We have two garage doors. I know, I know – cool story, bro. But I promise this gets better. Well, it does if you’re a tech nerd or just enjoy life’s little conveniences. Sherry’s eyes glaze over when I try to tell her this stuff, so I’m talking to the remote-control-loving convenience enthusiasts out there. Anyone?
Each door came with its own remote, which we inherited from the previous owners. This guy barely worked at first, but with a quick battery replacement it works almost too well – occasionally opening or closing the door when the remote shifts in my cup holder. Did I mention it didn’t come with a visor clip? Yeah, that’s why it lives in the cup holder.
The other remote wasn’t much better. It worked more consistently, but required a duck tape wrap to keep it functioning. Classy, no? Not to mention its monstrous size meant it didn’t really fit anywhere conveniently in our car.
Improving our garage door remote situation was not high on our to-do list, but then I passed a display at Home Depot for a Clicker Universal Remote. It was $34, but the lure of simplifying to one, small, tape-free remote was too great for me to resist.
You only live once, right?
Sidenote: this YOLO skit gets quoted a lot in our house.
I didn’t really pause to think about actually programming the darn thing. And I know nothing about garage doors. What is this “dip switch” the instructions speak of? Well, a little bird (aka Google) told me it was a series of a 9 or 12 tiny switches that live in the garage door opener whose sequence of ups and downs creates a fingerprint. Match that sequence in your remote and you’ve got a match. Here’s the partially-obscured-so-you-can’t-get-into-our-garage dip switch in one of our existing remotes.
So all I had to do was replicate that switch in the new clicker.
To do so, I used the tip of a screw driver to move each switch into the correct up or down position. Note: the last 5 dip switches hadn’t been moved to reflect our code in this photo yet.
Once the dip switch was coded correctly, I just clicked the button I wanted to assign to that particular door until the door responded.
It was craaaaaazy easy to program this little thing. I got both doors programmed within 10 minutes or so. Doing the second door was the same as the first (and it didn’t undo the first door’s programming by changing the dip switches to a different sequence) so within no time I was the proud owner of one, single, double-door-operatin’ remote. Hallelujah.
And I just had to spread the word, so there you have it: a post about an easy tech update that might sound intimidating, but you can do it. Heck, I think Burger might be able to do it.
In summary: I think I might just be a remote addict (remember these?). The icing on the cake? Since it came with a clip, I was finally able to hang my garage door opener in a convenient spot on my visor. Yup, you can call me big poppa.
Okay, who else is way too excited about a little technological upgrade? Sherry couldn’t believe my enthusiasm for my new remote when I first told her about it (or when I brought it up again and again). But seriously, I’m so happy to be rid of those big ugly duct-tape-covered cup-holder-hogging remotes of the past.
Welcome to the future, guys. It’s nice here.
Holly says
Love this entry. I do not have a garage door opener or even a garage but I hope to have one someday and I will be sure to dazzle my husband with my knowledge. More importantly, I work for a 92 year old man who is a gadget freak and he does have a garage and several openers. I will utilize this precious knowledge to keep him saying to me “You are so intelligent, you know about everything!” Thanks.
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, work it Holly!
xo
s
Lisa says
Not gonna lie, I think that sounds awesome! I mean, who has a cup holder to spare?
Meredith Jones says
Can I just say something? I LOVE Adam Levine!! How hot is he?! Too bad he’s engaged… how sad. ;)
Very exciting on the garage door opener. I’d be quiite excited myself to not have been honkers in me cup holder anymore!!
Barb says
HA! We own and operate a resi/comc’l door company and got a kick out of your DIYing a Genie remote. You did well. If the whole bloggin thing tanks, give us a call if you’re in the mood to relocate to the great state of Texas!
ethel says
haha! This is funny! Sometimes it’s the small things in life that make all the difference!
Kathy says
John…I am every bit as excited as you and thrilled beyond that that you decided to share your new toy! I have only one garage door and one remote; however, I want others who live here to enter the house through the garage and this sounds like it might be a solution. I had checked into getting additional remotes, but it was way too expensive…this sound so doable. I cannot wait!
Terri Mc says
Hi John & Sheri-
Glad you’re so stoked about your upgrade!
Forgive me if this has been mentioned- 300+ comments right now so it’s possible. If you ever leave you windows cracked open far enough A)someone could get your opener out or B)easily push a button. Then they could A)follow you home because you most likely won’t notice it is missing until you go to open the garage door or B)have instant access to your home if parked in your drive.
Just switch it to the other side of the visor.
Stay safe!!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Terri! Great tip!
xo
s
Garth Steele says
Great post John! I feel your pain. When you are dealing with multiple garages and all those remotes, it can be a hassle for sure. I have two daughters both in high school and neither of them can’t use the remote because one will not work without the other one in range. So I finally got a universal remote from Lowes and since I am quite handy around remotes, I was able to get working in no time.
Glad yours had a happy ending as well, and you’re right. The future is looking bright for those garage openers
Carly says
I was just as excited about the new keypad door handle/lock I installed on our back door (which is the main door we use). No more keys! We just redid our kitchen and added some satin nickle hardware (we previously didn’t have any hardware) and our door handle was gold so I wanted to get a new door handle to match the new hardware. We got a Lowe’s coupon in the mail so I was looking around online and found a keypad lock and was intrigued. I never knew they existed. I consulted with my hubby and he was all in, so I bought it and installed it myself. It took less than 30 minutes when all said and done and it’s awesome! We love it, and we feel like we’re pretty important people since we have a secret code in order to get into the house. I want to put one on the rest of our doors too. So in short, I totally get the nerdy, techy excitement over a garage door opener.
Erin says
This is a perfect job for Burger! His claws are probably perfectly sized for it. :) Have a great weekend.
Karen says
My car has the three-button deal, but I disabled it after the husband got too many wood-working things for the garage to also accommodate my car (it just felt…wrong…to park in the driveway and have that feature enabled). So now we have these wee remotes and love them. Sidebar: the husband kept leaving his remote in his truck. I kept complaining about the state of his truck, and finally detailed it for him because he *is* awesome enough to deserve such treatment. The very next morning someone broke into his truck but there was nothing to steal (and yet, so creepy…our driveway is right next to our bedroom).
Avone says
They even make openers with three buttons. We have one that is programmed to our rent houses so I don’t have to carry around a key ring and try to remember what goes where. One remote AND a visor clip. FANCY!! Enjoy!
Carrie says
We just set up ours today, but I have to say, starting out with the old remotes? That seems like cheating. It’s way more fun when you start off with a garage door opener and NO remotes, and a model that is not included in the instructions. Then its all just random button pressing and flashing lights until finally the door opens. Phew. But it sure is magical when it works!
Angie H says
Ah! This cracked me up! Please… keep the tech nerd posts coming!