A commercial door operator gets significantly more use than a residential system, typically tallying several uses per hour, as opposed to a few times daily. Commercial door openers are not just like residential door operators only larger: they are built to be much more durable so they can last through scores – perhaps even more — openings and closings each day.
Commercial garage door openers are built of high quality parts so they can perform reliably for years, even after lifting heavy garage doors many times a day. For industrial and commercial overhead doors and gate openers, operators that boast high-cycle features are the way to go.
So, what kinds of door and gate openers are there to choose from? Let’s take a look:
Choosing the Operating System for Your Doors and Gates
There are several things to consider when choosing the operating system and opener for your new commercial door install.
You’ll need to decide if your operating system will be doing light, medium or heavy-duty lifting, which will depend on the size and weight of the commercial garage door or gate the opener will be lifting.
You’ll also have to decide how much horsepower is necessary to lift your garage door.
Another factor in making your choice will be the voltage phase your property is using – either phase 1 or phase 3 (the latter is found only in commercial properties such as factories and warehouses).
Things to Discuss with Your Exterior Door Installer
You can tell your commercial door consultant how many times an hour on average the garage door will be lifted, and this will help in determining whether to choose light, medium or heavy duty systems.
For gate openers, discuss the type, size and use of the gate with the door installer.
For overhead doors, you can discuss designs such as these with your vendor: an opener on a chain rail trolley system; a jack shaft design that attaches to a pole; or a torsion pole to open and close the garage door.
An added feature might be an optional chain hoist you can pull on manually to open and close the garage door without using the opener, in case of a power failure or the opener fails. That way you won’t experience a traffic jam and can keep moving your inventory or customers as needed.
Other Factors in Door and Gate Operating Systems
Quiet operation might be important in your business. You can choose a gate opener model with noise-isolating design that provides smoother, quieter operation.
For overhead loading dock doors, you might want a system with fire door release. Choose a design that provides a fail-safe release mechanism for the shutter or fire door. This design detects when the door is closed, so that tension isn’t released from the door during alarm activation.
You’ll also be choosing a control system. That can be as simple as the push-button, open-close-stop system that comes with every door. Or, it might be as complex as the high-tech unit that records who operates the door – involving radio controls, key cards and digital access codes, or by tying the door operator to the building’s security system.
Note: UL (Underwriters Laboratory) mandates a minimum of one safety device for a door to function without holding the close button. This is for protecting people. This primary safety system is usually a monitored photo-electric eye, or a monitored safety edge.