not due to a power outage, you could be dealing with a spring that is broken or a door that is not well balanced.
If you release the emergency handle now, the entire weight of the door will slam down on you. Most garage doors weigh hundreds of pounds.
Your life is more important than a stuck garage door. In the event your door is stuck open, in any capacity, don’t touch it! Instead, get in touch with garage door professional installers to resolve the issue right away.
Another simple tip? Just don’t do it.
That’s right. Don’t manually access your garage unless it’s an absolute emergency. Wait a few minutes, or even an hour if you can. Maybe the power will come back on, or you’ll find another option.
For the most part, the average power outage won’t last long enough to make it worthwhile to go through the process of manually disconnecting and reconnecting your garage door.
If there’s not an urgent need, don’t bother disconnecting your garage door opener. If you do, you could find yourself frustrated that just about the time you’re done disconnecting the opener, the power comes back on. Or worse, you’ve already completed the process of disconnecting and reconnecting, only to have the power come back on 30 minutes later. If you didn’t need to be somewhere, you could have waited those 30 minutes and saved yourself the stress.
Second Step – Find the Bypass Handle
Provided that your garage door isn’t as old as your house, it will have a rope hanging in the middle of the rail, usually close to the trolley. Look up at the ceiling of your garage where the opener is, not on the side door tracks.
We’re going to be Captain Obvious once more, but stress is a thing, so we need to cover all the bases. When the power goes out and other bad things happen, people panic and that often results in them doing things they normally would. Look for the manual release handle near the door itself.
In most cases, the handle is even red to signify the emergency nature of the cord.
Third Step – Pull the Cord
Your trolley connects to the garage door opener motor and the door itself, which is how it moves when the electric opener is activated. By pulling the emergency handle, you will disengage the trolley operator that is responsible for moving the door. Then you’ll have manual access.
After disconnecting, you’ll want to slide the trolley away from the door.
Fourth Step – Find the lift handle on the door and lift gently
Use the handle to open the door, which is usually located on the bottom or middle panel of the garage door.
Provided the door is well‑balanced, you should be able to effortlessly lift the door with a single hand.
Yes, that’s regardless of whether it’s a single door (about 9’ x 7’ft.) or a double garage door (about 12’ to 16’ x 7’ft.).
If it’s not effortless, STOP IMMEDIATELY!
There’s a much bigger issue here.
Close the door carefully (if you can) and stay away from it. Make sure no one gets into the garage, including pets, until the door is inspected, repaired, or undergoes maintenance.
Call a garage door expert ASAP!
If the door is hard to open, you’ve got a serious problem on your hands. It could even be time to replace your garage door, which will usually last about 5 to 7 years.
A lot of people think the opener does the heavy lifting, but that’s not the case. The garage door springs are what open and close the door, which is why they’re under such pressure and they’re so dangerous to work with. If you think we’re overreacting, consider this:
Physics 101: A garage door that weighs 300 pounds will need 300 pounds of force to open it. That’s not done by your opener or your arms—that’s all in the springs and that adds up to a lot of pressure.
Function: If the springs aren’t working, you or the opener are doing all the work. Then, there’s the lack of a counterbalance, which gets even riskier. The door was not designed to be opened without well-balanced and functional springs.
Fifth Step – Time to Reconnect the Opener
No hiccups on step four? Nice work!
Once power is fully restored, you’ll be able to re-engage your garage door so that it’s reconnected to the electric opener. It’s a fairly simple process for most modern garage doors:
- Ensure the door is in the closed position.
- Using a broom or other handle, pull on the emergency release handle.
- 3. Lift the door by hand until it clicks in:
Open the door by hand, then run it through a close and open cycle on the electric opener. That will allow the trolley and the carriage to pass each other, which will create an audible click. Then you know that your electric opener is properly reattached.
What about getting in from the outside?
You should have an outside quick release if your garage does not have an access door or “man door”.
With only one access point, you’re creating a fire hazard, in addition to having a completely impractical garage in your home.
If you have a quick release, locate it and insert the key into the socket. This will allow you to turn the key and remove the tumbler from the lock. That will engage the emergency release mechanism. Then, you can:
- Open the door manually until it is fully open.
- Drive the vehicle into the garage and then put the door down by hand.
- Push upward on the emergency release by using a broom or shovel handle. You could also pull the handle upward and toward the door until it clicks.
- Make sure there’s another access point to the home before you leave the garage.
It’s always best to be prepared, but if you’re caught in an emergency, this is a great way to proceed.
Looking for a better answer? Avoid the hassles and get into and out of the garage whenever you want with a better opener.
Maybe you were already considering a new opener? Perhaps this just seems like way too much work just to get into the garage. Or, your door could just be older or lacking maintenance, which would also be a good reason to change things up.
Choose a new garage door opener that comes with a battery backup. Then, you can get into your garage anytime, even when there is no power or there’s a serious event.
You’ll find many models of modern garage door openers that feature all kinds of perks and tools, depending on how you use your garage and the door.
LiftMaster has a series of smart garage door openers. These are great for people who love saving time, love technology, and more. You can even monitor and manage your garage door from anywhere in the world!
Chamberlain’s LiftMaster division added technology and WiFi to their garage door opener models a few years back, and they have continued to grow and develop these products. The impressively simple MyQ technology makes it easy for LiftMaster opener owners to have complete control of their garage doors from any smartphone, tablet, or other devices.
Imagine what you’ll be able to see and do when there’s a camera on your garage door opener.
The LiftMaster 87504-267 comes with a camera that includes 2-way audio to ensure you know what’s going on in real-time. Watch the kids come home from school, or the delivery driver drop your packages. Plus, it’s the quietest model available today!
Think a camera is a little too much? Then the LiftMaster 87802 garage door opener should be a perfect fit!
This is what the smartphone alerts look like from LiftMaster’s MyQ system
The opener includes access to the MyQ app and a battery backup, giving you more for your money and total peace of mind (and control) of your electric garage door opener.
Lacking ceiling space, or perhaps you just want to save that space for storage? No sweat.
The LiftMaster 8500W offers a wall-mounted option to optimize your ceiling space and is easily installed on either the left or the right side of your garage door, on the wall where it’s easily accessible for anyone.
This model also comes with Wi-Fi, MyQ access, and an automatic garage door lock, and battery backup so that you’ll never be without power.
Want some help choosing between all the options for garage door openers?
Contact the experts today, locally, at 709-368-7222.
At Overhead Door (NFLD) Ltd., we are garage door experts and we love what we do. Whether you already own a Chamberlain or LiftMaster model and want to add a backup battery, or you want to upgrade completely, we’ve got you covered.
Replacement can give you a quieter, more high-tech answer for your garage door opener, and ask about our free email quotation to help you decide. In the market for a good checkup and maintenance on your garage door?
We’ll take care of that too.
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