FAQ - Product Selection
1. How do I select the right garage door?
Before selecting an opener, you will need to determine the following:
- The size (height, width, thickness) and construction (steel, insulated, wood) of your garage door. This will help to determine the size of the motor and type of drive needed to lift the door.
- The clearances above and on the sides of the door opening, which will help determine where to mount the opener.
- The living spaces that are near or above the garage, which may affect how quiet an opener you will want.
- The safety devices, features and accessories that you want so that your new garage door system fits your needs and preferences.
2. Where can I get help selecting a garage door opener?
The Genie Company has been making garage door openers for more than half a century, and can offer you expert advice about selecting and installing your new garage door opener. Contact us at:
- Your local Genie® retailer, including major do-it-yourself home improvement stores.
- Your local Genie® Pro™ dealer, who will also install the opener for you.
- Genie® customer service. Call us at (800) 35-GENIE, weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., and on Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
3. What should I look for when buying a garage door opener?
Your garage door opener is an important home appliance that will get daily use for many years to come. Seven factors to consider when making this important product purchase are: safety, power, drive type, speed, compatibility and accessories. Each of these factors is described in FAQs 4 through 9.
4. What safety features are important?
Your garage door is the largest, and probably, the heaviest moving object in your home. So the safety features of the device that lifts and closes the door are all-important. Safety depends on two things: the safety features the opener system incorporates, and the reliability of the opener itself.
- Safety Features - For the opener to work, certain safety devices, such as the Genie® Safe-T-Beam® System, must be installed. This is true regardless of the type, size or brand of opener you choose. These safety devices are built into the garage door system to prevent the door from closing when an obstruction is in the door’s path. The Genie® Safe-T-Beam® System keeps people, pets and vehicles safe by auto-reversing the door when an infrared beam detects any obstruction in the door’s path. Its self-diagnostic feature also troubleshoots system errors.
- Reliability - Reliable performance is as critical to a garage door opener’s safety as the actual safety devices it incorporates. Genie® is proud of our track record for high-quality openers and dependable performance. Not only have we been producing and improving openers since 1954, we pioneered the development and application of many safety innovations and industry-firsts, such as the use of infrared beam technology as a safety feature on all of our openers. In fact, all Genie® openers have complied with Federal safety standards since 1982 — long before the U.S. government mandated the use of non-contact safety protections on all residential, motor-operated garage doors in 1993. Genie® also offers one of the largest selection of openers for residential applications in the world. This ensures that we have a reliable solution for every homeowner. All Genie® openers carry limited warranties that are among the best in the industry.
5. What power level should I choose?
It depends on the size and construction of your garage door. Most residential garage door openers are available with 1/3 HP or 1/2 HP motor. A 1/3 HP motor is usually adequate for most applications. However, heavy, double-wide, or special-application doors may need the additional torque offered by a 1/2 HP garage door opener.
Most DC residential garage door openers are available with 600N, 800N or stronger motors. DC motors usually offer soft-start and soft-stop capabilities and a quieter motor than AC. The key factor is matching the opener lifting capability with your door.
Your Genie® retailer or local Genie® ProTM dealer will help you choose the right type of motor and power for your door and your needs.
6. What's the difference between Belt Drive, Screw Drive and Chain Drive?
Belt Drive
Belt drives are ultra-quiet. They don’t use chains, so there is no noise from metal-on-metal contact. But belt drives can wear after years of use. The Genie® Pro Stealth® belt-driven opener is a heavy-duty 120-kg DC motor that provides maximum lifting with ultra-quite operation. It is capable of lifting doors up to 12' in height (with proper rails).
Screw Drive
Screw drives - another of the many Genie® industry innovations, features a solid-steel direct drive for increased strength. Direct drives have unmatched reliability, too. They have no belts, chains or gears to wear out. And their simplistic design - the motor shaft connects to the drive screw with a coupler - allows power to be transmitted in a straight line to maximize motor efficiency with minimal loss of torque or power. But screw drives can be less quite than belt drives. Genie offers two screw-type drives: The Excelerator® and the Screw Drive.
The Excelerator® has a liner in the rail, which helps to decrease noise. Both lift doors to 7’6” in height. An extension kit is available for doors to 8'. Genie® ProTM openers, which are sold and installed through your Genie® ProTM dealer, will open doors to 12’ in height without an extension kit.
Chain Drive
Chain drives are among the most affordable type of operator. The Genie® ProMax® and Genie® ProMaxTM Chain Glide® are available with rails that allow doors to be lifted up to 12’ high. This special product is available only through your Genie® ProTM dealer.
7. How fast will the garage door opener lift the door?
Genie® garage door openers open doors at a standard speed of 7 inches per second. If faster opening is important to you, we recommend the Genie® Excelerator®. The Excelerator® opens twice as fast as any garage door opener on the market today, with opening speeds of up to 14 inches per second. It’s also ultra-quiet, thanks to its near-silent DC motor, a fully-lined rail that insulates noise and vibration, and its soft-start and soft-stop action.
8. How do I know if the opener is compatible with my garage door?
Compatibility is never a problem with Genie® openers. We have been developing and producing garage door openers for more than half a century, and our openers are fully operational with any standard sectional roll-up door on the market today. All Genie® openers are manufactured to our exacting standards, and are warranted to meet our high-quality standards for performance.
9. What accessories are available for my opener?
You will probably want to look at adding time-saving accessories or security enhancements for your new garage door opener. Genie® offers a variety of accessories for retail and Genie® ProTM products, including: