Electricity-powered garage doors are common now more than ever. The ease of opening the garage door automatically makes them the preferred choice for most homes. But it’s important to know their energy consumption.
Quick navigation
How many kWh does a typical garage door opener use?
Garage doors use about 0.033 kWh per day when operating and 0.12 kWh when on standby. This means they only consume about 4.6 kWh of electricity monthly. The model, size and weight, and motor type determine the energy consumption of your garage door. You can open it manually in case of a power cut.
Although it doesn’t consume much energy compared to other home appliances, you can still reduce the consumption rate by getting more efficient models. You should note the motor power when getting a garage door. Here, we discuss the energy consumption of garage doors and how they work.
How Garage Doors Work?
Garage doors aren’t constantly working like several other appliances in the home. Most times, they only operate few minutes throughout the day. It doesn’t take much electricity to open or close a garage door. However, most garage doors use electricity even when they’re not working. Due to their automatic nature and the fact that there’s a remote control, they’re constantly on. So, they use more energy during the whole time they’re not operating than when they’re.
You can tell that your garage door is on by the warm humming sound it makes while it’s not operating. The electrical consumption is known as a phantom load. It’s common in several electrical appliances. Any appliance with a remote control most likely has a phantom load. Others such as kitchen ranges and some washing machines have it even though it’s not noticeable. That means the only way to switch off these appliances is by turning them off from the switch.
The garage door work based on a coded signal from the radio in the remote to the receiver in the garage door operator. There are default functions based on wave frequencies using 390, 315, or 310 MHz. Newer garage door systems usually have a change or roll code to prevent burglars from intercepting the code. After each usage, this system changes the code and stores all codes in a database accessible to the recipient and the sender.
Energy Calculation of Garage Door Opener
The garage door only consumes around 500 watts per minute when it’s operating. If you open the door four times during the day, it’s less likely that this would be up to 1 minute since it only takes about 10 seconds to open the door. So, the average energy consumed within that time is about 0.033 kWh.
The standby mode is when it consumes the most electricity, which is 5 watts per hour, equating to 0.12 kWh in a day. However, when the cumulative consumption per month is considered, it’s only around 4.6 kWh per month. This is fairly low and makes the average electric garage door an efficient device in any home.
Factors That Determine How Much Power a Garage Door Consumes
Beyond the average energy consumption of a garage door, many factors could come to play. They include:
1. Make and Model
Like any other electrical appliance, the manufacturer and the model matter for energy consumption. Some garage doors are energy-efficient; some consume a lot of power. The range is between 15.8 kWh to 127 kWh annually.
So, it’s important to ask questions about the energy consumption of the door before they install it. The last thing you want is a device draining your power even when at rest. Most times, newer models are better when it comes to energy consumption. Their power consumption during standby mode is less than 5 watts. So you save a bit more.
2. Size and Weight
The size and weight of the door also matter as it determines the amount of power needed to operate the door. So, bigger and heavier doors will consume more energy when opening and closing than the average ones. Unless you have a multi-car garage, a small garage door is all you need. When on standby, the energy consumption is fairly the same.
3. Type of motors
The energy consumption of a garage door will also depend on its motor. It could be either alternate current AC or direct current DC. The DC consumes less power and has better speed control. This makes it easier for you to set the door movement more accurately. The DC drive is also less noisy, which is a great thing to have.
How To Open a Garage Door In Case Of Power Failure?
A garage door works with electricity and will stop working when the electricity goes off. That’s why having a battery backup is advisable. Most times, you only have to charge the battery once a month, and you’re good to go. It’s also good to have a battery-powered by another energy source such as solar. This ensures you can use your garage door automatically whenever you want.
But it’s not everyone has backup, so how do you open your garage door when there’s no power. You don’t have to leave your car on the street in such cases. You can still open the garage door. Each garage door has an emergency system for opening it manually. The manual unlocking is mostly on the back of the door, so you’ll have to enter through the side door. But if your garage door doesn’t have a side door, you have no problem. There’s usually an additional option to unlock in the front. You’ll need a key for this as there’s a lock to secure it. When installing a garage door, make sure that it has all the emergency features for opening it manually. This will save you a lot of trouble.
What To Note When Getting A Garage Door?
One more thing to note with a garage door is the motor power. The motor should be capable of handling the force needed to open and close the door. So, make sure you get one that’s powerful enough if you enjoy the automation system.
In Conclusion
Automatic Garage doors are great. They make it easy to use the garage and eliminate the stress of manually operating the door. But they consume energy, and you should try and get an energy-efficient one.
