Garages are no longer spaces for housing vehicles alone. A lot is going into the designing of garages these days. Right from garage fittings and floorings to technologically superior garage doors, there are a multitude of inclusions that are making these humble spaces truly intriguing.
Garages are also being put to innovative use! According to Daily Mail news feature in February 2018 stated that a couple was fined for building an entire home behind their garage door! And, why not? Expert service providers for garage door repairs in Palatine and the installation of new garage doors, like JJ Garage Door and Electric Openers, reiterate that garage doors of today come with an additional layer of security, making them much safer than they used to be. Here’s a look at some safety features included in modern day garage doors.
Safety Features for Electric Garage Doors
Electric garage doors need to be fitted with essential safety features that will prevent personal injury and property damage. These include:
- Obstacle Detection: Modern electric doors are fitted with pressure sensors that prevent these sliding doors from rolling down when they come in contact with an obstacle. This is possible with the help of movement sensors that detect contact with obstructions or by means of an intelligent drive unit. It is an essential feature that one needs to look for.
- The Safety Edge: This feature is also related to pressure sensors. This is generally a thick rubber strip that has sensors embedded in it and is fixed to the base of the door. It is sensitive to any kind of contact. So, if the edge of the garage door touches anything during its descent, the mechanism reverses the movement of the door and prevents inadvertent injuries.
- Hold-to Run: This system is for users who do not use remote operations. This requires the operator to press a button that is in sight of the door for opening and closing it. Here, the operator decides the movement of the door and ensures its safety. Although this operation does not involve any physical exertion as such, it leaves the safety decision to human judgement.
- Light Curtaining: Light curtaining is highly advanced, innovative technology, where a ray of infra-red light is beamed across the door. When these beams are interrupted by the presence of an object, the door halts, preventing accidents. However, a single beam of light is often not enough to guarantee complete safety.
Keeping Safety Features In-Tact
As your installer for residential & commercial garage doors will advise, periodic maintenance is mandatory to ensure that the safety of electrically operated doors is intact. It is important to understand that these are technologically superior features that need to be checked from time to time to ensure smooth function. This is perhaps the reason why reputed installers always offer a one year warranty on labor and free maintenance along with new garage door installation in Palatine, IL.