So looking in Home Depot the other day, i noticed that Ryobi is selling garage door openers with a backup battery attached. Pretty cool idea.

Since my existing garage door opener is practically brand new, is there any way to add a backup to the existing unit to open the garage door a few times during an outage? I see Genie makes one, but doesnt look like it will work with mine.

Any suggestions?

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Posted by chity

Chicago, Il

Member since Dec 2008

6080 posts

Posted on 6/13/16 at 5:04 pm to SportTiger1

How often do you have a power outage?

I just pull the disconnect cord and manually open and close.

Outages are such a rare occurrence, sounds like a waste of money.

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Posted by TigerWise

Front Seat of an Uber

Member since Sep 2010

35113 posts

Posted on 6/13/16 at 5:06 pm to SportTiger1

You could just plug the garage door into a battery back up UPS that you would use with a computer. Minute Man, tripplite, APC all make them.

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Posted by Boudreaux35

Member since Sep 2007

21476 posts

Posted on 6/13/16 at 5:08 pm to chity

quote:
I just pull the disconnect cord and manually open and close.

As long as your spring isn't disconnected or broken, manual opening and closing is easy. Not as easy as having a machine do it, but pretty much anyone stronger than a 4 year old girl can do it.

I'd rather spend my money elsewhere.

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Posted by SportTiger1

Stonewall, LA

Member since Feb 2007

28504 posts

Posted on 6/13/16 at 5:16 pm to Boudreaux35

Yeah so my disconnect string broke off at the connection, and the model i have is basically unfixable without buying a complete new rail (stupid) for $120. So i was thinking if i could put that towards a backup battery, why not?

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Posted by SportTiger1

Stonewall, LA

Member since Feb 2007

28504 posts

Posted on 6/13/16 at 5:26 pm to chity

quote:
How often do you have a power outage?

I just pull the disconnect cord and manually open and close.

Outages are such a rare occurrence, sounds like a waste of money.

Goes out too often, probably once every 3-4 months for a couple hours or so. Problem is, my wife works at home by herself and if the power goes out during the day, she has to load up and head to the office. She CAN use the disconnect cord, but the garage door is insulated and fairly heavy, so it's not optimal.

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Posted by chity

Chicago, Il

Member since Dec 2008

6080 posts

Posted on 6/13/16 at 5:34 pm to SportTiger1

quote:
Goes out too often, probably once every 3-4 months for a couple hours or so. Problem is, my wife works at home by herself and if the power goes out during the day, she has to load up and head to the office. She CAN use the disconnect cord, but the garage door is insulated and fairly heavy, so it's not optimal.

Sounds like a good idea then in your situation. If you think the cost is reasonable, I would say go for it. Batteries have gotten very reliable.

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Posted by Capital Cajun

Over Yonder

Member since Aug 2007

5525 posts

Posted on 6/13/16 at 6:42 pm to TigerWise

I replaced mine last summer and it came with the back up battery but if you don't want to install a new set up then