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Are you thinking about how to make your existing garage door smart? Well, here are some basic requirements that I found to go from dumb to smart.
When it comes to keeping our home safe, my wife thinks I’m a little paranoid and I can say I agree, especially when it comes to making sure all doors are lock and secure at all times.
I am the type of person that would stay awake at night wondering if I closed the garage door, and would get out my bed to check.
As we search to buy our first home with a garage, I am curious to see what are the best smart garage door openers on the market and here’s what I found.
So, how can I make my dumb garage door smart? Well, there are several smart garage door options on the market. After researching, talking to store retailers and reading reviews online, Chamberlain is the best smart garage door I feel comfortable recommending to you to make your existing garage door smart.
What are the benefits of a Smart Garage Door Opener?
As some of us know garage doors has vastly improved over the years and now has become a popular and valuable part of a home system.
Here the benefits of a smart door opener,
Remote Access
A smart garage door allows you to have access anytime, anywhere you are in the world to open and close your garage right from your phone. It also allows you to check on your door status and give access to a visiting relative, repair person or even delivery service.
Monitor security
Adding a smart door garage allows you to monitor security and get alerts anytime someone accesses your garage space. With your garage being the place, you store your vehicle, bikes, hardware tools you want to keep that area safe and secure.
Automation
If you are a person that forget to close the garage door, there are sensors that close the door after you entered the garage. This can be a great feature, especially for my wife. LOL
What is the Best Smart Home Garage Door Opener?
Okay, from what I found after a lot of reviews and talking to store reps, most agreed that Chamberlain makes the best smart garage door openers.
If you are looking to replace your old garage door opener or make your existing opener smart, Chamberlain has a solution for both problems.
How? let me explain which problem relates to your needs and why so many people lean towards the Chamberlain garage door opener.
Should I Replace Old Garage Door Opener or Make My Existing Door Opener Smart?
Replace Old Garage Door Opener
Usually, the lifespan of a garage door is 15 to 20 years, if you remain current on the maintenance. However, because of new technology that offers increased safety, security as well as convenience, you may highly consider buying a new garage door opener to stay current with mechanics.
If this is you and you are looking to replace your current garage door opener, your best bet would be The Chamberlain B980.
This ultra-quit and powerful steel reinforced belt drive are built with the Chamberlian MyQ app software.
One of the great things about this system is you can send alerts to your phone anytime the garage door is open. Alert notification can push to your phone, email or both.
You can set an alert if the door is open. You can also choose how long the door should stay open by setting a timer. You can also set times on any giving day, for example, let say your kids happen to leave the garage door open on a regular, it will automatically close itself at 8 pm, pretty cool!
The Chamberlain also shows a history of when the door was open or close but unfortunately doesn’t offer detailed information on how it was used.
The Chamberlain B980 comes with a wall panel which is your wired control center. You can do a lot with it, such as sensory motioning that will turn on the LED lighting automatically anytime you walked in.
It also displays the time and temperature which is very convent. The panel also has a digital lock that will prevent the door from opening via the app or the clickers which can be very handy if you are going on vacation and want extra security while you are away.
It also comes with a wireless keypad which stays outside the garage door.
The Chamberlain smart garage door opener works with several smart home Integrations, things like the Google Assistant, IFTTT, Key by Amazon and much more.
The B980 is the best smart, quit choice for anyone who is considering to replace their old garage door opener. This smart garage door opener can be much more than your typical garage door opener. Check Amazon for the latest price.
Make My Existing Garage Door Opener Smart
It all depends, on the year, condition and convenience but most likely you already have a garage door opener that is equipped for your needs but lacking the technology.
In this case, you may want to go the route of making your existing opener smart. In addition, purchasing a new garage door opener can be expensive and technical.
From what I have found the Chamberlain MyQ Smart Garage Opener is universal and should work with most brands. If your garage door opener is older than 1993, most likely it not integrated with MyQ technology built-in.
Make sure you check the list to see if your garage door is compatible with the MyQ smart garage door opener before buying.
With that being said you will need to purchase the MyQ smart garage door hub. It will allow you to make your garage door opener work with your Wi-Fi. The hub connects to your Wi-Fi, which will connect to your door, so it can open and close the garage door.
You will also need the LiftMaster MyQ Home bridge to connect to the smart hub to control with Apple Siri or Google home assistant using your voice.
If you decide to use the Google Home or IFTTT with the garage door hub, you will need to pay a monthly subscription fee of $1.00 or $10.00 for the year. This is for both Chamberlain B980 and MyQ smart garage door opener. You do get a 30days free trial.
Now if you already have a smart MyQ built in your existing garage door, you don’t need the hub, you will just need the bridge.
From reading reviews and talking to reps the installation seems to be easy, but please don’t take my word if you are unsure. I suggest speaking with a representative at Chamberlain.
The Chamberlian Hub cost about $50.00 and the bridge is about $95.00 at the time of writing this post. Still very affordable. Check here for the latest price on Amazon.
Things to consider before buying The Chamberlain B980 or MyQ Smart Garage Opener
- Hire a professional if you are not a DIY (B980 & MyQ Smart Garage)
- You need Strong Wi-Fi (B980 & MyQ Smart Garage)
- To use a smart assistant there is a subscription fee (B980 & MyQ Smart Garage)
- The garage door must have the safety sensors installed (B980 & MyQ Smart Garage)
- It will only work with garage door openers made after 1993 unless you purchase the MyQ smart garage door hub (MyQ Smart Garage)
- LiftMaster MyQ Home bridge (MyQ Smart Garage)
- Does not directly support Alexa but here are other options
Final Note
The Chamberlain smart garage door opener systems are a great option if you are looking for better remote access and security for your garage at home. It’s defiantly your best bet since it’s the largest garage door manufacturers on the market.
On top of that, it’s compatible with both Google Assistant and IFTTT, it can’t get any better than that.
I don’t know about you but I think I made my choice when it’s time to move into our new home.
Don’t forget to check out our recommended gadgets for the best tech for your buck.
For more useful tips and tricks with Home automation, please continue to check out AutomateYourCrib.com.
Please e-mail me (rodney@automateyourcrib.com) your opinion, comment or if you have any ideas for a future post you would like to read, drop me a line or two as I appreciate my audience. Thank you again for reading this post.
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It's great to see that you have come across my website. I hope you explore it thoroughly. The website caters to regular consumers who have an interest in home automation. I am based in the Tri-state area and enjoy the latest smart tech along with my wonderful wife and three energetic boys.
