Finally! A garage door opener

I've had quite enough of opening and closing the garage door manually.  Heave the door up, back the car onto the driveway, get out, pull the door back down from the inside, slide the lock over, go out the side door and lock it behind, get back into the car, and finally on my way.  I'm too old for this.

We've been wanting to get an opener for some time, but with all the other projects around here, it always got pushed to the back burner. But no more.

It was all pretty easy. I ordered this "internet" garage door opener from Sears.  You can even order installation as part of the order (a bit pricey at $129 but I was willing to pay a little extra for the convenience). Just pick a date and add it to your cart.  Free shipping too.  The opener showed up just a few days later, and the day before the installation was scheduled, the installer called to let me know when he was coming.  He showed up right on time, took about an hour, and it was done.

So far it's been great.  Opens the door rather slowly, but super quiet. It's chain-drive, yet barely noticeable from inside the house.

The controller shows you the date and temperature in the garage, and a motion detector that turns the light on whenever you enter the garage. Though frankly, that's a bit of a tradeoff because it's handy at night if I need something in the garage, but during the day if I'm just going out and open the garage door, I don't really need the light to come on.

The coolest part is that it comes with a gateway so you can control it remotely from a laptop or smartphone. If you're not sure you closed the door, you can always check. You could also let someone in to the garage, for instance, to drop someone off.  Log in is required each time to use the app, so if someone steals your phone they don't necessarily get access to your house. You can even set up alerts to notify you every time the door is opened. (I guess if burglars break in though the window then open the garage door from inside so they can load up your stuff, you'd know. And you know if your spouse has gotten home before you.)

When we first bought the house, we didn't live in it full time, but would come down for long weekends, roughing it with just a few kitchen supplies and a futon while we worked on some of the major remodeling. Even after we moved in, we worked little by little on the various projects, so it still didn't feel quite permanent. Funny, but it's the garage door opener that makes it feel "real" to me now.