wood door

Here's an honest (non-sales pitchy) and professional answer to one of the most common questions in the residential/home owner's market: When buying a new garage door opener what is the difference between the different drive types, is the cost worth it and which one is the most reliable?

Here's the breakdown:

1) The screw drive:
We don't recommend them at all. Many dealers would disagree with us on this one based mainly on their price. These types tend to be cheaper - but for good reason. As you may know, we are an authorized LiftMaster dealer due to the superior quality of their products. LiftMaster offers a screw driven model but we still do not recommend it to our customers due to our experiences with these types through the years (mainly with other brands). In short, the threaded travelers on these units will almost always begin to wear out and cause slippage and troubles long before the chain or belt driven units will.

2) The chain drive:
A good and economical unit. This type of unit is the staple of the garage door opener industry. It is reliable and cost effective - its price sits somewhere between the screw drive models and the belt drive models. Although they are a little noisier than belt driven units, LiftMaster's chain drive models are much quieter than the ones from the past and still much quieter than their competitors. Be aware...cheaper chain driven units from the "big box" stores are cheaper for a reason. Usually these units will not have one-piece rails or full-length chain. The rails will have to be pieced together and the chain is partially comprised of thin cable.

3) The belt drive:
So is it really worth the extra money? That all depends on what you want from your opener. Quiet honestly, if all you want is a dependable opener that gets the job done then a chain drive unit is perfect for you. If you want to be able to sneak in late at night then you need the belt drive. In all seriousness, the belt drive units provide (2) main benefits for the extra cost - a) they are much quieter and b) they have a better factory warranty. Do the belts ever slip or break? Nope. In our years of experience we have seen zero broken belts (which are covered by a lifetime warranty in case they should ever break) and the belts cannot slip because, contrary to what some may think, they aren't smooth like the fan belt of a vehicle. These belts have teeth that travel around a gear much like a chain drive unit. We strongly recommend these units if you have any type of room over your garage that is frequently occupied. A belt drive unit will not transfer the noise to the room above like a chain drive unit will.