There are 3 primary drives that you can use to open your Northern Illinois garage door: screw drive, chain drive and belt drive. All work – they accomplish the task of raising and lowering your garage door. But they are not necessarily equal.
Screw drive garage door openers use a threaded steel rod to move the trolley that in turn raises or lowers the garage door. Adverse weather can hinder the performance of a screw drive garage door opener, which makes this garage door drive less than optimal for most homes in Northern Illinois where a polar vortex can cramp your garage door’s style.
Most garage door openers in Northern Illinois use a chain drive. It is the most common because it is the least expensive. Of course, it is least expensive upfront (we will discuss the real costs of the drives in a bit). The chain drive garage door opener uses a chain, similar to a bicycle chain, which moves the door along the track by pushing a trolley. As the chain moves that trolley it raises or lowers the garage door.
Mechanically, the chain drive and the belt drive garage door opener function similarly. The difference is whether a belt or a chain is doing the work. The belt is considerably quieter. Some think of these openers as high end products as they’re generally more expensive than chain drives. However, the price difference isn’t that great and the cost of maintenance over the lifetime of the garage door opener makes the belt drive more cost effective.
Upfront cost is typically the primary factor when people decide what to buy. Cost of owning a garage door opener can vary as much as the cost of at the time of purchase. Belt drive garage door openers tend to cost less over time, giving them more value. They require less maintenance than most chain drive openers.
Chain drives tend to wear out sooner and need replacement. And eventually something is going to bump into your garage door, perhaps more than once. The design of the belt drive helps it hold up to normal abuse better than the other types of doors.
Of these three types of garage door openers, belt drive is preferable to a chain or screw drive garage door opener, all the more so here in Northern Illinois.
