BF price was ~$170 and I've seen some sales/coupons to get it close to that in the past ($180ish), however if you're looking to buy now then it's a decent sales price.
I've been eyeing belt drive openers for 6 months and this is a pretty good deal for Craftsman, although I debate which is better, this one or for the same price the Chamberlain 1/2HP belt drive w/o battery backup. Less power and no battery but I thought Chamberlain is superior to Craftsman. Thoughts?
From what I recall, Craftsman openers are manufactured by Chamberlain. Of the two I would get the Craftsman because it's 3/4 horsepower rather than 1/2 (this technically shouldn't matter because your garage's torsion springs should be carrying the weight, not the opener), and it comes with a battery backup. The Craftsman also has has a clock on the main opener. The Craftsman remotes are not as sleek, but they are smaller.
I have the Chamberlain version of the Craftsman opener (got it 3 years ago) and never thought I needed the battery backup, but lo and behold, we had a blackout last year and it was awesome getting out of the garage while seeing my neighbors have to do it manually.
I read in the reviews that the Craftsman is actually made by Liftmaster. Don't know if this is accurate or not. It gets great reviews so it looks like a good deal to me.
daveem said: I read in the reviews that the Craftsman is actually made by Liftmaster. Don't know if this is accurate or not. It gets great reviews so it looks like a good deal to me.Liftmaster is manufactured by Chamberlain.
t60 said: daveem said: I read in the reviews that the Craftsman is actually made by Liftmaster. Don't know if this is accurate or not. It gets great reviews so it looks like a good deal to me.Liftmaster is manufactured by Chamberlain. ...and Chamberlain is manufactured by Kevin Bacon!
I agree with jbserra. We have one as well and it is much better than the chain driven Liftmaster we owned prior. Two days after having it installed, the power went out and the battery backup worked as advertised. Neighbor came running over to see if the power came back on in our house...nope, just the garage opener was working.
jayliu said: Guys, keep in mind if your garage door is more than 7ft tall, you will need to buy a rail extension kit thats another $47 bucks.
Excellent point. I forgot to mention that and it is a little frustrating because I needed it. I think one of the competing 3/4hp belt drive openers allows for a larger door right out of the box (sorry, not remembering the details on the other opener).
The extension kit comes with an entirely new belt. You don't have to use the belt that comes with the opener which has a parts price of like $80. Might fetch some cash in return, but I haven't tried to unload it yet.
t60 said: daveem said: I read in the reviews that the Craftsman is actually made by Liftmaster. Don't know if this is accurate or not. It gets great reviews so it looks like a good deal to me.Liftmaster is manufactured by Chamberlain.
cga said: Has anyone hired S.ears to install this garage door opener? How much did they charge and were you happy with their installation?
Install is pretty easy, especially if your replacing an existing garage door opener. This is something the average homeowner can do in an afternoon if they read the directions.
I bough two of these for my house back in my. Wanting to say the were around the $170 or so mark (found the deal here) One Garage door has problems with one of the light bulbs staying on. I can wiggle the bulb and get it to turn on. Other than that one issue, they have been great. Very quiet operation, the battery backup is a very nice feature, and the openers run all the diagnostics so you can keep track of them. Pretty nice opener for the money.
FrugalFreddy said: FYI: HD has a 3/4 HP Chamberlin for $229 online and someone from another deal site found it in-store shelf tagged for $198.00 YMMV.
Ditto that at my HD was clearance priced at $189 (central NY), I bout the HD version year that replaced a 1/2 chain drive chamberlin on my 16 ft door. Man what a difference! So much quieter and faster, the chain drive would rattle the house, I did have a problem with a sensor in the head unit that went bad, over the phone Chamberlin figured it out right away and shipped the part right out very happy with it. THe belt drive is the way to go!
I had Sears do my garage door opener install last year - excellent service and the guy did a great job (Seattle area).
I was actually looking at this Chamberlain that is on sale at Costco right now for a buddy: link. 3/4 HP, belt drive, battery back up, garage door monitor, laser parking accessory - $249.99 + tax (shipping included as always).
fcastle said: I had Sears do my garage door opener install last year - excellent service and the guy did a great job (Seattle area).
I was actually looking at this Chamberlain that is on sale at Costco right now for a buddy: link. 3/4 HP, belt drive, battery back up, garage door monitor, laser parking accessory - $249.99 + tax (shipping included as always).
But now I see this one....
That one can be made to work with Q-Link/MyLink (Craftsman) so you can monitor/open/close your garage door from your smartphone. You can also have other lights and items you turn on and off remotely, either directly or they can turn on and off with the garage door light (so that you have more door-controlled lights). It also has a motion sensor in the garage control panel so the garage light comes on without having to press a button. I find this great when I am carrying trash or recycling out to the garage, I don't have to free a hand to turn the light on.
Also, that one uses a new radio frequency protocol that cannot be made to work with the learning remotes in some cars. It says it is Homelink compatible, but I guess not every learning remote in a car is a Homelink one.
I have the Craftsman version of that, I like it a lot.
I ordered one, too. The 6% FW Cash Back and 5% AARP credit card Cash Back, and $5 coupon make a difference.
However, I want Sears to install it and can't find anywhere online to order and schedule that service. There's no point in my picking up the opener and lugging it home myself, when I would think the installation crew should do that.
For anyone who has had Sears install this, how did you arrange it? Did you have to pick it up yourself?
...Looks like it must be done over the phone. I'm on hold right now waiting to arrange it.
EDIT: $129.99 to install for standard 7' height door. But I must pickup the opener myself or else pay $49.99 for delivery.
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