Smart Door Locks

[harley]

I am just starting to consider smart locks. Does anyone know if non-usage such as snowbirding for months at a time will extend battery life? If I'm away from that house for 6 months or so will I come back to dead batteries?

[Cobra9777]

Quote:

Originally Posted by harley I am just starting to consider smart locks. Does anyone know if non-usage such as snowbirding for months at a time will extend battery life? If I'm away from that house for 6 months or so will I come back to dead batteries?

With the Lockly that I have, you still have a physical key to use if you ever come home to a dead battery. If you don't have the key, there's also some terminals on the bottom of the outside unit that can be used to temporarily power it up with a 9-volt battery. We use the Lockly without WiFi and batteries seem to last about a year with normal usage. So 6 months with no usage should be no problem.

[zinger1457]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ready I ordered it on Amazon for delivery tomorrow. I’ll give it a try to do the installation myself and if I’m not comfortable I can pay $99 for someone to install it for me.

If you have time would appreciate a review after you've had a chance to install and use it. I've been looking at the Yale model with the lever for my garage interior door. As long as you have a standard size door the physical install shouldn't be difficult, might take some time configuring it with the app and learning all the features.

[Ready]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zinger1457 If you have time would appreciate a review after you've had a chance to install and use it. I've been looking at the Yale model with the lever for my garage interior door. As long as you have a standard size door the physical install shouldn't be difficult, might take some time configuring it with the app and learning all the features.

Yes, definitely. I’ve very comfortable with the technology aspect of it because I have an IT background but I’m all thumbs with anything mechanical, so we’ll see how successful I am at getting it installed. If not I have a local handyman that can come by to get it done.

[Ready]

Quote:

Originally Posted by harley I am just starting to consider smart locks. Does anyone know if non-usage such as snowbirding for months at a time will extend battery life? If I'm away from that house for 6 months or so will I come back to dead batteries?

I bought the version without a physical key because I have a side door to the garage as well as the main garage door so I will not be locked out of the house. But if I was using this on an entry door to a unit that only has one door to access the home I would definitely get the version that includes a physical lock and key.

[Ready]

I installed the Yale Smart Door lock this morning. The hardest part was removing the old Schlage lock. I could not get the old keypad off after removing all the screws. It was just stuck to the paint. Eventually a rubber hammer and screwdriver loosened it enough for me to pry it off.

The Yale lock took about fifteen minutes to install. The only tool I needed was a Phillips screwdriver. I was fortunate in that the holes that were already in place for the Schlage lock were in the same location as where I needed them to be for the Yale lock.

It took me about fifteen additional minutes to do the programming, add user codes, and set up the Auto Unlock features. Everything seems to be working very smoothly so far. I’ll update after I’ve lived with it for a few weeks to see how well it’s working for us.

It’s on sale for Prime Day at Amazon today if anyone’s shopping for a new smart lock.

[trirod]

I’ve been thinking about getting a smart lock but concerned about security - seems like a hacking risk? Has anybody who has recently converted to a smart lock looked into the security aspects and gotten comfortable with this? I was leaning toward just getting one with a digital keypad (non wifi) but I’m sure I would appreciate the features of a smart lock if I can convince myself that it’s secure.

[Ready]

Quote:

Originally Posted by trirod I’ve been thinking about getting a smart lock but concerned about security - seems like a hacking risk? Has anybody who has recently converted to a smart lock looked into the security aspects and gotten comfortable with this? I was leaning toward just getting one with a digital keypad (non wifi) but I’m sure I would appreciate the features of a smart lock if I can convince myself that it’s secure.

I can’t say I’ve really researched this subject but in all the reviews I’ve read I have not seen anyone bring this up as a concern. I can set up notifications so that any time the door is opened I get an alert. So if someone figures out the code and uses it to open the door I will see an alert on my phone.

With a traditional lock they can just pick the lock or break the door down anyway. Locks are intended to keep honest thieves honest. If someone really wants to get in my house they can easily break a window or pick one of the traditional locks.

[chris2008]

Has any of you who use a smart system checked with your home insurance?

[zinger1457]

Installed the Yale Lever smartlock on the door going from my garage to inside the house, like it a lot. I initially purchased a 'like new' open box Yale lock off of Amazon but had issues with it, contacted Yale support and after some troubleshooting they sent me out a new replacement lock, good customer support. Have had the new one installed for about 1 month without any problems. Really like the 'auto unlock' feature, nice to have the door auto unlock when in the garage and exiting the car with groceries, etc.

[Sunset]

how does it know it's you exiting the car with groceries ?

[zinger1457]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunset how does it know it's you exiting the car with groceries ?

There's a Yale app on your phone that uses the phones GPS to determine your location, when you leave your home and are a certain distance away (1/4 mile I believe) it triggers the auto unlock monitoring feature so when you return and are inside 1/4 mile of your home it closely tracks your location. It will only unlock the door if you have the phone on you and are within ~20' of the door. I can usually see the Yale lock LED display light up to unlock the door right after my car comes to a stop in the garage. The auto unlock only works once after you return, you would have to leave your home again and go beyond the 1/4 mile trigger distance to start the auto unlock monitoring again.

[Ready]

I use the Auto Unlock feature all the time with the Yale lock. It’s amazing. I never have to unlock my door any more. It works pretty much flawlessly. That was a big reason I went with the Yale lock over some of the other models.

[triangle]

The Yale Lever smartlock looks interesting, but is there any model that does not rely on an Internet connection? I keep thinking there must be some home smart lock that functions much like an automobile smart key. Where the car door will open just by having the key within a few feet of the lock.

[zinger1457]

Quote:

Originally Posted by triangle The Yale Lever smartlock looks interesting, but is there any model that does not rely on an Internet connection? I keep thinking there must be some home smart lock that functions much like an automobile smart key. Where the car door will open just by having the key within a few feet of the lock.

There are smartlocks that don't use the Internet but use bluetooth and an app on your phone, some use biometrics (fingerprint). I think the problem with the auto key analogy would be that many people want their door locked even when they are home. How do you ensure the door stays locked while you're inside the house and the key is nearby?

[The Cosmic Avenger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zinger1457 There are smartlocks that don't use the Internet but use bluetooth and an app on your phone, some use biometrics (fingerprint). I think the problem with the auto key analogy would be that many people want their door locked even when they are home. How do you ensure the door stays locked while you're inside the house and the key is nearby?

Usually you have to leave the "home zone" and then reenter. I'm assuming, that to keep this from becoming a nuisance instead of a feature, you have to actually be in another location, not just "the phone disappeared from the hoes", which could happen when it reboots.

[Ready]

Without internet connectivity you can only lock or unlock the door if you are within about 30 feet of the door using Bluetooth. If someone needs to enter your home while you are away you are out of luck. Or if you want to make sure the door is locked before you go to bed you have to get up and walk down to the door to check it. It seems like that would be very limiting in functionality.

[wildsun]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ready Has anyone installed a smart door lock in their home? The door knob on the door that leads from our laundry room to the garage failed and I need to replace it. We currently have a Schlage digital lock that we installed years ago. It’s just a simple four digit password. It does not have WiFi or Bluetooth and it only supports a single four digit code. I would like to replace it with something that gives us the ability to lock or unlock the door over the internet using WiFi, and also allows us to give out passcodes that can only be used on certain days, like for our house keeper. It would be nice if it unlocked the door when it senses our phone is within reach. I’m a little confused on whether I need to replace the deadbolt or keep the one that the Schlage lock uses. I know I need a new doorknob as well but I guess that would be independent of the smart lock?

I have a 4 year old Schlag smart lock and it does everything you say you want. Its on one of my vacation rentals on the OR coast, 75 miles from my home, but I can lock, unlock, verify that its locked or not, change codes,have different codes for different folks, etc. from my home. It even tells me when I need to change the batteries on the lock in time to change them.

And that was 4 years ago. Before Ring. Etc.

[triangle]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zinger1457 There are smartlocks that don't use the Internet but use bluetooth and an app on your phone, some use biometrics (fingerprint). I think the problem with the auto key analogy would be that many people want their door locked even when they are home. How do you ensure the door stays locked while you're inside the house and the key is nearby?

I was thinking/hoping that there might be enough directionality in the smart lock antenna to determine if the key fob was on the inside or outside of the door. I spent only a little bit of time researching smart locks when this thread was originally started but came away thinking there was not any great product matches available yet for my primary use case. I wanted a doorlock that would more or less magically unlock as it was being approached while having a key in pocket, to handle the case where one's hands are too occupied to use a traditional key. Otherwise I don't mind manually locking/unlocking, though automatically locking might be convenient if reliable. I did not want anything reliant on the internet or wired electricity, just something that can work with a couple of different outside doors to simplify life when bringing the groceries or coming in with soiled hands.