This is the first choice you’re going to have to make when you start looking for a garage door opener, and it can be kind of an important one. Each of these choices has its benefits and drawbacks and deciding which is going to work best for you will help narrow down your search by a fair margin. Chain Drive Garage Door openers are far and away from the most common form available in the United States and were the first style invented. While it is efficient and inexpensive, the machinery involved in its operation makes it fairly noisy.
Anyone sleeping next to the garage is going to know when it's in operation. They also tend to wear down faster than the belt drive variety of garage door openers. The belt-driven garage door opener is considered by most experts to be preferential to the chain door openers. This system utilizes a rubber belt to drive the opening of the garage door, causing less noise when it's in operation and reducing wear on the system as a whole. All of this comes at a higher price point than the chain door, but it also lasts longer so it may be worth the trade-off in the end. At the end which style of door you go with is going to largely depend on how much you want to spend, and how concerned you are with the door being able to open quietly. Neither system is faster than the other so that’s not going to be a factor, but weight may be. If you have a heavy-duty garage door that is either a custom design or just made of heavier material the chain door may be the way to go. Consulting an expert is a good way to find out which style will work best for you.