Most people get automatic gate openers and wonder why they didn’t get one sooner!! After years of getting out of the car (twice) to open and shut manual gates, an automatic gate opener feels like it changes your life!
In most parts of Australia, electric gate motors do the job for most households, but in Melbourne, our very changeable weather with our high winds and thunderstorms can make our power supply a little hit-and-miss sometimes.
No mains power means someone has to get out of the car to open and shut gates manually, which is not much fun. Especially if that person is always you! And it’s always raining!!
When you need to decide whether conventional power or solar is going to work best for your automatic gates, it’s good to have some information to help figure out which one is best for your situation.
Embracing The Sun
Solar power will only work well and reliably if the charging panel has access to full sun to charge the batteries. If your gates are in a shady area with trees or maybe buildings overhead, then the batteries may not be able to recharge well enough to open your gates reliably every time.
The best place for the charging panel is at the end of the driveway or a path, where it can sit in the full sun for many hours. Do you have a spot like that?
Solar power is becoming very popular and many houses have a number of household items running off solar panels. Running the gate motors off them is a great idea. Solar certainly cuts the running costs of many homes and businesses.
With the costs of electricity rising all the time, the investment of solar-powered gates could be a very wise one in years to come.
Solar-powered gate motors work really well in remote areas with a large open area to charge the solar panel, or where no mains power is available. The main advantage of solar is for situations where there is already a lot of light or a lack of mains power.
Both solar and mains powered gate motors work in the same way, but each has advantages in different situations.
For businesses, complexes or places with a high level of traffic, mains powered gate motors will be the most reliable. Solar stores the power to make the motors run in batteries, and once they run down, you’ll have to wait for more sunshine to recharge the batteries before the gates will work again.
If having reliable access all the time is important, try a mains powered gate with a battery back up in case of a power outage. This way, you get the best of both worlds.
Pros of a mains powered automatic gate motor
- Peace of mind – automatic gates have an auto closing setting, which means you no longer risk leaving gates open keeping your pets and kids inside and off the road.
- Sooooo quieeeeet – All modern electric motors we install are very quiet.
- Big is beautiful – no matter how big your gate is, electric motors can easily move them all, even an eight metre monster!
Pros of solar powered automatic gate motors
- Reliability – your gate will keep working day and night, right through storms and power outages.
- Less chance of storm damage – as they don’t rely on mains power and its fluctuations during a storm
- Distance is no problem – Best for running gates in a remote area where mains power is a long way away.
Every so often, people express concerns that solar is unable to cope with heavy automatic gates. Usually, that means the people have been sold an under powered system that only works when the sun is shining.
Rest assured that we will ensure you have the correct size batteries and panels to keep you in your car and out of the rain in a Melbourne Storm if you decide to go solar!
If 24/7 access is what you need in your situation, then you can get mains power with a battery backup or a high-powered solar system with a decent panel and large batteries.
Both will work when you want to get in or out of your property during a cyclone, thunderstorm, blackout or other emergencies.
Our team supplies and install a wide range of automatic gates for home and businesses across Melbourne. Your security and satisfaction are our priority. We can tailor a solution to secure your home commercial or industrial premises with either an electric or solar-powered gate.
To get a custom quote and learn more about our wide range of solar and electric-powered gates, browse the website or call us today!
Choosing between solar and mains-powered automatic gates can be a challenge for homeowners, so make sure you give us a call or send an email to talk through your situation.
We have years of experience and have installed too many automatic gates to count. We are bound to have seen a situation similar to yours and will have a solution for you.
Automatic gates have so many advantages that it is hard to do without them once you have got them. We want to see enjoying the convenience, added security and extended privacy with professionally installed gates, powered in a way that really suits you and your property.
Automatic gates Melbourne supplies and install a wide range of automatic gates for home and businesses across Melbourne. Your security and satisfaction are our priority. We can tailor a solution to secure your home commercial or industrial premises with either an electric or solar-powered gate.
To get a custom quote and learn more about our wide range of solar and electric-powered gates, browse the website or call us today!
A good set of automatic gates will complete the security already provided by fences on the rest of your property. Gates that can’t be opened manually are good deterrents for opportunistic burglars, car thieves or vandals.
Automatic gates also keep out unwanted visitors and door to door sales people that you might not want to deal with. Automatic gates keep other peoples animals and kids out and keep you in at the same time!