Great gates make a statement. They blend old world craftsmanship with advanced automation and sophisticated home security. They exhibit your good taste and style while protecting the place you care about most. Come with us as we explore the many benefits of installing an automatic driveway gate at your home.
1. Enhanced Home Security
In today’s high tech world, it’s easy to forget the simple effectiveness of gates and fences. They send a powerful signal to potential intruders that your home is well-protected. They form a strong physical barrier — making it harder for burglars, strangers, or other unwanted visitors to gain easy access to your property.
Combined with walls, fences, and other security systems, automatic gates limit entry and secure the perimeter of your property, protecting vulnerable access points and ensuring that your entire property is enclosed. In case of an emergency, many automatic gates can be locked or closed quickly, adding an extra layer of defense if an immediate threat arises.
2. Improved Privacy
On top of security, there’s privacy. Driveway gates keep your home enclosed so you don’t have to worry about the outside world getting in. Wooden gates, in particular, provide a solid barrier that blocks prying eyes and even helps dampen noise. Depending on the layout of your property, a gate can help your front lawn and driveway feel more like a private yard — a space where you and your family can enjoy yourselves, rather than a semi-public one that’s visually accessible to anyone walking or driving by.
3. Increased Property Value
Installation of a custom-made automatic driveway gate is a significant improvement to your home, one that can boost your overall property value by 5 to 7%. Tri State Gate’s high-quality materials, exceptional craftsmanship, and white glove installation and maintenance ensure that your gate will stand the test of time as a permanent fixture of your home.
4. Convenience and Ease of Access
Automatic gates are a barrier to others when you want them to be, but they’re never an obstacle when you need to get through. We offer systems designed to open automatically if your fire alarm goes off or allow access through your fire department’s knox key. We even have systems that recognize the unique frequency of an SOS siren bar, meaning your gates will open instantaneously for ambulances, fire engines, or police cars.
Underground magnetic sensors and above ground infrared beams help ensure safety, so that the gates won’t close when a vehicle or pedestrian is in the way. In the event of a power outage, your home generator can power the gates, or a battery backup system can leave the gates open to allow vehicles in and out until power is restored.
5. Aesthetics and Curb Appeal
Your driveway gate is the first thing most visitors will see when they approach your home. Therefore, it’s an opportunity to make a powerful first impression on guests and passersby.
At Tri State, we custom build gates that match or complement the aesthetics of the homes they adorn, demonstrating that the homeowners have the good taste and resources to see through a full realization of their domestic aesthetic. A bespoke gate is an opportunity to make your home stand out from all the rest.
6. Custom Automation Options
Automated openers for your gate are convenient, easy to use, and customizable to fit your particular needs. Your gate can be programmed to open automatically whenever a vehicle approaches from either side, making entry and exit from your property completely seamless. It can be set so that certain vehicles can pass right through while others need to call ahead to the owner or property manager for entrance. At highly secure sites, they can even be set so permission is required not simply to enter, but to exit, further ensuring the safety of high value items on your property like a car collection.
7. Safety for Children and Pets
No parent wants to think about what could happen if their child runs out into the street or if their kids are playing outside as someone pulls in or out of the driveway recklessly. A driveway gate can ease these anxieties. Gates keep kids and pets in and unwanted vehicles out. For the vehicles that do enter your property, drivers have to stop and enter more intentionally. That moment spent waiting for the gate to open is an extra moment for drivers to pause and make note of their surroundings; meanwhile, the sound and sight of the moving gate lets you and your kids know someone is coming. These small details all add up to keep you and your loved ones safer.
8. Advanced Access Control and Remote Monitoring Capabilities
At Tri State Gate, we offer you a full suite of tools to remotely monitor and manage who can pass through your gate. These systems can be as simple or as complex as your security needs require. For instance, simple keypad systems allow anyone with the code to pass through, while telephone entry systems allow you to personally admit visitors when they pull up to your gate through a direct call either to your home phone, your cell, or through an app on your mobile device. With integrated cameras, you can manage entry through direct voice communication and real-time video verification.
Our more robust systems feature fingerprint scanning, license plate recognition, bluetooth integration, RFID (Radio Frequency Identification), or barcode scanners. With these technologies, you can allow access only to particular individuals or vehicles, provide someone with a one-time use barcode to access your property, or give out a special passcode to a contractor that only works at a particular time of day. These systems are highly customizable to make things as easy and seamless as you want for the people you choose — and restrictive for anyone else.
9. Reduced Liability Risk and Lower Insurance Premiums
Installing an automatic driveway gate is a smart investment in protecting your property and reducing your liability risks. With a gate, your home is safer from break-ins or vandalism, safer from vehicle collisions — safer even from random accidents that can occur without your knowledge as a solicitor or a delivery person walks across your yard. Installing an automatic gate shows your insurance company that you’re taking proactive steps to secure your property and reduce these risks.
10. Peace of Mind
Last, but not least, an automatic driveway gate brings peace of mind. Like the click of the lock when you check the front door at night before bed, a driveway gate is the front line defense for your home: a sturdy barrier between you and the rest of the world, one that’s not only strong and secure, but a thing of beauty in its own right. Passing through your gate each day brings a swell of pride that your home is safe and distinguished.
FAQs about Automatic Driveway Gates
How Do I Choose an Electric Gate Opener?
There are a variety of different factors to consider when choosing a gate opener. Do you want a swing gate or a sliding gate? Will your gate use an above ground hydraulic gate opener, an underground hydraulic opener, or a linear screw type opener? What sorts of safety and automation equipment do you want? See our shopper’s guide to automatic gate openers for more information.
How Long Do Automatic Gates Last?
A well-built automatic gate can last for generations with proper maintenance. We offer each customer an annual service agreement customized to their particular needs. These agreements typically include twice-a-year full service preventative maintenance in the spring and the fall. See our service agreements page for more information.
Do I Need a Lock for an Automatic Gate?
Most automated gates don’t require any additional locking mechanism because their motors have built-in locks to help prevent them from being pushed open. However, there are certain times when external electromagnetic locks are warranted.
- The most common reason is for additional security: electromechanical locks can withstand large amounts of force. This makes them extremely difficult to force open. They’re designed only to release when the gates are triggered through an authorized method.
- The other reason to get an external electromechanical lock is to add extra support for large solid-panel gates in very windy areas. The extra lock helps extend the life of your automatic gate motor by protecting it from excessive wind forces.
How Do You Open an Automatic Gate When the Power Is Out?
All automatic gates come with some form of manual override mechanism in the event of a power outage or if the system breaks. These manual releases are typically activated by a key, and override the drive mechanism of the operator, allowing the gates to be opened by hand. See this post for more information. You can also connect your driveway gates to a whole-home generator or get a dedicated battery backup unit installed: either one can provide your gate with enough power to operate during an outage.
Ready to Enhance Your Home with an Automatic Driveway Gate? Get a Free Consultation
For over 25 years, we’ve been helping homeowners throughout Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey design the driveway entrances of their dreams. Call us at 914-244-0018 or contact us online to consult with one of our experts and receive a free consultation! We’re excited to help you design the perfect gate for your property.
