If you live in a place with cold winters, you may have experienced your garage door opener suddenly stopping to work when the temperature drops. This can be frustrating and inconvenient, especially if you rely on your garage door to get your car in and out of the garage. But don’t worry, there are several reasons why your garage door opener may stop working in cold weather and most of them can be easily fixed. In this blog post, we will explore the most common reasons for garage door opener failure in cold weather and provide tips on how to fix them.
So why doesn’t your garage door opener work in the cold weather?
Several factors can cause a garage door opener to stop working, especially if it is cold outside.
Here are five reasons why your garage door opener might have stopped working in the cold weather.
1. Check the Remote
Let’s start with the obvious, which might not seem so obvious when you are in a hurry. Check the batteries in your remote. While this might not be something that only happens when it is cold outside, it is one of the most common reasons a garage door opener stops working. Checking this first could save you a lot of time and money in the long run.
2. It’s Not Broken, It’s Just Frozen
If it recently rained or snowed and the outside temperatures are below freezing, it is possible that your garage door opener might just be frozen shut. If this is the case, don’t try to open your garage door. You could damage it.
What you should do instead is to check the weatherstripping, which is the rubber piece that sits at the bottom of your garage door to seal it when it’s closed. If it is frozen, go to the inside of your garage, take a piece of wood and a hammer to gently tap on the bottom of your garage door. This should break up the ice so you can open the door.
3. Check the Infra-Red Security Boxes
If you have photo-electric sensors on both sides of your garage door, the problem may be that those sensors have collected condensation or frost. In this case, all you have to do is wipe each sensor box with a cloth to clear them up. This should make your garage door work properly again. If it doesn’t, the issue is being caused by something else.
4. The Metal On the Door Track Has Contracted
When metal gets cold, it contracts. Therefore, if temperatures drop, the metal tracks on your garage door will contract, making it hard to open. So the problem might not be with your garage door opener at all. To help prevent a contracting metal issue, always keep your door tracks clean and well lubricated. This will reduce the friction caused by contracting metal.
Another issue with contracting metal is that a sudden drop in temperatures could cause the metal door tracks to bend. If it’s just a little bending, you should still be able to open your garage door. It will just be noisy. However, if they are bent significantly, you will probably have to contact a professional garage door repair company to fix them for you.
5. The Remote Sensor Is Damaged
Your garage door opener has a remote sensor on it. And while it’s rare, this sensor could crack if you have experienced some extremely cold temperatures. Unfortunately, if this is the case, you will have to contact a professional to fix it for you.
The Bottom Line
Your garage door malfunctioning in cold weather might not actually be a problem with the garage door opener specifically. As you can see, there are plenty of things that could cause your garage door or garage door opener to stop working. However, garage door and garage door opener problems are more common in the winter. If you can’t seem to find the problem, don’t hesitate to contact a garage door repair company to assist you.
