Open Your Garage Door During a Power Outage

Those who have experienced the convenience that automatic garage doors offer likely think they will never go back to manually opening their garage door. Especially on a winter day, there’s no better feeling than simply clicking a button to avoid the bitter, cold temperatures. That being said, the same winter weather could bring storms and power outages, leaving your garage door incapacitated and you stuck in the cold. Or worse, your vehicle could become trapped inside your garage.

Fortunately, there is an easy fix for these “uh oh” moments. Follow these steps for manually opening your garage door quickly and safely.

Find the Emergency Release

Virtually all garage door openers have a bypass switch for situations where manually opening your garage is necessary. This switch usually takes the form of a red rope. Start by looking for a red release cord hanging down from your door’s opener rail. It’s typically located right next to the area where your garage door connects to the door arm. Pull on this rope to put the garage opener in manual mode and disengage the trolley, ensuring that the door won’t come crashing down. To be safe, we advise that you always activate manual mode while the garage door is closed.

Open the Garage Door from the Inside

Once the emergency release cord has been pulled, you are free to open your garage door from the inside. Grab the door with both hands and lift up. If the door refuses to budge, you may need to pull the emergency release cord harder until it locks open. If the door is simply too heavy to lift, grab an assistant to avoid getting hurt. When you get the door off of the ground, don’t let go. Since it’s free on the track, it will crash to the ground. Instead, find something to prop the door open or have someone hold the door open while you drive your car in or out. When you’re finished, ease the garage door down by hand.

Reattaching the Door When Power Returns

To reengage the trolley attachment after your power has been restored, simply pull down on the cord in the direction of the garage opening to keep the lever from engaging. Next, pull up on the door until it snaps into place returning to automatic mode. If this seems too confusing, you can also try clicking your remote opener which should force the spring attachment back into place.

Opening Your Garage Door from the Outside

For opening your garage door from the outside in non-emergency situations, you’ll need to get familiar with the layout of the garage door opener spring mechanism. If you’re locked out during a power outage, and your garage is your main way of accessing your home, it may be possible to release the lever from the outside. To do this, all you should need to do is thread a coat hanger wire or other hooked wire in the weather stripping near the top of the garage. If you can locate the lever and flip it, this will enable the garage to open manually.

Of course, this can also be a great security risk. You’ll have to decide whether installing a security shield or being able to access your garage from the outside is more important to you. Check out the video below if you need to see this process in action. Unfortunately, this method could also be used by unwanted visitors as well. [Link image and list link below –  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMz1tXBVT1s

Call Us – We’re Here to Help!

We all have those rare occasions where we’re locked out of our house. Don’t stress! If you have any questions about your automatic garage door’s safety and security features, give us a call at 620-275-4602 or contact us. We’re more than happy to help!

Call today! 620-275-4602