Genie SilentMax 1000 Garage Door Opener

We had a garage door opener on the detached garages at our last three homes.  There was a garage door opener at our new house when we bought it last September.  A garage door is more than a simple convenience especially for homes with attached garages where it becomes a security feature.  Garages are a common target for thieves looking for power tools or other quick, grab and run items.  An attached garage allows a thief to gain entry into your house under the cover of the garage itself.  The thief can actually take their time breaking into your home because they can't be seen by others in your neighbourhood.  A garage door opener prevents the garage door from being manually opened from the exterior of the garage, adding that extra bit of security in addition to ensuring the garage door is always locked when closed. 

Our new home has an attached garage with the main garage door for vehicle entry, an exterior door to the backyard and an entrance door into the house.  Both doors have locking handsets and dead bolts that were replaced when we removed in.  The only ones with keys to either door and the rest of the house for that matter are the ones we have given keys to.

The existing garage door opener was a Chamberlain 1/2 HP The Protractor System (chain driven).  It worked fairly well when we first moved in but then started acting up once the weather turned cold.  When the garage door failed to work we thought a piece of ice had frozen to the chain drive.  We unplugged the unit and let it sit until a warmer day but the garage door opener refused to work.  Our solution was to replace the garage door.

This house has really been about being at the right place at the right time.  In this case it was a sale at Canadian Tire that came right when we needed it.  We bought the Genie SilentMax 1000 (Model 3042) belt driven garage door opener that was on sale for $189.99 plus GST/HST.  The regular price was $369.99.  This garage door opener has a lot of nice features like Intellicode®2  which encrypts the access code and continuously changes it each time the remote is used with the garage door opener responding to each new code only once.  It has Sure-Lock™ and is HomeLink®/Car2U® compatible as well as Watch Dog™ Monitoring System that monitors the Safe-T-Beam system to ensure proper functionality that will automatically stop and reverse a closing door if a problem is detected.

Installing a garage door opener is a DIY project and it is a bit easier if there was a garage door already installed.  The old opener is removed, the new one installed in its place using the same wiring.  We did not install the garage door opener as my husband was extremely busy at the office so our friend and crew who is doing our custom work, installed it for us.

The Genie is belt driven.  Unlike the Chamberlain garage door opener that was loud enough to wake me, the Genie cannot be heard in the master bedroom.  In fact, it can barely be heard in the upper living room just off the entrance landing leading to the garage.  The garage door can be opened using the new keypad outside, the on wall console in the garage or via the remote controls.  We have HomeLink® in one of our vehicles but haven't programmed it yet.

Over all the install was problem-free and straight forward.  We are quite pleased with the results.  As you can see, the garage ceiling needs a bit of work but that will be a summer or fall  project once we get the indoor work finished.

Garden Gnome
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