Manual Garage Doors: Yes, They Still Exist

As pull into your driveway you hit the button on your radio-controller garage door remote.  The door begins to slowly open and you pull your car into the garage, pushing the button again to close it behind you.  As the door closes you have a smug sense of satisfaction in knowing that the entire process is automatic and hassle free.  Unless, of course, you have a manual garage door.

Manual garage doors have not yet gone the way of the dinosaur, and plenty of them are still around and being offered for new homes.  Though the disadvantages are plainly obvious, there are advantages to a manually operated garage door that may not be evident upon first considering.  Allow me to digress:

• Manual garage doors are more secure
  There are a few reasons for this, though the three main ones are:
  
  
• Radio operated motors can be compromised easily
  If someone really wanted access to your garage (for whatever reason) it wouldn’t take them much to do it if your garage is operated by a RF receiver.
  
  Many devices operate using radio frequencies, and there are numerous gadgets out there than can “sniff” out the correct frequency, thus allowing operation of whatever the function of the RF receiver is.  In this case, it’s your garage door.  The sniffing device, which can be had for under £100, can act as a way to enter and exit a garage without any sign of forced entry. Scary!
  
  
• Automatic garage door openers can be “tricked” open
  As the door is closing someone could place an object in the path forcing the garage door to open (exploiting a safety feature of the motor).  Though hard to pull off without someone noticing, this is still very possible and could also be quite dangerous.
  
  
• Most manual garage doors are dual-locked
  Because you have to physically get out of the car to grant yourself access to your garage many people opt for automatic doors  However,  the locking system on a manual garage door (or at least of the newer models) is harder to be compromised.  Where someone could easily scan the frequency of your garage door opener, they will require the key in order to gain access through a manual garage door.
  
  
• Easier to fix
  If your automatic opener breaks you are looking at a pretty hefty repair bill to either fix or replace the motor.  If a manual garage door breaks (somehow) it will cost much less to repair simply because there is less to break.

Conversely, a manual garage door has numerous disadvantages:

• Convenience
  A manual garage door is a pain in the butt to use.  Coming home when it’s raining, late at night, or cold outside can become a real chore when you have to get out of your vehicle to open the door.  In the minds of most people, automatic garage doors were made for a reason.