Garage door remote
January 30, 2022 12:35 PM Subscribe
What do you do with your garage door remote? I’ve read it is unsafe to keep in the car since it would give a thief access to your house. However, it is too bulky to keep on a keychain that goes in and out of pockets a lot. The garage is the primary point of entrance/exit due to the storage for shoe, jackets, etc. Are there any other solutions?
I guess if a thief broke into your car and stole your registration + your remote, they'd know where you live and be able to get access to your garage, but they'd still have to get through your door lock to access your home proper. That's maybe suboptimal because the garage entrance might be less visible to passersby (and therefore less suspicious to spend time picking/breaking down?) but overall, this is fairly low on my list of security concerns, personally. NB: I haven't had a garage door opener in ~10 years, but my parents still do and they just keep theirs in their cars, living in a suburban area outside Washington, DC.
posted by Alterscape at 12:42 PM on January 30, 2022
posted by Alterscape at 12:42 PM on January 30, 2022
If you're worried about the garage providing an entrypoint into your house, I would focus on locking the door from the garage into the house, and maybe installing a sturdier door and deadbolt.
I keep my remote in the car, which I park in the garage.
If you don't park your car in the garage, why do you need a garage door opener in that car? I'm not trying to be a smartypants, but genuinely curious. If you park outside, maybe use a different door into your house that doesn't require the garage door to be opened, and disable your garage door opener from the inside if you aren't parking your car there?
Everything depends on your specific situation though. If you're worried about people breaking in while your car is parked outside your house, on the street, I'd assume that's a pretty small risk, because once they break into the car, they aren't going to want to stick around, most of the time.
It also seems unlikely that someone would break into your car while it's parked at work, and use the remote to gain access to your house. If they are that determined, they will find other ways.
A remote is nothing but a radio that shoots a certain sequence of stuff at the sensor, so it's not hard to emulate. In fact the garage door opener makes a great lock for the garage door if you just turn it off, so maybe look into using a different entrance.
posted by natteringnabob at 12:48 PM on January 30, 2022 [3 favorites]
I keep my remote in the car, which I park in the garage.
If you don't park your car in the garage, why do you need a garage door opener in that car? I'm not trying to be a smartypants, but genuinely curious. If you park outside, maybe use a different door into your house that doesn't require the garage door to be opened, and disable your garage door opener from the inside if you aren't parking your car there?
Everything depends on your specific situation though. If you're worried about people breaking in while your car is parked outside your house, on the street, I'd assume that's a pretty small risk, because once they break into the car, they aren't going to want to stick around, most of the time.
It also seems unlikely that someone would break into your car while it's parked at work, and use the remote to gain access to your house. If they are that determined, they will find other ways.
A remote is nothing but a radio that shoots a certain sequence of stuff at the sensor, so it's not hard to emulate. In fact the garage door opener makes a great lock for the garage door if you just turn it off, so maybe look into using a different entrance.
posted by natteringnabob at 12:48 PM on January 30, 2022 [3 favorites]
I put a deadbolt on the door between my garage and my house. I keep that locked, and don't worry about the garage door opener.
posted by medusa at 12:57 PM on January 30, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by medusa at 12:57 PM on January 30, 2022 [2 favorites]
Locks only keep honest thieves out.
Keep it in your car, don't worry about it too much.
posted by phunniemee at 1:02 PM on January 30, 2022 [7 favorites]
Keep it in your car, don't worry about it too much.
posted by phunniemee at 1:02 PM on January 30, 2022 [7 favorites]
I live in a neighborhood where most houses are configured with garages in back facing onto an alley and front doors facing onto a street. I've converted half of our garage to a gym; Mrs. BlueTongueLizard parks in the garage and I park in the driveway. Many neighbors also park one or more cars in driveway for reasons. Your question came up on the neighborhood Facebook page after a rash of car break-ins. Rough consensus opinion is to lock the garage remote in your glove box on assumption that someone just breaking car windows looking for valuables isn't the same someone who would go to trouble of prying open the glove box. At least one neighbor has a keycode lock installed on outside that will also open the garage. Like medusa, I also have a deadbolt on door between garage and house.
posted by BlueTongueLizard at 1:09 PM on January 30, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by BlueTongueLizard at 1:09 PM on January 30, 2022 [1 favorite]
What's your realistic threat model? The truth is most locks are pretty easily pickable to someone that knows what they're doing but a lot of the time people committing break-ins just force a door or break a window because that's even easier. Unless you routinely park outside of the garage and there's some evidence that someone's been breaking into cars in order to gain access to houses, I wouldn't spend too much thought on it. Unless you're really interesting, most break-ins, both of cars and houses, are crimes of opportunity.
That said, a coworker who does worry about access to his home via the garage in general (he has kids that are at the age where they'll forget their keys) switched to an app based garage door opener + security camera setup.
posted by Candleman at 1:37 PM on January 30, 2022
That said, a coworker who does worry about access to his home via the garage in general (he has kids that are at the age where they'll forget their keys) switched to an app based garage door opener + security camera setup.
posted by Candleman at 1:37 PM on January 30, 2022
The garage door opener you're talking about was likely one designed to be left in a car. There are plenty of keychain models available, probably in the $30-40 range.
Some of them are generic and made for analog code transmission (The kind with the 8 switches) -- those will be cheapish. Newer garage doors are digital, and require a lot more know-how to clone or guess the code, and be more in teh range I mentioned above.
I live in a city where car-prowling is very common. I also live in a multi-family building, so someone getting ahold of a remote to my garage means relatively unfettered access to dozens of cars. A keychain remote is the best solution for me. If your keys are getting too bulky, split them up into car vs. house or whatnot.
posted by Sunburnt at 2:24 PM on January 30, 2022 [2 favorites]
Some of them are generic and made for analog code transmission (The kind with the 8 switches) -- those will be cheapish. Newer garage doors are digital, and require a lot more know-how to clone or guess the code, and be more in teh range I mentioned above.
I live in a city where car-prowling is very common. I also live in a multi-family building, so someone getting ahold of a remote to my garage means relatively unfettered access to dozens of cars. A keychain remote is the best solution for me. If your keys are getting too bulky, split them up into car vs. house or whatnot.
posted by Sunburnt at 2:24 PM on January 30, 2022 [2 favorites]
Don't worry about it. Or, if you are worried and want peace of mind, install a home alarm system. As people have said, for someone who sets out to break the law there are many ways into a typical house.
So while "break a car window in the driveway, grab the remote, enter the garage" is certainly a way someone could get into your house, it is not an especially efficient one. My house was broken into once; they just walked around back, used a crowbar to pry open a window and climbed through. That's just going to be a much more reliable way of getting into the house and much less likely to be noticed by neighbors.
posted by mark k at 2:27 PM on January 30, 2022 [1 favorite]
So while "break a car window in the driveway, grab the remote, enter the garage" is certainly a way someone could get into your house, it is not an especially efficient one. My house was broken into once; they just walked around back, used a crowbar to pry open a window and climbed through. That's just going to be a much more reliable way of getting into the house and much less likely to be noticed by neighbors.
posted by mark k at 2:27 PM on January 30, 2022 [1 favorite]
My remote opener/closer activated with just a push button. I wired in a length of speaker cable to a second tiny black button mounted almost invisibly in the black dashboard, with the remote tucked up higher in the dashboard. Changing the battery every couple of years was a little trouble. Still, it worked reliably and the displaced remote was never misplaced.
posted by gregoreo at 6:44 PM on January 30, 2022
posted by gregoreo at 6:44 PM on January 30, 2022
I use MyQ so that I can open the garage door with the app on my phone. I was also wary of leaving a garage door opener in my car since I park in the driveway while the other car is inside the garage. It does take a few seconds to bring up the app, so it's not as convenient as having just one button to press, but it has worked well for us so far.
posted by extramundane at 7:18 PM on January 30, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by extramundane at 7:18 PM on January 30, 2022 [1 favorite]
Most contemporary openers are small enough to live, quite unnoticed, in one door pocket, or somesuch, in the car. I wouldn’t worry about it.
posted by Thorzdad at 7:22 PM on January 30, 2022
posted by Thorzdad at 7:22 PM on January 30, 2022
Back when I had a garage. I wired the opener to the high beam switch. I mounted the remote under the dash. It worked fine until I moved.
posted by Marky at 7:57 PM on January 30, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by Marky at 7:57 PM on January 30, 2022 [4 favorites]
If your setup is that you park, open the garage door, walk in -- I've seen a keypad code opener next to the garage door for this, apparently it's a thing you can have.
posted by away for regrooving at 11:13 PM on January 30, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by away for regrooving at 11:13 PM on January 30, 2022 [1 favorite]
Honestly, breaking a first floor window is way easier than stealing someone's car, subsequently figuring out that they infact live at a particular house , use the garage as an entry point (not all garages are even connected to the house! ) then steal?
I don't think about this at all. My garage door opener is in fact attached to my car in a way I couldn't remove it if I wanted to and I've never stressed about this.
It is way more likely I just leave the garage door open on accident. We got a wifi door alert for this problem.
posted by AlexiaSky at 3:17 AM on January 31, 2022
I don't think about this at all. My garage door opener is in fact attached to my car in a way I couldn't remove it if I wanted to and I've never stressed about this.
It is way more likely I just leave the garage door open on accident. We got a wifi door alert for this problem.
posted by AlexiaSky at 3:17 AM on January 31, 2022
My car sits outside my garage with my garage door opener, and has for 11 years. No issues.
I actually think that people who steal from cars in driveways and people who break into houses are very different groups. Car break-ins are surly teens and drug addicts, not people who are interested in home invasions.
posted by The_Vegetables at 7:19 AM on January 31, 2022
I actually think that people who steal from cars in driveways and people who break into houses are very different groups. Car break-ins are surly teens and drug addicts, not people who are interested in home invasions.
posted by The_Vegetables at 7:19 AM on January 31, 2022
I keep the opener clipped to the visor. I park in the drive (don't ask about the piles of lumber in the garage) and go in that way. I could go in the front door. But here in NE Ohio we have a ton of snow. Walking up the front steps in challenging when the snow goes past your knees.
posted by kathrynm at 9:35 AM on January 31, 2022
posted by kathrynm at 9:35 AM on January 31, 2022
Two options if your opener is stolen, both very very easy:
1) If a newer opener, you just hit the "forget all remotes" button on the garage unit, usually by holding the programming button for 30 seconds or so. Then re-pair your surviving remotes.
2) If an older opener, you switch the garage unit to a different code, and switch your surviving remotes too.
posted by MonsieurBon at 11:01 AM on January 31, 2022
1) If a newer opener, you just hit the "forget all remotes" button on the garage unit, usually by holding the programming button for 30 seconds or so. Then re-pair your surviving remotes.
2) If an older opener, you switch the garage unit to a different code, and switch your surviving remotes too.
posted by MonsieurBon at 11:01 AM on January 31, 2022
« Older How do I get my Twitter archive to work? | How to keep up with (esp. freelance) journalists? Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by bleep at 12:41 PM on January 30, 2022