Many of us have been at home during a thunderstorm and heard the ominous zap of a power outage. In our home state of Michigan (especially this year) it’s not uncommon to experience outages for up to a week because of snow and ice. You may have all the bottled water, canned food, and flashlights ready, but how are you getting in and out of your home?

It is estimated that 70 percent of all homeowners enter their homes via the garage. This itself isn’t news; many new houses are built with a joint garage in the front. The garage is secure and eliminates the need for these homeowners to carry or worry about house keys.

Unfortunately power outages render this secure solution useless and create an entirely new set of problems. In order to manually open the door, an emergency pull chord must be pulled, allowing the door to slide free of the opener and be pushed up. If you aren’t home when the power goes out you may be out of luck. Re-entering will require a house key from another family member or a visit from a locksmith.

What if the power outage goes on and you need to go back to work? These manual chords only allow locking from the inside, meaning any efforts to secure your home will be a multi-step affair. Every time you leave you’ll need to be sure to move your car out, close the garage door, lock it, step out the side door, and secure the house. Constantly repeating these steps can be a hassle and potentially disastrous if you forget to lock up. For the safest and most convenient operation during a power outage, consider a battery-powered unit. The small initial cost will be insignificant compared to the peace of mind that they offer. We carry many brands of operators that function on a battery to ensure that you can always access your garage. Contact us today and ask us about the LiftMaster model 3850 or 8550 to ensure reliability – even when the electricity is out!