Commercial garage doors make up a great deal of the visual and mechanical elements of any warehouse project.
Maybe the company you work for is overhauling their commercial headquarters or completing an industrial or storage space for another company.
It’s also possible that you’re finally completing the massive garage you wanted in your backyard so you can focus more on your auto-repair side business.
Whether you’re expanding with a brand-new commercial space in your own backyard or helping your company complete a renovation or new commercial project, the garage door operator is a crucial element in the business construction setting.
There are several important characteristics of a commercial garage door and operator you must always keep in mind when you’re deciding on a brand or model.
Use this guide compiled by our commercial garage experts to help you make a more informed choice.
Like these kinds of trolley garage door operators? This is the LiftMaster MT model.
What Separates a Commercial Garage door and a Residential Garage Door?
Starting with their core commercial garage doors and residential garage doors are complete opposites. These two doors are constructed using different materials. They’re also used in two completely separate manners.
For example, residential garage doors, while they do highlight insulation and durability, focus more on visual characteristics than their commercial counterparts.
Size and Weight
Commercial garage doors are almost always larger in every way than a residential bay door.
A commercial version of a garage door will shoulder a much heavier workload daily than the residential variation. In an industrial, manufacturing, or automotive setting, a commercial door will open and close an endless number of times throughout the day.
A demanding regimen requires equipment and a setup to power these giant doors.
Number of cycles per day
The operation cycle per day for a commercial garage door is higher is substantially higher than a residential garage door. The garage door in your home garage might open twice per day. Some days the door may remain closed for the duration of the day.
Opening the door twice equates to 10,000 cycles during a 13-year lifespan. Figuring this equation would require you to count the number of times a commercial door is opened during a normal workday, which is nearly impossible.
It’s a fair estimate that a commercial door at a business like a warehouse or cold-storage facility is opened 25 to 50 times per day. This would mean a total of 25 to 100,000 cycles during a 25-year life span. It takes a massive amount of power and electricity to serve a lifespan like this, and you should take this into account when making your selection.
What about the horsepower?
Here are some loading dock doors. These garage door models are the G-1000, 8’ x 8’, Heron Blue by Garaga.
Different Types of Garage Door Operators
The trolley and jackshaft are the two primary types of garage door operators. Ultimately the location where you install the garage door operator will be the deciding factor on which type works best for your project.
● Trolley
A trolley operator hangs from the ceiling. Typically, this garage door operator will be near placed at the end of one of the door rails. These rails have a trolley that rides along them and lifts the door. This is where the design gets its name from. These operate by pulling the door horizontally.
● Jackshaft
These wall-mounted garage door operators are typically installed directly beside the garage door. These work by turning the torsion bar to make the door move up and down using rotational force instead of linear force. Jackshaft operators are efficient at all types of door movements, as opposed to the singular style of their counterparts.
Do you want to know more about these garage door operators? This is the LiftMaster GH (on the left) and the jackshaft LiftMaster LJ8900W garage door operator model (on the right).
Models of garage door operators from LiftMaster provide some of the highest quality of this type of component in the industry.
What Are Your Businesses Logistics Needs?
Ask yourself these questions before moving forward with your decision.
● How heavily will the door be used?
● What will primarily be passing through the entry point?
● Do you have a price limit?
● Will you need more than one door?
The requirements of the commercial property are important before deciding on the type of garage door operator you will install for the door.
The construction of the property and the number of people that will frequent the building should always be taken into consideration.
Cost is always important; however, it should be remembered that it’s not a wise decision to cut corners and compromise the garage door and entire setup by purchasing a cheaper, less powerful unit.
Apartment or Condo
If you rent apartments or condos, you can easily estimate how many cycles per day the garage doors installed on the property will average. If there is one door for entry and exit into the parking garage, it’s safe to assume the door will open about 200 times per day to allow each occupant to enter and exit once.
NOTE: The higher the operation cycle is, the higher horsepower that is required. This can substantially increase the price of the garage door operator.
There will also need to be a timer-to-close mode with a pneumatic reversing sensing edge. This is a hose that is installed in the bottom weatherstrip of the door. This is what causes the door to rise quickly upward if it senses contact with any object or person.
Municipal garage and car dealer
Typically, a jackshaft garage door operator is recommended for these types of structures because they allow for an unblocked ceiling and higher levels of storage. When this configuration is present, two important items should be installed along with the operator:
● Before paving the floor, a loop detector is installed that notices vehicles when they pass, which causes the door to rise.
● When the door doesn’t need to open fully, a mid-stop can help increase ventilation on the interior of the building. Fully opened garage doors allow a substantial amount of cold air into a structure. When this can be avoided, it has a positive impact on the energy bill.
Car Washes
A lot of car washes will have garage doors installed for a security factor, to raise levels of insulation, or both. Every carwash is different, and doors will have a varying degree of shape, size, and design. However, every situation will require a water-proof door because of the damp conditions. High levels of humidity that exist in these car washes can be damaging to the electronic components.
Many car washes have doors for security, insulation, or other reasons. It’s important to note that every carwash is different. Of course, all the garage door operators need to be water-resistant because of the humidity, which can interfere with the electronics.
However, the building construction and location may influence your requirements. For instance, you may want powerful operators to reduce noise or control traffic flow at your car wash.
It will help you find a suitable garage door operator and accessories if you put some work into making yourself familiar with the property and surrounding areas. The better you have the area mapped out, the more you can predict what the foot traffic and customer patterns will be like. This will help you estimate the figures needed to decide on the horsepower and other important dynamics of the garage door operator.
Fire Stations
Do you know why fire stations typically have large doors made out of glass? This gives them more visibility of traffic and pedestrians when they need to leave quickly.
This full view door is a G-4400, 14’ x 16’, Anodized extrusion.
Several specifications must be met when a fire station has a new commercial door installed. A firefighter’s efficiency depends on how fast they can load up and be on the way to a call. Every second is precious.
This blog from FireRescue1, explains why LiftMaster’s smart garage door operators are so beneficial to a fire station.
According to this article, the two main advantages of having a powerful operator are:
● Protecting firefighters and their equipment
● Guarding against burglars and arsonists
A control panel installed on the wall can have a substantial impact on the overall speed of the crew on duty. All garage doors can open at once, allowing for all available vehicles to exit onto the streets in a matter of seconds.
Warehouses and Various Commercial Buildings
The type of items kept in a warehouse or storage facility, along with the size of those loads, will help determine the type of operator these buildings will need.
Bigger loads require a higher number of garage door installations, which helps the warehouse facility run smoother and get trucks loaded and unloaded quickly.
This is why we stress the importance of contacting a specialist who is trained in helping you make these decisions.
Want to learn more about it?
When you’re unfamiliar with the language of operators and garage doors, things can get confusing. Hopefully, our guide has helped translate some of the technical talks to move you towards an easier decision.
We also have a variety of commercial garage doors regardless of the setting, and we’d love to help with your next project.
If you want to see real results, please view this image gallery. Ask one of our specialists to answer more detailed questions you might have regarding specific jobs.
Contact us today at 705-733-1211 to discuss our commercial garage door and operator options. We will evaluate your specific project and send you a quotation by email!
This is the LiftMaster GT model, a heavy industrial-duty trolley door operator.
What about installing the operator?
Are you pretty sure which electric garage door operators you will need? We have certified experts available to schedule your garage door on their list of upcoming jobs.
At Georgina Overhead Doors, we are fully prepared to install your operator. We also have access to electricians to complete the wiring. Leave everything to us!
IMPORTANT! All LiftMaster commercial garage door operator come with a standard security system. If you’d like something more intricate, start searching for various setups now so we can be prepared accordingly.
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