In 2017 alone, multiple power outages left 36.7 million people in the dark.

Whether it’s from stormy weather or routine maintenance, there’s nothing more frustrating than losing electricity. You can’t watch Netflix, your refrigerator is off limits, and you can’t even heat up last night’s Chinese food.

However, what do you do if you need to get to your car in the garage? If you’re like most Americans, you probably rely on an electric garage door opener to operate your garage door.

Let’s go over how to manually open a garage door when the power goes out, so you can escape the dark and access your car.

Don’t get left in the dark; let’s get started.

How to Manually Open a Garage Door

The average power outage usually lasts for four hours, but if you’re in the middle of your day, four hours can seem like forever. It’s likely you want to get out of the house and back into civilization, but you need your car, which is securely stuck in the garage.

Let’s find out how to manually open your garage door despite your power outage.

Step One: Grab a Flashlight and Head to the Garage 

Unless it’s a sunny day, and your garage has ample natural light, you’re likely going to need a flashlight to see what you’re doing. Always keep a few around the house for these occasions.

Step Two: Identify and Pull the Red Cord

Most garage doors have a red emergency cord that will allow you to disengage the trolley operator and open your door manually. Your job now is to find it.

It’s usually hanging down from the ceiling near the center rail of your garage door. It looks like a rope with a handle at the end and is often red.

Pull downwards to release it from the garage door opener.

Step Three: Lift the Door 

Before you lift the door, locate the manual lock function, if your door has one, and ensure it’s open.

Now that you’ve disengaged the door from the door opener, you should be able to lift it up from the bottom, assuming the door springs are properly balanced. This should be easy to do, regardless of the size of your garage.

For your safety, ensure the garage door stays open and doesn’t come crashing down due to lack of spring tension.

If you cannot lift the door easily, stop what you’re doing and immediately call your garage door technician as this is an indication of a problem.

Step Four: Move Your Car and Close the Door

Now that your garage door is open you are free to move your car.

To close your garage door and lock it you’ll need to be inside the garage. Simply pull the door down to the floor and secure the manual lock.

Note that not all electric garage doors have manual lock features, which means you might not be able to lock it once you disengage the door.

Broken Garage Door? We Can Help

Even though you might now know how to manually open a garage door, you can still run into issues operating your garage door.

Here at Premier Door Corp, we specialize in installing garage door openers and repairing garage doors for residential and commercial properties. To see how we can help you with your door, call us today!