Best Belt Drive Garage Door Opener Reviews

A garage door opener is a motorized device that helps open and close garage doors. Contrary to what most people think, garage door openers do not actually lift the garage doors. They only provide some little force to help push the counterbalance springs that do the actual opening and closing of the doors. There are different types of door openers in the market, but one type beats them all; belt drive garage door openers. Though they come at a higher price, their efficient low noise operation makes them the best garage door openers there are today. They come in ½ and ¾ horsepower models for home use garages, although it is still possible to spot a 1-1/4 size garage door opener.

In the next few minutes, we shall look at five of the best belt drive garage door openers in the market today.

• Chamberlain WD1000WF
• 4.8 customer rating
• Smartphone control: MyQ technology
• Safety sensors: Protector System
• Light: yes
• Other: Whisper drive, Home link compatible, Built-in battery, includes wireless keypad and lcd control panel

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• Genie 2042-TKC
• 4.4 customer rating
• Smartphone control: no
• Safety sensors: Safe-T-Beams
• Light: yes
• Other: 1/2+ HPc DC Belt, Wall Console, inlcudes 2 3-button Remotes and wireless keypad

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• Chamberlain WD832KEV
• 4.6 customer rating
• Smartphone control: MyQ technology
• Safety sensors: Protector System
• Light: 200 watts
• Other: Motor Vibration Isolation System, 1/2 HP steel-reinforced, includes two three-button remote controls, wireless keypad, motion detecting control panel, PosiLock theft protection

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• Skylink EQ-1522BK
• 4.4 customer rating
• Smartphone control: no
• Safety sensors: Infrared Safety Beam
• Light: yes
• Other: 1/2 Horsepower DC Motor, Deluxe Wall Console, 2 x 2 Button Keychain Remote Control, Keyless Entry System

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• LiftMaster 8355
• 3.9 customer rating
• Smartphone control: MyQ technology
• Safety sensors: yes
• Light: yes
• Other: 1/2 HP AC Belt Drive

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Top 5 Belt Drive Garage Door Openers

Chamberlain WD 832 KEV

It is one of the most bought garage door openers in the market today perhaps due to its powerful motor vibration system that minimizes noise during opening and closing of the garage door. For people with rooms above the garage itself, the Chamberlain Whisper Drive 832KEV is the ideal garage opener to buy. Additionally, the opener has a timer which closes the garage automatically in case you forget to close it.

What makes this garage door opener even more revered is the fact that it can be easily controlled by use of a smartphone. It is one of the few garage openers that are smart in a way, allowing you to open, close and monitor it with the simple assistance of a mobile device. Of course, this feature is only possible if you purchase the My internet Gateway device (CIGBU), which is sold as a separate device. It is also a consumer favorite in most belt drive garage door opener reviews.

When you purchase the Chamberlain WD832 from the manufacturer, you get 2- three button remote controls, a motion detection device, a wireless keypad, safety sensors and 200 watts of light should you accept to buy light bulbs. Finally, you can check the manufacturer’s site to see if your car does demand a home link compatible bridge.

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Chamberlain Group WD1000WF

This is yet another “smart” garage door opener from Chamberlain Group. With an in-built Wi-Fi technology, you can monitor your garage from anywhere around your home compound. Additionally, the device is home link compatible, which is of great help to cars with inbuilt remote control systems.

Unlike most door garage openers, this device has an inbuilt battery which means that you can still use it when the power goes off. Its powerful system also minimizes noise when operating it, making the garage door opener another good choice for homes with rooms located above their garages. Besides this, the device is small in size and light just like most technological devices built for the modern and next generations.

The Chamberlain group WD is, however, more suitable for homes with light or moderately heavy garage doors.  Finally, most people who bought it claimed they were impressed by its performance after installation.

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Genie 2042- TKC Belt Drive Garage Door Opener

This garage door opener can best be described as “quiet and efficient” and the best device for people who consider ease of operation above everything else in a garage door opener. That does not mean that it offers nothing more. On the contrary, it is very powerful and quiet in operation, perhaps only second to Chamberlain brands. It is also easy to install, which means that you can do it yourself.

As mentioned above, the device is quite powerful, with a ½ horsepower performance. The horsepower in this type of garage door opener is also one of the most powerful among common garage door openers; making it operational even to heavy garage doors. It is mostly found in corporate and manufacturing companies.

With the help of DC motors, the garage door opener becomes operational even with tall garage doors, some going as tall as 7 feet and 500 pounds in weight.

The Genie 2042 is also a favorite for government regulation, as in most cases, it’s all inclusive T Beam system has met or surpassed set out government regulations in regards to safety in the past. It also meets the UL and federal safety rules for garage door openers. And just in case anything penetrated the beam, the device has an auto reverse system that works automatically.

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Skylink EQ-1522 BK Belt Drive Garage Door Opener

With a horsepower of ½, this garage door opener is meant for both residential and commercial garage doors. It is also packed with DC motors that not only makes the device stronger in operation but also helps reduce noise during use. It is thus a good choice for homes with rooms placed above the garage. Its features speak it all.

Besides the ½ horse power mentioned above, the device has two ultra modern keychain remote control devices, a keyless entry system, fully packed Rolly code technology, automatic light dimming system and an infrared Safety beam sensor, notwithstanding the fact that it is quite easy to install.

Consumers have also the option to purchase an extra power backup battery at will.  Other features include a deluxe wall console, a soft start and stop operation thanks to the DC motors and a flexible rubber made belt drive which reduces vibration during use. It’s wonderful features has made the device rise to the top of many belt drive garage door opener reviews.

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LiftMaster 8355 Premium Series

The Life Master 8355 is exactly what is called, a life master when it comes to opening garage doors. With a horsepower of ½ reinforced by DC motors, this device makes your garage so quiet that even a person in a room placed on top of the garage can’t hear you park your car. It is also very reliable and has proved to last for long.

The MyQ technology incorporated in the device, makes monitoring of your garage even simpler as long as you have an operational mobile device. Sometimes though, you may need to use a Life Master Internet gateway to access the above mentioned features. Again, your door opener has to be one of the following models to access the gateway technology: 8360, 8550, 8355 or 8500.

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Belt Drive VS Screw Drive Garage Door Openers

Automatic garage door openers are a common thing in today’s technologically advanced world. They are easy to customize and control, and most importantly they save you the hassle of having to get out of your car to open the garage door. Basically, there are three major types of garage openers; screw drive openers, belt drive and chain drive garage door openers. We shall only cover the first two types here.

• Belt Drive Garage Door Opener

  They produce very little noise as they are smooth and sleek in design. Usually, these types of garage door openers are made out of fiberglass, polyurethane and reinforced rubber. They thus eliminate the metal on metal contact that causes noise when opening the garage doors. On the downside, belt drive garage door openers are more expensive than other types.

• Screw Drive Garage Door Openers

  These types of garage door openers have fewer moving parts. They work by using a threaded steel rod to raise or lower the door of a garage. Like belt drive door openers, they are also smooth and quiet, so long as they are well lubricated. They require low maintenance. However, these types of garage door openers are more sensitive to changing temperatures. When compared to belt drive door openers, they are noisier and more expensive.

Conclusion

Though there are different types of garage door openers in the market, the belt drive openers reign supreme. They beat their counterparts in almost all aspects of the garage door opening systems. First, they are sleek and smooth in design. They are light but impressively powerful in operation, with some brand models having the ability to open and lock up to 7 feet tall garage doors with the weight of up to 500 pounds. Among the Chamberlain line of garage door openers, the WD832KEV and Group WD1000WF are the most common and purchased types of garage door openers. They are in fact among the best belt drive garage door openers in the market today.

The Sky link EQ, Life Master and Genie2042 are also very common in the realm of the garage door opening technology. All in all, the following features are what should drive you to choose a specific type of device.

• Safety – Any garage door opener with standard sensors or infrared beaming lights that can make the door automatically stop if interfered with, is something worth considering.
• Speed – Look for a door opener that supports high speeds when opening or closing the garage door.
• The presence of lights – Presence of overhead lights is something else that differentiates one type of garage door opener from another. Opt for a device that also has a timer to support the lights
• Battery backup – We have seen that presence or absence of power backup is also another important factor to consider when buying a garage door opener. In case power gets lost in your house, a device without power backup could lock you inside your own house.