How to make your garage door smart

Have you ever left home or in bed to ask if you have closed the garage door? Turning around or getting up from bed is not fun. If you make your garage door smart, you can close it from anywhere! Here's how.

What a smart garage door can do for you

Smart car openers can save you a lot of anxiety. Instead of asking if you remember to close your garage, you can check from an app or ask a voice badistant, such as Google Assistant or Alexa. In combination with a camera, you can even see who comes and go, which can be particularly useful if you are a parent. You can even schedule a daily closing time at the end of the day so you do not have to worry if you have forgotten.

Do not worry, you will not always have to take out your phone to open or close your garage door. These devices come with traditional remotes for your car and keypads for the outside of your garage. Smart features are just another option.

For a smart garage door opener to work properly, you need a stable Wi-Fi signal in your garage. And you may need to replace or add equipment.

The expensive option: replace your garage opener

If you have a particularly old garage door opener, maybe it's time to replace it. If this is the case, you can save yourself some effort and choose one that is smart off the road or that you can make smart with a bridge.

Chamberlain: Well known, well regarded

Chamberlain is probably the most popular garage door opener manufacturer. The company offers ultra-quiet opening systems with numerous sensors, a battery backup, buttons for your car, keyboards, etc. It also offers intelligent features to openers, such as the B970 or C870. These units have built-in Wi-Fi capability and communicate with a Chamberlain app. With a quick check, you can see if you have left the garage open and then open or close it remotely.

Chamberlain even integrates with IFTT, Google Assistant, and Amazon Key, although these integrations require a subscription of $ 1 per month. The Google Assistant can only close the garage door to prevent someone from shouting the open command through a window. It's a pity, since many smart locks allow open voice commands with a pin.

If you have a Chamberlain garage door opener with MyQ and Wi-Fi markings, you already have a smart garage door opener. If you only see MyQ brands, you need a hub.

Ryobi modular opener

Another option is the Ryobi Smart garage door opener. It includes a built-in Wi-Fi radio and an app allowing you to check the status of the door.

The modular nature of this opener makes it unique. You can purchase add-ons, such as a fan, laser parking guides, an air compressor, a camera, and so on. The modules easily connect to the garage door opener and you can exchange them if necessary. If you already have Ryobi high-capacity rechargeable batteries for the company's tools, you can use it for a backup battery in the event of a power failure.

The main disadvantage of the Ryobi garage door opener is its lack of integration into Amazon and Google. you must use the app to check if you have left the door open and to open it.

How to make your existing smart door opener

Your existing garage door opener may work perfectly and in this case you probably will not want to replace it. In this case, you may be able to convert it to a smart garage door opener. In some cases, you can get the same features as if you bought a new one. Some options even offer more features, such as smart hub integration.

If you have a chamberlain, get Chamberlain's hub

You may already have a Chamberlain garage door opener (or LiftMaster, which belongs to Chamberlain), but Wi-Fi is not enabled. In this case, you should consider the Chamberlain Garage Center. At $ 45, Chamberlain offers one of the least expensive solutions to add more sophisticated features to your garage door opener.

You must compare your model number to the Chamberlain Compatibility Tool. As long as you bought it after 1993 and your security sensors are working, you can probably add the Hub. And if your security sensors do not work, you must repair them immediately.

Chamberlain's Hub effectively transforms your existing garage door opener into one of the company's smart garage door openers. You get the same features, capabilities and access to the Chamberlain app.

Even if you do not have a Chamberlain or LiftMaster garage door opener, the Garage Hub may work with your equipment. You can check the compatibility tool to be certain. Choose "other brand" when prompted.

The installation of the garage hub is simple. You mount a battery door tilt sensor directly to the garage door and headed toward the garage door opener. Pair the main Wi-Fi bridge with your app, then mount it to the ceiling, near the garage door opener and power source.

You do not need to connect jumper cables to your existing garage door opener because it uses the same radio signals as the existing buttons.

For other models, use Garadget

If you do not have a Chamberlain garage door opener and want more features than the Garage Hub, the $ 79 Garadget is a good choice.

Garadget directs a laser on a reflective element located on the door of your garage to determine if it is open or not. If the laser hits the patch and bounces, Garadget knows you have closed the door. if the laser does not bounce, the door must be open.

The device mimics the button to open the main door of your garage. You connect Garadget to the same terminals as the button and send a signal to open and close the door. It is also badociated with many smarthome services and hubs, including SmartThings, Vera, Home Seer, OpenHab and Alexa.

If you have a Chamberlain garage door opener, you can still use Garadget, but its installation may require additional steps. If your equipment has a yellow learn button, your Chamberlain communicates with an exclusive signal that Garagdget can not imitate.

To work around the problem, you can solder a replacement remote control to Garadget so that it can "press" the button on the remote control. The company knows that not everyone is comfortable with welding. It also sells pre-soldered remote controls.

Out of stock

We originally planned to recommend the Nexx Garage, Garageio 2 and Gogogate 2 intelligent garage door openers. All three are well regarded and highly recommended by other publications, such as Wirecutter. But right now, they all have something in common: they are out of stock everywhere.

Unfortunately, advanced technology is a growing field and not everything survives. When a company goes to bed, your smarthome may break and you can not do anything except replace the parts. Guardian Access acquired Garageio 2 at the beginning of last year and is currently taking pre-orders for the intelligent controller. The company does not promise a shipping date yet, so we refrain from recommending it.

Chamberlain is your best choice if you want the safest, cheapest and easiest option to install. It is one of the largest manufacturers of garage doors and, unless it stops supporting advanced technology, it is unlikely that the company will go ahead.