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So You Want to Automate Side Hinged Garage Doors…
Converting side hinged garage doors into electrically operated doors is relatively easy, but only if the original door panels themselves are strong enough and properly constructed, not a cheap and flimsy construction or inferior softwood timber. Subjective maybe, but a lot of side hinged garage doors won't take the strain of automation and a force applied in a specific area only to drive open and closed.
Automating good quality, solid side hinged doors however is not a problem at all - providing the doors open outwards.
The simplest form of electric operation on side hinged doors is using tried and tested ceiling mounted motors drive units combined with a ‘swing door conversion system’ which is effectively 2 steel rods pushing and pulling the top of each door leaf. In standard from the door locking is disengaged and the doors are held firmly closed by the steel rods at the top of each door leaf.
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There are several high quality and major brands of electric door operators who offer a swing door conversion kit, although it does need to be married up to the right motor drive unit with the correct safety detection sensors in place. Firstly we will look at how the simpler swing arm door kit works. The swing arms attach to the door leaves just below the top of the leaf, so the arms sit just below the head frame. These arms are then attached to the operator trolley that runs along the operator boom, pushing and pulling the door leaves open - simple! The boom bracket is fitted flush with the bottom of the head frame, just above the doorstop. Each door leaf can open to around 115 degrees assuming that that opening could be achieved manually. The electric operator mechanism will reduce the drive through height by about 4”. |
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Electric Operated Security
The security is automatically better when using electric operation on any garage door because you will always tend to keep the door closed more often. It is possible to set the doors to even auto close after a period of time.
With side hinged garage doors and the automation method as above the steel rods will hold the door leaves firmly closed and also act as door closers when the doors are open to hold the doors open in the wind.
✔ Easier operation so doors are kept closed most of the time
✔ Door leaves held physically closed with steel rods
✔ Electric controls use encrypted radio signal technology
✔ Optional additional locking is available if required
✔ Some operator models have built in alarm systems
It is possible to use electric locking systems alongside the motor drive, but this is rarely required. You can of course also add manual locking to engage when you might be away for long periods of time, but also switch off the electric motor power source too.
Standard Features for Electric Motor Driven Doors.
Every boom style electric door operator will include safety sensor detection as standard, meaning if the door leaves are ever obstructed during operation in either direction then the motor will stop and reverse slightly or fully, depending on the model.
This safety sensor is adjustable on sensitivity and is possible through the detection of a power surge if the motor is obstructed and feels that happening.
For swing type garage doors it is essential to also include some additional sensors such as infra red detection across the opening to offer protection from an obstruction which isn’t preventing the doors from moving but is a potential problem. When the beams are broken then the doors will not operate at all.
It is possible for the rod driven method of swing door automation to drive the door leaves beyond 90 degrees with the hinged bracketry involved. This can be useful for many garages and the drive through width for your vehicle. You might also have a tight driveway so this also assist with access in your vehicle.
Every electric door operator system we supply and install will always have an emergency manual override system as standard to enable door operation in the event of any power failure or other failure. The standard system requires access to the inside of the garage to release the electric drive, but it is also possible to offer external release access via a locked override access point on the outside of one of the door leaves if there is no other access to the garage.
Battery back up systems are available too if you know you have frequent power cuts in your location.
Modern electric operators all have a minimum of 2 remote handsets for controlling the electric motor drive on the doors. There will usually be an inside button too on the motor head unit, but this is quite inaccessible when there is a vehicle in the garage.
Smart app control is now readily available on some models of door motor drives. Either a simple integration to an app on your smartphone to control from anywhere at all, or a more sophisticated app which will control multiple other products around your home if required. Lighting, cameras, blinds, and so on, basically anything electric operated is possible to varying degrees of control.
Additional physical access control products are also readily available such as internal wall mounted push buttons or external key switches and digital coded keypads.
All electric door operators incorporate LED lighting within the motor head unit to provide courtesy lighting when opening the door, especially useful in the winter months or evenings.
Some models allow extra lighting to be added to the unit and also be controlled by remote or other logic to suit your home.
The Best Side Hinged Garage Doors for Electric Operation
In a nutshell the best hinged doors to focus on for electric operation if you are buying the doors and the electric motors at the same time are always going to either really good quality hardwood timber or double skinned, insulated steel doors. There are some single skin steel and GRP hinged doors which are strong enough to take automation, please call for details and prices.
The Carteck insulated doors are super strong, 40mm thick steel doors with a PU foam core, offering the finest final product and extremely strong, stable and secure door panels.
Our own range of insulated 20mm or 51mm double skinned steel doors are also prefect for electric operation and like the Carteck doors always manufactured with a factory fitted box section steel or aluminum fixing frame, This ensures the best stability and longevity.
The joinery made hardwood timber hinged doors we offer from Penchards are super strong and stable with heavy duty hinges and perfect for automation with either the rod system or the more advanced hydraulic or electromechanical piston style operators as used for entrance gates.
More sophisticated and discreet, the piston style operators will sit at low or high level and drive the hinged doors just like a pair of swing gates.
The Hydraulic Alternative
An alternative method to using the standard overhead boom with swing arm conversion is to consider a hydraulic door operator. The FAAC 560 is one such example, designed for automating bi-folding doors, however, it can be installed to operate single or double leafed side hinged garage doors. It is very suitable for high intensive use and offers very smooth and quiet operation indeed. Swing doors with hydraulic operators.
The electric motor, hydraulic pump and internal rack-and-pinion transmission system are compactly housed in a single block in anodised aluminium. The motor unit is mounted to the inside face of the lintel just above the top of the door using a specially fabricated mounting bracket.
As the pinion rotates the door leaf is opened and closed by means of a telescopic arm which ensures an even and perfectly linear movement.
Professional Installation
We recommend professional installation for electric side hinged garage door systems as they do require professional installation and final setting up for reliable and safe operation. Anti crushing protection might be required, depending on the door models and hinge arrangements and we can make sure this is all discussed and covered to suit.
