Interference of any activities is a problem, especially when it comes to garage door openers. After a long journey, if it happens at the time of entering the garage to park, the car can be embarrassing. While you use a garage door opener and suddenly stop working, then you need to find the cause of it. There may be different reasons for this interference to happen. A door opener works with its remote control on radio frequencies, like remote-controlled cars, household wireless phones.
Even any other electronic device can go out of order. Also, a light bulb can produce electromagnetic fields with the potential for interfering with those wireless devices. So If you have a LED bulb installed in your garage door opener, you can not just avoid thinking of the interference issue. Drivers of LED bulbs are produced in a field in a range that can interfere with the garage door’s opening. But some bulbs are known to prevent garage doors from opening, even to open them on their own.
How Do LED Bulbs Work?
LED bulbs appear as a continuous stream of light. LED made with pulse width modulation technology. It is actually flashing at a rate of 15 times per second. Inside of the bulb, there is a control circuit. The bulb operates the scheduled flash and relies on a frequency. The frequency is between 30 and 360 megaHertz (MHz).
Why LED Lights Cause Interference with Garage Door Openers?
As we discussed above, LED lights have drivers inside the bulbs, which produce a field that interferes with the garage door — preventing the door from opening. Garage door openers operate by using radio waves, similar to how a remote-controlled car works.
Garage doors operate using frequencies between 30 and 360 MHz. Because these two devices use frequencies that intersect, they can interfere with each other.
Solution For LED Interference With Garage Door Opener
If you face problems with LED for garage door opening, then you have to take initiative to face this problem. Also, find out the possible solutions, which include the following:
- Find out the Name Brand LED light: Before fixing, look for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) logo showing FCC compliance. Check and make sure minimum radio frequency interference. The majority of LED-related garage door interference is caused by cheap and less quality. Try replacing less quality with higher quality bulbs. There are LEDs designed to prevent garage door signal interference. They cost a bit more but are well worth it.
- Change the garage light fixture to a less energy-efficient option. It could be LED lights in existing garage door light fixtures that are causing the problem. Switch their bulbs as well to see if that does the trick. Or, you may need to switch the garage light fixtures out for more contemporary options.
- You may check the power source. Make sure the garage door opener is plugged into an outlet that has power. If it’s plugged in, unplug it and plug something else in to ensure the outlet has power. You may need to reset a tripped breaker.
- Sometimes it happens that the control pad is unlocked. There are garage door openers that have a lock function on their control pad for security measures. If locked by mistake, immediately unlock the control pad. It will work again.
- Remote batteries can be a problem for long time use. If the door opens and closes via the hard-wired button on the garage door wall, but fails when you use the remote, tired or dead batteries may be the culprits. Then take initiative to replace batteries of Remote control.
- All of a sudden, the garage door remote’s signal gets wiped out or interferes. Then try reprogramming the remotes with the help of the instruction manual.
- Contact a garage door professional to help diagnose the issue.
How Can You Improve Your Garage Doors Performance?
Nobody wants garage door performance to be troubleshooting. In order to make life comfortable, it should be improved. We always wanted to make sure you were not just getting Cheap, but that you were getting value. In fact, the world moves toward LED bulbs for efficient and quality lighting. But unfortunately, there are some bulbs available in the marketplace, which is an unknown brand. While buying, consumers are often confused. So the following guide may help you to buy a proper one.
Lumens: First of all make sure to check the lumen, i.e. light output of bulbs. There are some brands that claim to replace a 40-watt incandescent bulb, but the light output is far less than what they claim. As per the review, a 40-watt replacement should produce around 450 lumens and a 60 watt should produce around 800 lumens.
Consistency of Color: The bulbs come in a variety of “color temperatures,” which are measured in degrees Kelvin. Most household applications use bulbs with 2700K to 3000K. These are called “warm white” (with 3000K being a little “cooler” than 2700K). Office settings often have cooler or whiter color temperatures of 3500K or 4100K.
Cheap LED bulbs often don’t have color consistency. Therefore, while a set of them might sell for 2700K. They might look a little different from one another. Either that or their color temperature may change over time. If you have to replace one bulb in a couple of years, it might look different than the others. If you purchase a known brand, you have a better chance for enjoying a consistent color temperature.
CIR: Color Rendering Index is called CIR. The accuracy of a bulb will render color with a higher number of 100. Most LED bulbs are around 80. Other unknown brands claim more for their marketing. But not satisfactory. The quality LEDs could also have higher CIR, but a bit expensive. That could be considered worthy.
Dimming: Usually the light bulbs are not set on dimmer switches. If you’re not planning to dim a bulb, that may create problems. Otherwise, make sure you notice whether the LED can be dimmed. The label should make this clear. Many cheap LED bulbs are not dimmable.
Warranty: When you decide to buy LEDs, make sure about the warranty. It should be expected to last more than 20,000 hours. Quality manufacturers will usually stand behind its bulbs with at least a 5-year warranty. Cheaper bulbs — which could have a shorter life. It may not offer you that same level of confidence. They may offer very short warranties. Forget to buy more bulbs if their lives are cut short.
Final Verdict
There is a proverb, “Knowledge is power”, if you read you learn more. We always hope this article will help you to choose the right LED bulb for your needs. If you are able to buy the actual one getting a little bit of knowledge from our review and information, we will be happy. As we have discussed, there is a lot of production of LEDs and other traditional bulbs available in the marketplace with claiming good service. So you confuse now and then. Our sincere suggestion, be careful and follow the guideline for purchasing.
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