What’s the average lifetime of an opener?

As far as ranking them by quality my opinion is as follows. Chamberlain, Liftmaster and Craftsman should be at the top of the list followed by Linear, Genie, Marantec and try to stay away from anything that says Wayne Dalton on it. I have seen nothing but nightmares with the Wayne Dalton idrive opener. They don’t last but a few years and are not cheap to replace. This only my personal opinion others may have there own opinion. I have spent several years working exclusively with home warranty companies and repaired strictly opener units. These warranty companies made sure an opener unit could be repaired as opposed to replacement of openers. So the warranty companies want it repaired until it can’t be repaired anymore. And when you see the same problems over and over with one certain brand than you get a real good idea who the more quality manufactures are.

durability

As far as durability goes they sure don’t make them like they use to. I have seen openers that are over 20 years old still working and don’t seem to want to quit. The problem is that they are so old that there are not any parts available to keep them going, so replacing them is your only option. The openers made in the last 5 years should last 10-15 years. There are a lot of reasons for them to malfunction before they should and that has to do with proper installation. A simple step like tightening the belt or chain too tight will shorten the life of internal parts. Also a garage door that is too heavy or out of balance will prematurely wear gears out in the opener.

technology used in openers

Also the digital technology used in openers today is sensitive to power surges. Purchasing a small surge protector for an opener will help stop this kind of damage from happening. And the frequency of use will determine longevity of the opener. If you dont park any cars in your garage and you only open it once a week or so will prolong life of unit as opposed to opening the door 4 or 5 times a day which will shorten the life of the unit. This applies to the garage door itself also.

unnecessary stress on an opener

the less you use it the longer it will last. The biggest situation that puts unnecessary stress on an opener is having broken springs on a garage door and not knowing it is broken will put extreme wear and tear on the unit. The opener most of the time will open the door with broken springs. Sometimes it wont. If you can get 15 years out of any home appliance than that is about how long they are built to last.