Types and benefits of electric garage doors

Electric garage doors make storing your car in your garage simple, easy and safe but choosing the right one can be overwhelming – so find out more here.

An electric garage door provides
convenience and safety

Garages provide a great storage space away from your house, freeing up your other rooms from clutter and items you may not need very often. If you plan to use your garage just for box storage and keeping your car in, you probably won’t be needing an insulated electric garage door. If, however, you are one of the increasing number of homeowners who needs the garage space as a workshop, playroom, wash room, gym or home office then an insulated electric garage door is more than likely to be worth your time and investment.

Types and benefits of electric garage doors

Retractable and canopy electric garage doors

These two types of electric garage doors are similar but have slightly different functionality. Retractable electric garage doors are solid, one-piece garage doors that swing upwards and retreat completely into the roof space of your garage. They are popular because once up, they cannot be seen. However, because of this they require more space to fit inside the garage and swing further outwards when retracting (so don’t park too close). Canopy electric garage doors are similar in style but do not retract entirely into the roof and they leave a slight overhang when opened.

Sectional and roller electric garage doors

Sectional electric garage doors are another popular design. These electric garage doors are made up of a number of hinged segments which rise up and along a set of rails. They don’t use much garage space and because of their popularity, come in a wide variety of styles with varying amounts of insulation. Unlike sectional electric garage doors, roller electric garage doors require no rails. This means they take up a very small amount of space due to the rectangular segments that make up the door being rolled onto a roller in the roof when the door is operated. Although this is great for space-conscious garage owners, the design possibilities are limited because each segment needs to fit the roller and therefore cannot have panels or windows.

Electric garage door designs

Electric garage doors can be as modern and simple as you like or as grandiose as your budget allows. Don’t feel restricted to basic steel doors if you want ornate, carved wooden ones. Your doors can feature windows, raised panelling, elongated panelling, ‘Tudor’, ‘Georgian’, ‘Winsor’ styles and so on, right through the electric garage door spectrum.

Wooden versus steel electric garage doors

Steel doors tend to be low maintenance and don’t damage as easily as wooden doors. Wooden doors suffer from weathering and will need to be painted as regularly as other wooden parts of your home. Steel doors also benefit from longer warranties than wooden doors and are also insulated with more ease. Although it may seem that steel electric garage doors have all the best benefits, you simply cannot get the flexibility of style and massive aesthetic appeal with them that a wooden door provides. Wooden electric garage doors can be painted whichever colour you like whereas steel ones are generally available in a small selection of colours. Your electric garage door will be one of the most noticeable parts of your house as people pull in, so sometimes splashing some extra money can be worth the extra appeal your house will gain from it.