Leave Your Garage Door Open? There Are Consequences
Leaving the garage door open overnight might seem harmless. However, there are plenty of unfortunate consequences that come along with this action. If you often forget to close your garage door at night, learn about some of the issues you could experience sooner rather than later, and what you can do to resolve the issue.
Pest Infestation
Leave your door open long enough and a wild animal, rat, or other rodents will find their way into your garage. If you have clutter or boxes in the garage — even better. Pests like the warmth and shelter of your garage and once one comes it's only a matter of time before you have an infestation on your hand. Keep the door closed to keep these animals out.
Door Malfunction
If you get in the habit of leaving your door partly open at night, such as halfway open, your actions can damage your door. In order to support the placement of the door, the torsion springs have to lock in place, which creates stress. All torsion springs have a lifespan and the more stress on them, the shorter it is. As the springs start to fail, you might start to notice difficulty with opening and closing the door, which can create a safety hazard.
Theft
You might not view it, in the same manner, you do your front door, but your garage door is an entryway into your home. If you're like most people, you keep all sorts of items inside your garage, many of which are valuable. When the door is left open, a thief doesn't have to struggle, he or she can simply walk in, grab what they want and walk away without detection.
Increased Energy Costs
Leaving the garage door open at night can lead to increased heating and cooling costs. During the winter or summer, an open door will allow a great deal of cold or hot air to travel into your mudroom, laundry room or other room that connects the garage to the rest of your home. As the temperature changes in these areas, the overall temperature in your home will also adjust.
A Simple Solution
Often time, people don't leave their garage door open intentionally. You get sidetracked once you get in the house and forget the door is open. A door sensor is a great way to eliminate this issue. Door sensors are programmable devices that work with a Wi-Fi connection. When you set the system up, you can program it to alert you when the door remains open for a set period of time, such as 20 minutes. Once the time period expires, the sensor sends you an alert that the door is open so that you can remember to close it.
If you want to avoid these mishaps, don't hesitate to install a tool for your garage door system that will help you keep the door closed. Contact a service, like Raynor Door Company, for more assistance.