Power Outage
Have you ever found yourself waking up in the morning to realize the power went out? You crawl into your car and press the garage door opener like any other day without thinking… but the door won’t open. It’s time to learn how to open a garage door during a power outage. We want to help you be prepared rather than finding yourself late for work if your garage door has lost power.
First, consider installing a battery backup system. This will get you by during a short power outage and allow you to go about your day without much hassle. We have everything you need and can provide professional installation at Overhead Door of Garden City.
Disconnect
If you do not have a battery back up in place but need to open your door, you will need to disconnect the electric system. Make sure the door is completely closed and unplug the garage door opener. Look for the emergency cord, which is usually red with a red handle hanging down from the center rail of the garage door mechanism. This disengages the garage door itself from the electric opener allowing you to manually open the door.
Yep, you must do everything the old-fashioned way on a day like this. You might even want to practice this sometime, so you feel comfortable with it when you find yourself without power. It just takes a few extra steps when the mechanisms of convenience are out of service.
Open Manually
After the door is disengaged, pull the emergency cord back toward the motor to keep it out of the way. Lift the door until it is completely open. This may take a little more effort, but every homeowner can do it if your door is balanced properly. Be sure to lock the door before leaving by closing the door and sliding the lock bar from inside your garage.
As long as you have been performing regular maintenance, it should stay up on its own at this point. If it doesn’t, you will want to call one of our professionals to prevent any further damage. It’s best to stay safe with this heavy piece of equipment.
When Power Returns
Most of the time the power comes back on soon enough. You will need to reengage your door opener. (Unless you find yourself enjoying the extra exercise.) Either way, a few more steps will have your garage door opener back in service.
Start by making sure the door is fully closed again and unlocked. Pull down on the emergency cord again, and lift the door up until you feel it snap back into place. Now, you can plug it back into the wall. You could also push the open button and watch the spring reconnect if you don’t want to snap it back in place manually. Just like that you should be back on track for a regular day.
Give us a call at Overhead Door of Garden City, and we can hook you up so your garage door is ready for any power outage.
