SHOULD YOU GET A SMART LOCK FOR YOUR FRONT DOOR?
Since the invention of the lock and key, the design has held strong, involving simply a carved piece of brass, silver or nickel, and a series of pins to secure all of our precious possessions. Many household staples have been overhauled in recent years to bring them into the new world of smart devices, with great benefit to the end-user. Programmable washers and dryers so your dress shirt is freshly dried and unwrinkled the second you need it, vacuums that will clean that stray pet hair while you get ready for your day, and so many more innovations. Front-door locks joined this new generation of devices early on and have had a reasonable amount of time to mature, so where is the front-door lock in its evolution now?To get more news about
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Sure, keys and locks have their flaws, action movie scenes showing them being thwarted in seconds are common, but they’ve done the job for a hundred years – do we really need a fix? If we frame the new generation of smart lock as an upgrade instead of a fix, the answer is yes, there is room for improvement. Smart Locks mean you have one less thing to worry about when leaving the house or office and offer a wide range of benefits. On vacation but have a pet sitter coming by to feed your pet? Program a schedule for your door to unlock and lock for them without ever having to give them a spare key. Did you tell your neighbour they could borrow your projector for a movie night, but you forgot to set it out for them? Quickly open an app and with the touch of a finger, let them into your house without having to delay or make excuses.
Aside from locking and unlocking with ease, the benefits go far beyond that. With many pin pad style smart lock models, you can assign new codes to each individual who needs access to your place, and you will have a record of who has accessed the space and when. You can also revoke access at any time so that one-time-access that the plumber needs won’t be a liability in the future. The hotel industry has fully embraced smart lock technology, with hotel patrons joining in with little to no complaint, and Airbnb style rentals are also finding great benefit in making the switch. The convenience, peace of mind, and savings from not having to reproduce keys and change locks when keys go missing are too great to ignore, and many Ottawa homes are being outfitted with these smart locks at the request of new homeowners.
Age and functionality of your door. If your door requires a high amount of strength to turn the bolt, or you have to lean on the door to align the bolt with its slot, you’re going to need to address those issues before taking the plunge into the smart lock market. Even the strongest smart locks on the market can struggle with a finicky locking environment.
Do you like your current door fixtures? If your doorknob or bolt is an aesthetic gem and you’re not excited to completely swap it out with a new system, you can pick up a smart lock that allows you to keep your current fixture. Some of these will attach to the inside of your door on the deadbolt and mechanically turn your current lock, and some replace only the actual locking mechanism of your current deadbolt while leaving the rest in place. With these types, you still have the option to have a spare key for unforeseen emergencies as well.
How smart do you want it? You have the freedom here to choose whether you simply want a lock that opens with a code, or if you want full integration into your smart home, with phone accessible applications, and programmable options. All the levels of intelligence in between that are available in various models as well, including ones that are Bluetooth-only, working with an app on your phone, but not integrating into your smart home network. The choice is yours.
If you want it smart, what do you want it to integrate with? If you’re jumping into smart locks, there’s a decent chance you already have a system like Wink Hub 2, Google Home, Nest, Apple TV, Samsung SmartThings or Amazon Alexa in your house. If this is the case, you’ll want to ensure your new lock is compatible with your current set-up. Many of these locks come standard with Bluetooth connectivity, so they will work with your phone, and smart home integration is an added option on top of that.
You never want to think about locking your door again. If this is you, you’ll want to look for a lock that enables geofencing. With geofencing, you set a range around your home and any time the lock detects that your phone has left that zone, the deadbolt is locked. Conversely, as soon as your phone returns to the zone the lock is opened for you.
Do you have visitors who will need inside? Most smart locks have the capability to allow you to add temporary users who can be deleted later. Some models even allow a timeline to be attached to the code, meaning if the cable guy said he was coming between 1 pm and 3 pm, the code will only work between those hours. If you have a rental suite or vacation rental this is a great feature to look for.
What if the power goes out or you lose your phone? These are real concerns and can happen to anyone. You don’t want to be locked out of your own home because of a hurried exit from work, or a local power outage. Decide what risk tolerance you have and keep that in mind when shopping for your lock. Some locks will still allow you to have a physical key, some have a numerical keypad as a backup, some even have voice command options. Regarding a power outage, a physical key would be handy, but there are even locks that have external posts that a 9-volt battery could connect to and breathe life back into them long enough to open your door, like Real Living locks. You can also consider if you’re simply willing to wait for a spouse or housemate to come home, or wait out a power outage somewhere else.
SHOULD YOU GET A SMART LOCK FOR YOUR FRONT DOOR?
