During our residential security evaluations, one of the most overlooked aspects of home security that we like to talk about would be the overhead garage door. I think that most people assume the door is secure. Unfortunately, that is not entirely the case.
The main concern is the red emergency release cord. Intruders can easily exploit this by pulling the cord from outside with simple tools like a coat hanger, after using a wedge to create a gap in the door. It’s especially easy to do if you have windows on your garage door. The Glendale Police Department’s Community Action Team released a bulletin about this issue, and it has also been featured on most of the local news channels a number of times.
Their document (pictured below) mentions that you should cut off the cord and use a zip tie to mitigate the issue, however we recommend against this. The reason is that you need this cord to let you out through the garage in a few different scenarios. This includes when the power goes out, or if the opener malfunctions. Sometimes the mechanism that detects a person or animal trapped under the door can malfunction which may result in serious injury or death if there is not a means to lift the door manually. In cases where there is an electrical fire and the power goes out, you still want to be able to open your garage door as a means of egress out of the home.
The product featured in this video does a good job of solving these issues. It fully mitigates the burglary method described above, and is essentially the equivalent of putting a padlock or manual bolt lock in your door track. This runs automatically every time you operate the garage door and so it does not affect the normal operation of your garage door opener. With manual locks, you have to walk up to it and lock or unlock, which is highly inconvenient and will lead to someone not wanting to actually use the secondary lock. This product also solves that problem.
Overall it’s a nice product that we think plays an important part in a more comprehensive approach to your home security.
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