It may not happen tomorrow, the next day, or even next month, but one of these days, your automatic garage door opener will fail to work. It may be due to a bad connection, tripped breaker, or a total loss of power. Whatever the reason, you’ll wish you knew how to open your garage door manually.
How to Open Your Garage Door Manually
If power is lost, then you will have to open the garage door manually. All automatic garage doors come supplied with a manual release mechanism usually identified by the red handle suspended by a piece of rope hanging from the door track. Pulling on the handle will disengage the mechanism from the track, allowing the door to be raised by hand and allowing you to get your vehicle out of the garage.
It is vitally important to make sure the garage door is closed before disengaging the release mechanism. If the door is not fully closed and the cord is pulled, then the door will more than likely come crashing down. With the release mechanism now disengaged, you can manually open and close the door until such time as the power is restored.
If the power is going to be out for a length of time, then you should be aware of the fact that if you can easily open and close your garage door simply by raising or lowering it, then so can someone else. So, what do you do? You need to know how to lock garage door during a power outage.
How to Lock Your Garage Door Manually
The vast majority of garage doors have a way to manually lock them. This is usually by means of a large handle in the middle of the door. If you look closely at the inside of the garage door, you will see two levers, one on either side of the door, which are designed to lock into two corresponding slots on the vertical tracks locking the door in place.
Since the door has an automatic door opener, the levers have been pulled back by the attached cable so as to prevent them from locking in place. To enable the locking mechanism to function while the power is out, release some of the tension on the cable and allow the levers to engage with the slots.
Another way to secure the door during power loss is to allow the manual release mechanism to re-engage when the door is closed. This will only be to your advantage when you are at home and can easily pull the red handle again to release the door from its locked state.
A manual garage door locking mechanism is a good way to ensure your garage door is securely locked during a power outage. Replacing the existing “T” lock and its cables with a locking bar mechanism, which if left in the open or unlocked position, will allow the door to be opened or closed with the automatic garage door opener.
The locking mechanism can be operated from the inside by turning a small wheel to lock or unlock, or by using a key from the outside, but it must be set to the open or unlocked position prior to first use.
Get Help from a Garage Door Professional
Which ever way you decide to put into practice for locking and unlocking your garage door during a power outage, it is always best to have some backup method to make sure you and your family are secure. Contact Ridgeline Overhead Door today for all of your garage door needs. We have 24/7 emergency service available.