Manual to electric garage door conversion kits

If you want a powered electric garage door, but you currently have a manually operated door, it may be possible to convert your garage door from manual operation to automated operation.

How easy or difficult this conversion will be will be determined by the kind of door that you currently have – and its age and condition. In all cases it is advisable to have this conversion done professionally since electricity is involved and the incorrect functioning of a power garage door can be dangerous to both people and property.

Is your garage door in suitable condition for the conversion?

If the door is old, or if it is in relatively poor working order (i.e. the operation is not smooth and easy), then you will definitely need a new door. If this is the case then you should buy a new electric remote control garage door and discard the old one.

If however your door is in good condition and its operating mechanism runs smoothly without jerks or any resistance, then it is highly likely that you can use a motorised conversion kit to adapt your garage door from a manual to an electric operation. The next thing to consider is the type of garage door that you have and its suitability to this conversion.

Does your garage door lend itself to motorization?

The next factor is the mechanism that your garage door uses to open and close. If your door uses a roller action, a sliding action, or if it is sectional and lifts and folds, then it will be suited to motorisation with a fairly straightforward conversion.

Motor units with connector kits (usually included) can be used to transform your door’s operation and they can be fitted comparatively quickly and with a limited degree of skill.

If your garage has an up and over door, then things are more involved and the conversion may not always be possible.

With a retractable garage door, the operation is smoother, more complex and more reliable than with a canopy up and over door. As a result, this type of door does not normally present a problem when it comes to manual to power operation conversion.

In the case of a canopy garage door, the conversion is not as simple and it may not always be possible. The canopy mechanism is very basic, prone to faults, jamming and a jerky uneven transition and this means that unless your door is in very good working order the transformation may not be possible.

If you have an up and over canopy garage door and you believe that the mechanism is smooth in operation and that the motion is easy to initiate and control, then a conversion may be possible. However, in addition to the motor unit you will need to buy a special conversion kit that enables the canopy door’s motion and mechanism to be controlled by the motor. This kit is unique to the canopy style garage door and without it the door will not work.

Side opening garage doors that swing on hinges can also be motorised, but again the conversion is not a simple one.

Firstly, none of the motorisation kits are designed for this type of opening mechanism without a special conversion kit and secondly the motor has to power two doors instead of one. Kits that will work for side opening doors are available, however this kind of door can be troublesome in windy conditions and the two doors do not always open in perfect synchronisation.

Cost

The cost of electric power garage door conversion kits can vary. The size and power output of the motor is the most significant factor, however the addition of special conversion and adaptation kits for canopy garage doors and side hinged doors can be significant. These conversion kits also increase the time (labour cost) involved in fitting the motorization unit.