Power Outage: How to Open a Garage Door
Do you have an emergency kit for power outages? Do you have plans in place on how to go about your day without certain amenities? Your garage door may be one of those amenities you easily forget about. Do you open and close your door each day by simply pressing a button? Well, that garage door opener needs electricity. Let’s talk about how to open a garage door during a power outage.
Disengage the Opener
First, make sure the door is completely closed and unplug the garage door opener. Look for the emergency cord, which is usually red with a red handle hanging down from the center rail of the garage door mechanism. Pull down on this cord. This disengages the garage door itself from the electric opener allowing you to manually open the door.
If you have never done all of this without the ease of the electric system, we recommend practicing a bit. With a few simple steps you will find you can go about your regular day during a power outage. If you aren’t comfortable with the steps ahead of time, a time crunch and stress can make for not such a great day on top of the power going out.
Open the Door
Are you ready to open the door manually? You will want to pull the cord back toward the motor, as it may otherwise be in the way. Next, lift the door completely open. It should stay up on its own. This is one reason why it is important to perform regular door balance checks. Once you have safely opened the door, be sure to lock it before leaving. You should find a bar or latch that slides into the track.
If your door doesn’t stay up on its own, it’s time to call one of our professionals at Overhead Door of Western Kentucky™. That heavy piece of equipment can cause other damage at this point if the problem is not handled properly. Leave that to us for your safety.
When Power Returns
Perhaps you have found yourself enjoying the old-fashioned opening of the door throughout the power outage. Well, if you haven’t, you can reengage the system once the power returns. Just a few more steps, and things will be back to normal.
Start by making sure the door is unlocked and fully closed. Pull down on the emergency cord again. You can lift the door back up until you feel it latch back into place. However, if you would rather use the garage door opener now you can watch the springs snap back into place. Don’t forget to plug it in first. Run it through a few trials to make sure everything is running smoothly again.
You may even want to consider a battery backup system if all these steps sound like more work than you anticipated. Just because the power goes out doesn’t mean your day stops. Our team at Overhead Door of Western Kentucky™ is ready to set you up with the tools you need.
