Garage Door Battery Backup Requirements
You wouldn’t expect the path to California requiring garage door battery backup to start in the vineyards of wine country, but it does.
As fires swept through Napa, Sonoma, Yuba, Butte, Lake, Mendocino, Nevada and Orange counties in October 2017, residents were faced with quick evacuations after losing power or planned evacuations after power had been cut to reduce the risk of fire, which left many unable to manually lift their garage doors.
CBS News reports that the remains of at least five people were found after the fires where garages once stood.
Sen. Bill Dodd, who sponsored the bill to require battery backups, was one of those unable to open his wooden garage door when evacuating. "We absolutely cannot allow something like this, that is so easily corrected, to happen again," Dodd said when proposing the bill. "My bill requiring garage doors to have backup batteries will ensure no one is left vulnerable in the event of a future power failure during such a calamity."
His proposed bill SB 969 was signed into law in September 2018. Specifically, this bill:
Requires automatic garage door openers manufactured for sale, sold, or installed in a residence in California on or after July 1, 2019 to include a backup battery that is designed to operate in the case of an electrical outage.
Applies to all automatic garage door openers manufactured for use in a residence and to any other application of residential openers manufactured for commercial use.
Beginning July 1, 2019, prohibits installation of a replacement residential garage door to an existing residential automatic garage door opener that does not have a backup battery that is designed to operate in the case of an electrical outage.
Violators can be fined up to $1,000 per opener installed, manufactured, sold, or offered for sale which is not in compliance.
So if you’re looking to upgrade your garage door operator, rest assured that the ones we offer are SB 969 compliant.
The batteries typically provide power to your garage door when your home’s power is out for about 24 hours depending on usage and last 1-2 years before needing replacement. Chamberlain recommends disconnecting the battery when the garage door is unplugged for an extended period of time, like at vacation homes or others used infrequently, to maximize battery life.
Replacing the battery is definitely something we can do for you, but is also relatively easy to do yourself. See your owners manual for instructions on how to change the battery backup for your specific make and model.