What type / brand of garage door opener?

Community Playground General Discussions
#1

Hi … I’m looking for advice on what type of Garage door opener to purchase. I’ve a fairly new Vera controller, but I’ve no clue what the best way to solve this problem is. My garage has never had a motorized opener, and I’m not sure if I should buy something basic, and let the wall controller be Z-wave and do the work? Or if it should be a smart opener, compatible with Vera? Help?

~ Michael

#2

Don’t know if there is a good answer here. If you go the “smart garage” route, I think the MyQ doors are the only game in town, and there is no telling how long that plug-in will keep working, as MyQ seems set on making it break, and are also set to start charging if you want to use IFTTT to integration (who also wants to charge you). so it is a precarious link at best unless the Ezlo folks end up making a deal with teh MyQ folks. And note MyQ openers don’t work with the Z-wave garage door buttons, unless you connect it to a battery powered remote.

If you go the non-smart opener with a z-wave wall button, you cant’ get open/close info unless you also have a sensor on the door… the z-wave tilt read switches out there are all garbage… so to get a decent sensor you have to buy a heavy duty garage door security magnet kit which you can then wire to a z-wave door/window sensor to detect open/close. Or some other hack… or go with the crappy tilt sensor. So fun, fun, fun!

#3

I recommend you to purchase a smart opener. I have Nexx Smart Wi-Fi Garage Door Controller and I bought it from Coupon Codify. There are many other options are available like

  • Garadget smart garage door controller
  • iSmartgate Pro (Ultimate kit)
    However, Nexx is the most reliable and reasonable in price.
#4

I have had a couple different MyQ based openers and they in general have worked well, but as has been raised they aren’t the most “community focused” company out there.

#5

I went with a “dumb” motor but it had 24v output which power a WiFi relay that has a no voltage output, flashed with tasmota. The relay connects to button input on motor. Combined with a z-wave window/door sensor, virtual switch that sends http command to relay and the garage door plug-in makes it “smart” and non cloud dependent.
Works perfect in Vera and Apple Home via Homebridge.
I also installed WiFi touch buttons in garage and house that sends http commands to relay so you don’t need a phone or watch to open the garage door, and of course the standard RF remotes works as intended and updates the status of the garage door in Vera/Home app due to the door sensor.