DID YOU KNOW? All of our technicians are employees of Overhead Door. We never use subcontractors!

DID YOU KNOW? All of our technicians are employees of Overhead Door. We never use subcontractors!

Mid-Atlantic Door Group Inc. Distributors of Overhead Door Corp.

How to Manually Open a Garage Door Without Power

There’s nothing worse than getting ready for the morning, preparing yourself a fresh cup of coffee, and heading out into your garage to leave for the day when you discover that your garage door won’t open. When your garage door suddenly loses power, you might feel like your car is stuck with no way out. Fortunately, there are easy solutions to tackle a garage door that loses power! By following one of these three simple tricks to open a garage door without power, you can get on with your day until you’re ready to call Overhead Door™ for a garage door repair. 


garage door power outage

Open a Garage Door Without Power by Finding the Operating Mechanism

One of the simplest ways to get your garage door open when it doesn’t have power is to search for the operating mechanism. The operating mechanism for the garage door can often be found attached to the center of your garage’s ceiling and is linked to your garage door. Typically, it resembles a long rope or chain attached to a lever. Slowly and carefully, you can manually open your garage door by pulling on this rope. However, if the garage door still doesn’t give, don’t force it. Instead, move on to attempting a different way to open your garage door.

Search for an Emergency Door Kit 

Some newer residential garage door models come equipped with emergency door kit features. These are pretty handy in the event of a garage door power outage! An emergency door kit can be found placed within the garage door, if your garage door is equipped with one. All you have to do is insert the key into the garage door kit, which will allow you to manually operate the garage door to get it opened. 

Do Some Maintenance 

If you’ve got time, you might be able to do some maintenance on your garage door to get it moving again once power returns! You can remove dirt and debris, then get that elbow grease going to grease up any chains that might be rusty. This could potentially help your garage door move more smoothly in the future if rusty chains contributed to the garage door losing power. 

Your New Residential Garage Door From Mid-Atlantic Door Group 

Mid-Atlantic Door Group carries a wide collection of garage door openers. If you need assistance getting the process started to replace or select a garage door opener, the Mid-Atlantic Door Group team is here to help. Contact one of our eight locations across the region to get started.

About The Author | Justin White


Justin White is the VP of Marketing for Mid-Atlantic Door Group, Inc. The company opened in 1973 and now consists of (3) official Overhead Door™ Distributors and (8) warehouse locations throughout Maryland, DC, Virginia and Pennsylvania. Justin was born into the door industry, ultimately following in his father's footsteps and joining the family owned business in 2011. After spending time in the field with fellow mechanics, Justin found his niche in marketing, along with a specialty in residential garage door sales, installation, and service.

Garage Door Services

Since 1973, Mid-Atlantic Door Group, Inc. has been providing Washington DC, Suburban MD, Frederick MD, Southern MD, Northern VA, Fredericksburg VA, Richmond VA, Harrisburg PA, Hanover-York PA, and the surrounding areas with the most reliable and trusted garage door services. These services include new door sales, professional installation, and 24/7 garage door repair services on all makes and models.

We are the region's only Authorized Overhead Door™ Distributors. All of our products enjoy the garage door industry's best warranty.

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