Garage Door Opener Power Usage

There are three levels of horsepower found in most garage doors.

Garage door opener power usage.

1 3 will be able to lift a one car garage door 1 2 is best for dual car or sectional doors around 300 pounds and 3 4 up to 1 5. At 500 watts the power needed is just over 4 amps. It is the cheapest of the three and least power. Two car garages or one car garages with insulated or wooden doors need at least a 3 4 horsepower garage door opener.

If possible only use the release cord when the garage is in the down position. Uses 445 watts while opening or closing the door including the 108 watts used to power the light bulbs. Press the garage door opener button. So 500 watts 120 volts 4 17 amps.

It is the second cheapest of the three with medium power. Since amps x volts watts then watts volts amps. Again this opener will only be efficient when the door is properly balanced and an opener with more horsepower will last longer. This might not be an option if a power outage occurs when the door is up but when the handle is released the door will come crashing down.

Most garage door openers use from 350 to 600 watts with the average at about 500 watts. The door can be heavy but usually uses counterweights or springs so that the motor isn t lifting a 300 lbs. Like everything else this answer is heavily dependent on the make and model. Ratings ranging from 1 2 horsepower to 1 1 2 horsepower are typical for residential models.

This size opener is the most popular out of the three and is recommended for single or double garage doors with average weight ex. Door from a dead stop. Horsepower is really just a starting point for garage door openers. So the wattage of operation is about 375w the duration is about 20 seconds offhand or a 1 3 minute.

So each actuation takes 002 kwh 004 for an up down cycle. If you have a sectional double car garage door a 1 2 horsepower motor should be sufficient but a higher power model will operate with less effort and less wear and tear on the motor. Garages with carriage doors should opt for 1 hp garage door openers or higher. How many watts is a garage door opener.

Oversized large and heavy doors will need an opener with horsepower ex. Uses less than a watt while standing by waiting for the signal to open. When several different models were tested the annual energy use varied anywhere from 15 8 kwh to 127 0 kwh or 2 to 16 per year. I think garage door openers use 1 2 hp motors or so.

Allow the opener to operate without. A garage door opener has a radio receiver garage lights and a motor to lift the garage door. One car garages with steel doors only need a 1 2 horsepower garage door opener.