When it comes to the lifting power of a garage door opener the only thing considered is the size and weight of your garage door. The weight of a garage door depends on what material its made of. Doors made of wood construction will always weigh more than a steel door. One big misconceptions about steel garage doors is that they are made out of aluminum. There are doors constructed of aluminum but they are not common in residential garage door market. Commercial applications is where aluminum doors are more common. Steel garage doors are made of sheet metal sometimes as thick as a business card. And believe it or not in the 50’s they even made garage doors out of fiberglass.

Here is a breakdown on power and size and weight of garage door.

⅓ HP Openers

Any single size steel garage door 10×7 or less. Also some wood doors that are less than 1.5 inches thick. As far as double car garage doors 16×7 or less ⅓ hp. can be sufficient as long as the door is a basic pan door with no insulation or 3 layer construction or steel back.

½ HP Openers

Any 16×7 or smaller steel garage doors with 3 layer steel back or less. Also sufficient for wood doors 1.5 inches thick or less. Will also work on most single size 10×7 or less wood carriage style garage doors.

¾ HP Openers

Sufficient for any of the types of doors that the ⅓ or ½ hp. openers work with.

¾ hp units are made for larger heavier garage doors. Should be used with any garage door larger than 16 ft. wide and 7ft. high no matter what it is constructed of.