Accessibility and convenience are extremely important in our modern age of fast-paced living. Automatic door openers can make life easier in both commercial and residential aspects by providing safe and easy access to your business or home, depending on your needs. This post will focus on the benefits of installing one of these devices on your home or your storefront.
What is an Automatic Door Opener?
Let’s start with a quick description: an automatic door opener is a product, either electronic or pneumatic, that is retrofitted to an existing door on a business or residence that enables the door to be opened or closed automatically. There are four sub-categories of automatic door openers: sensor, touch (push button), remote control, and a combination of these. The automatic door opener can also be split up into a residential or commercial category.
The automatic door opener for home or business has several features beyond simply opening and closing. Say you’re moving furniture in and out of the home and you need your door to stay open for a certain period of time, you can program it to remain open longer. These devices have varying speeds, which can be set to your preference. Another feature is if they detect an object in their path, the door will automatically reopen until the doorway is cleared.
Automatic Door Opener Commercial
Most people first think of the automatic door opener commercial when they hear of these devices. These are what you find outside businesses that are ADA accessible. Not all automatic door opener commercial applications are push-button, however. They can also be a sensor or remote control activated, or a combination of these options. These openers are pretty heavy-duty, built with extra durability because of high foot-traffic businesses typically deal with. They are often large, heavy, and long-lasting.
Residential Automatic Door Opener
The residential automatic door opener has all the same applications as its commercial counterpart, but its size and durability set it apart. Residential automatic door openers are often smaller and a bit more malleable, as they do not need to withstand as much foot traffic or wear and tear.
Why are automatic door openers important?
Commercial application
We’re going to start by sharing some history about ADA Accessibility. The Americans with Disabilities Act became law in 1990 and was revised again in 2008. It was created as a means to level the playing field for persons with disabilities in several aspects of public life by making accommodations around such areas as employment, public transportation, and government services to name a few.
The ADA was split up into five different sections, also called titles. For our purposes, we will focus on Title III, Public Accommodations. Title III of the ADA prevents discrimination against individuals with disabilities from accessing privately owned public accommodations, such as hotels, restaurants, doctors offices – pretty much any business that provides goods and services to the public.
This means that if you’re a business owner, you must make sure your brick and mortar shop is compliant with ADA law, which requires you to make “reasonable accommodations” for those with disabilities. In some cases, this requires an automatic door opener.
(If you’re a small business owner, you may be exempt. You can find more information regarding exemptions here.)
Not only is ADA compliance important, but there are other benefits to having an automatic door opener on your place of business.
- It’s convenient. Having the door open for your customers at the push of a button is convenient for them, whether they’re walking with a cane or using a wheelchair, or even if their hands are full with their children or their product they just purchased from you. This will make for a happier transaction or conversation by eliminating a stress factor.
- It’s preferred. One study found that 98.9% of consumers actually prefer automatic doors over manual doors. Installing automatic door openers won’t just please those customers with disabilities – it will please everyone.
- It’s professional. Like it or not, your company’s image plays a vital role in attracting customers and maintaining clientele. Sure, one door opener won’t make or break a business, but it will look sharp and add to your overall professionalism. Your clients will take note of this when giving recommendations to family and friends or when they write that Yelp review.
Residential Application
It’s understandable now why automatic door openers are a good idea for commercial purposes, but why on earth would anyone need one on their own home? Wouldn’t it be a hassle for the install alone, for something seemingly frivolous?
Again, increasing accessibility makes it all worth it. An estimated 6.8 million disabled or elderly Americans use assistive devices to aid in their mobility; an automatic door opener for home is classified as one of these assistive devices, so would actually be a thoughtful purchase for you or a loved one.
- Increased mobility. Social isolation can be a serious problem among the elderly. There are a variety of factors that contribute to it, ranging from the death of a spouse to a lack of mobility. While installing a residential automatic door opener won’t cure social isolation altogether, it will help in getting our seniors out the door if they don’t have to worry about actually opening it.
- Prolonged independence among the elderly. A sad reality in America is that once a person moves into an assisted living facility, it’s thought that their life expectancy can decrease between 50% and 75%. That literally takes years off a person’s life. One way to avoid this is by finding ways to help our elderly prolong their independence so they’re able to stay at home. Installing an automatic door opener for home could be a tool used to aid in this process. If someone is having trouble handling the door while using a wheelchair, or if they have a disability that inhibits them to turn a knob, a residential door opener eliminates that roadblock, allowing independent use of their door.
- Easy install. Some might hesitate to install a residential door opener, thinking it’s a whole big process that will disrupt the home and take forever. On the contrary, most professionals have years of experience installing these products. The most common automatic door opener for home is actually installed to the existing door or door jamb, so it does not require a costly and time-consuming construction project. Most professionals will be in and out within hours.
An automatic door opener for home doesn’t just have to go on one’s front door, and it doesn’t just have to be used for the elderly or disabled. This product can virtually be installed on any doorway – your bedroom, bathroom, or patio – and can even be installed on a gate. Sometimes we just need a little extra help around the house – automatic door openers provide that assistance and make life just a bit easier.
Find out more information about automatic door openers here.
