There's a Lot Riding on Your Home Inspection

As home inspectors we are always learning new "tricks of the trade". I'll admit that on simple tasks that I have done before, I do as most men do and glance at the instructions when installing something and go on my way installing.

Energy efficiency is all the rage these days and most all homes come with LED bulbs in everything from the range hoods, to refrigerators, to overhead lights. LED bulbs are excellent sources of light, they can come in different types depending on if you want the light to be more like light daylight,  warmer light, dimmer, etc. 

I have an older home and upgrades are a must. I recently replaced both of my garage door openers and was excited to install LED bulbs in them to get a great bright light when the door opens. When testing the openers however, the opener would only work about 5 feet outside of my garage door, 10-15 feet at most. I tried messing with the antenna, tried a different code on the transmitter and head unit. Nothing would make the signal better. Eventually I stumbled upon a tip from a friend that maybe the LED bulb in the garage door opener was the cause of the issues. I pulled out the LED and put in a CFL bulb and I can now open and close my door from half way down the block. It turns out that electronics inside the LED bulb transmit small amounts of frequency that can sometimes interfere with the garage door opener signal itself. 

They make specialized light bulbs for garage door openers that block this interference if you want to stay with LED bulbs. These can be found at most all hardware stores today.