Chamberlain Whisper Drive Plus Garage Door Opener
The Chamberlain Whisper Drive Plus Garage Door Opener is a fantastic, quiet, easy to install garage door opener that is so great I am truly amazed that it went in so easily.
Ease of Use, Performance: 23/25
Look & Feel: 25/25
Features 23/25
How much I enjoy 23/25
Total: 94/100
Chamberlain has been manufacturing garage door openers, access control systems, intercoms and gate openers for 40 years and has a couple lines of garage door openers. I recently received one for reviewing and not only got to check it check out but also got to install it in a relatives new home and it was simple.
I know many would not want to try this but you would be very surprised at how easily the garage door opener is to install, especially in a newly built garage. This is one of those projects that could easily be done by the home owner and save you that installation charge from a professional.
But of course if you are unsure and want a professional you can always call them in and have one of the Liftmaster series of professionally installed garage door openers for your home. But if you want to save yourself the cost and want to tackle a project that I really think many could do on their own this is a perfect job and one that can be done in less than a day.
The Chamberlain Whisper Drive Garage Door Opener model WD962KLD that I received for reviewing comes in a large box with really well packed and cushioned parts and you do get everything you need to install it except some braces for your door. You may also need some wood 2x4’s or other metal brackets to hang the garage door opener if your ceiling does not have a wood beam nearby where the opener will be.
There are two particular parts of this kind of project that may be a bit of a difficulty; one is where the opener will hang and the other is your garage door itself. The Chamberlain garage door opener will hang from a rafter or other secure wood frame part of your garage ceiling.
You should make sure you have a place about a foot or so from the fully opened edge of the garage door when it is up for the opener to hang. This means a 2x4 beam somewhere near that you can attach the opener or some wood or metal braces that will attach to the braces that come with the opener.
You will also have to take into account the type of garage door and how the opener pulls the door open, the opener attaches to your garage door by one bracket that has four mounting holes on it. This bracket attaches to the top of the door along the very top or inside top edge of the door so it has to go on a part of the door strong enough to pull open the door.
This may require a brace or other bracket that will be able to be screwed or somehow mounted to the door or you can also purchase angle bracket material available at many home improvement stores for this exact installation. You can also purchase a kit available from garage door parts companies as well as the manufacturer of your garage door for this installation if you know the manufacturer.
What you need is a bracket or other type of brace to help not damage the garage door when opening and pulling on the garage door for lightweight doors. If your door is wood or a solid and sturdy door you may not have a problem but you can easily install a bracket that costs about $15 that will replace the uppermost center hinge.
This type of bracket or brace will screw to the door to support the door and top section of a sectional garage door during opening. The instructions give examples of this but if your installing this on a new garage door the door may also show this on a sticker right where the bracket goes.
On the new garage door I installed this opener on it showed what they meant and gave examples so it was pretty easy but the instructions also show a bracket that can be made from a piece of angle iron. Simply cut two pieces of angle iron long enough to fit from the top of the door to the hinge below the top in the center of the door. Another piece of angle iron will go horizontally across the top of the door for about four feet to help pull the door and not bend the door section for lightweight doors.