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Daylight saving and your garage door: what runs on the clock and what doesn't

Daylight saving has been on in NSW since Sunday 4 October 2026, when at 2am the clocks move forward 1 hour to 3am. Most of your garage door setup doesn't care. The parts that do are the ones that run on clock time: a nightly close scheduled in a phone app, a plug-in timer on the garage light, and any wall control or keypad that shows the time.

An auto-close timer is different. It counts down from the moment the door opens, so the clock change leaves it alone. If your light has been coming on an hour off since that weekend, this page shows where to look.

Which garage settings follow the clock?

Clock time

Daylight saving starts: 2:00 am AEST becomes 3:00 am AEDT

App schedule: close the door at a set time
App light schedule: lights on and off at set times

Merlin myQ

Countdown

Door opens, then the door closes after a set amount of time

Auto-close (B&D)
Unaffected by the jump

B&D

Sources: RBA, Merlin myQ, B&D.

There are two kinds of timer in a typical garage, and only one of them is affected.

The first kind is a countdown. B&D describes automatic closing as a timer that closes the door after a set amount of time. The countdown starts when the door opens. It never asks what time it is.

The second kind is a time of day. Merlin's myQ system is cloud-based and lets you set schedules to close the garage door and switch myQ lights automatically at set times. "Close at 10pm" depends on the clock being right.

A schedule like that also depends on more than the opener. Merlin says myQ needs your opener connected to home internet, either over Wi-Fi or through a plug-in gateway. So a schedule relies on your router, the app and the time zone set in the app.

Your phone will most likely look after itself. The NSW Government says most modern devices (smartphones) adjust automatically, but clocks that don't update automatically must be changed by hand. A plug-in light timer with a dial is exactly that kind of clock.

Setting	Runs on	What to check	Source
Auto-close	Countdown from opening	Nothing for the clock change; confirm the safety beams work	B&D
App schedule (close or lights)	Clock time, via home internet	The schedule time in the app, the time zone in the app and on your phone, and that the opener shows online	Merlin myQ
Phone	Adjusts automatically on most modern devices	Time zone setting	NSW Government
Plug-in timer on garage lights	Its own dial or display	Reset by hand if it doesn't update itself	NSW Government
Wall control or keypad with a time display	Its own clock	Compare with your phone; see your model's manual	NSW Government

Not every opener has a clock. The job is simply to find anything in the garage that keeps time and check it.

A quick check of the garage, in order

Open the opener app and read each schedule's time.
Check the time zone in the app and on your phone.
Confirm the app shows the opener online (Wi-Fi or plug-in gateway).
Reset any plug-in light timer that doesn't update itself.
Compare any wall control or keypad clock with your phone; use your model's manual.
Test the safety beams (see next section).

Sources: Merlin myQ, NSW Government.

Do it in one pass, phone in hand.

Open the opener app. Read the time on each schedule, whether it closes the door or switches lights. Make sure the time is the one you meant.
Check the time zone in the app and on your phone. We can't tell you whether a given app corrects itself at the change, so look rather than assume.
Confirm the opener shows as online. A schedule that runs through home internet can't reach an opener that has dropped off the Wi-Fi or gateway.
Reset any plug-in timer on the garage lights. If it has a dial or its own display and doesn't update itself, move it forward an hour by hand.
Look at the wall control or keypad. If it shows a time, compare it with your phone. Your model's manual has the steps for setting it, and the button order varies between models.
Test the safety beams. This is the step that matters most, and it has nothing to do with the clock.

Why the safety beams matter more than the clock

Inside a suburban double garage, a white panel sectional door partway up, two small safety beam sensors low on each side of the opening, and a plain cardboard box on the floor in the beam line, with a wheelie bin and a pushbike against the side wall

A door that closes while nobody is watching, on a timer or from an app, needs safety beams that work. Merlin says myQ control needs monitored Safety IR Beams and calls them "a safety requirement under Australian/New Zealand Standards". The beams make the door reverse if something blocks it.

B&D lists Safety Beams as a recommended upgrade that stops and reverses the door when broken, and calls them a must-have for families with little ones or pets.

The test takes a minute. Steady Garage Doors' advice is to use an object, not a person:

Clear people, children and pets well away from the doorway.
Start the door closing.
Slide a cardboard box across the floor through the line between the two beam sensors.
Watch the door. It should stop and go back up.

If it keeps coming down, stop using auto-close and any app schedule until the door has been looked at. Our guide to kids, pets and a moving garage door covers the rest of the household side of this.

Beeping, flashing or not responding since the clocks changed?

What is the opener doing?

Beeping or flashingMost commonly: due for scheduled maintenance
Remote does nothingCheck the remote batteries
Opener runs but the door doesn't moveOpener may have disconnected from the door

Not on the list: the daylight saving change

Each outcome: B&D.

The timing tempts people to blame the clock, but a beeping or flashing opener has other causes. On a B&D opener, the most common one is a service reminder. On many openers a flashing light means the door is refusing to close because of its safety beams, which our remote guide covers.

B&D's other common checks are just as ordinary:

The remote does nothing. Check for low remote batteries first. Our guide to when the garage remote stops working goes further.
The opener runs but the door won't move. B&D says the opener has probably come disconnected from the door. It can also be a door that has gone heavy, so have it looked at before you rely on it again.

If a service is what the beeping is asking for, B&D recommends servicing the door and opener once in the first 12 months, then every two years. If you can't remember the last one, it's worth booking.

When do I check again?

Sunday 4 October 2026

2:00 am AEST becomes 3:00 am AEDT: daylight saving starts (NSW, ACT, Vic, SA, Tas)

RBA

Daylight saving in effect

Sunday 4 April 2027

3:00 am AEDT becomes 2:00 am AEST: clocks go back (NSW)

NSW Government

B&D service interval: once in the first 12 months, then every two years (B&D)

Qld, NT and WA do not observe daylight saving (RBA)

Daylight saving ends on Sunday 4 April 2027 at 3am AEDT, when clocks move back 1 hour to 2am. That's the next time to run the same check. Anything you moved forward in October goes back an hour.

The NSW Government suggests setting them to the new time before bed, so the Saturday night is the easy moment for the light timer and keypad. Leave the app schedules and the phone for a quick look on the Sunday.

The October start was the same in the ACT, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania, according to the RBA's Daylight Saving 2026 table, which also confirms Queensland, the NT and WA don't observe it. In NSW the change is set under the Standard Time Act 1987.

Bookmark this page for April. The beam test is worth repeating then too.

If the beams or the opener need attention

If the door didn't reverse during the beam test, or the opener keeps beeping for a service, the next step is a person looking at it rather than another reset. Tell Steady Garage Doors what the door is doing through our enquiry page, and include what you've already checked from the list above. You can also see the areas we cover around Belmont and the lake's eastern foreshore.