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The Jetsons predicted how life would work in 2062, less than fifty years from today, with cities in the clouds and flying cars. Although we don’t currently offer our customers customized garages for flying cars, we do have a couple of smartphone-controlled options for your door opener that might make you feel like you’re living in the future. Although not quite as high-tech as this “Robo Garage,” which uses huge cranes to store your car automatically with no need for a valet, adding some automation to your door can make your life simpler.

Several companies, including Chamberlain and Liftmaster, now carry garage door openers that are designed to integrate with your smartphone so that you can monitor and control your door wirelessly from the comfort of your bed or from your hotel room ten hours away. Although this technology has existed for a while, the different options for building a home smart enough to react to your actions automatically are only now becoming affordable and integrated with each other.

Having wireless control and monitoring of your door provides tons of benefits, from simple things like closing it from miles away after driving out in a rush to more situational cases like letting house sitters in from afar or tracking when your children get home. Also, if you have systems like the Nest thermostat that conserve energy by tracking when you’re home and where you are in the home, you can integrate your opener with these other smart home appliances. The forthcoming Apple HomeKit will let you ask Siri to open your garage or automatically switch on your exterior lights when you activate the door.

We have several smart openers in stock and will happily help you choose the one that is right for you, so if you want to start bringing your home up to a Jetson’s level of comfort, the garage door isn’t a bad place to start. The Wall Street Journal has more about the experience of using a smart opener.

If you’re updating your garage door opener anyways, its a good idea to have your technician give your door a quick safety check. You can do some simple steps yourself, as described here.

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