21–30 of 53 posts
Or would it require minutes and minutes of manpower to realistically charge?
To put it another way, suppose that, planning ahead, I install an electric strike that allows me to "buzz in" people. Then what I would like to do is be able to "buzz in" using a smartphone app, say.
Mo, Having recently purchased a home, and piled rocks, loose stones, bricks and the like next to my window laden front entryway door, what lock do you recommend I purchase? Bear in mind, I don't want anything that my neighbors will understand, or industry experts will look down on. As a technophile, I want to walk only the bleedingiest of edges, employ the most futuristic of tech, and employ the bare minimum of commo…
Electronic locks are great for additional features, but not additional security.
High-security locks are really designed for commercial or governmental settings, where rooms with locks and no windows are common.
What a thorough and interesting review. I was wondering why all the attention is placed on the locks and have been thinking that, a la many apartment buildings in cities with their buzz-in door locks, why not approach the "smart lock" problem by using electric strikes? A drawback would be you would need to supply power to the door frame, but then you wouldn't have to deal with worrying about when the batteries run ou…
Would love to have seen the Schlage locks included in the comparison - I think they're the front-runners. Perhaps I'm overlooking some terrible flaw?
I've had mine for 4+ years and have found it very reliable. It's keyless and non-networked, both of which I consider to be features. Aside from initial installation (which was a pain), no other complaints.
The worst part of that, though, is when the smart lock tries to reset it self and try again. You end up standing there while it goes back and forth, and in the end it's a huge hassle.
Humans are good at adapting to new situations and dealing with ambiguity like misaligned doors. With my mechanical lock, I can get really good and really fast at opening it in all circumstances. but with the smart lock I'm subject to it's slow speed and inability to adapt to new situations. I can't make it go faster.
I'd rather doors be redesigned to be more like car doors.
Could the power/charging issue be handled by a rotatable handle/component that can charge up a battery if it goes flat and leaves you outside? A bit like the wind-up torches you see around the place? Or would it require minutes and minutes of manpower to realistically charge?
I'm picturing someone with a scarf wrapped around the knob and employing a method similar to starting a stick fire...
It is stunning to me that these products exist and are going to be widely deployed. Your front door lock should not talk on the network. It should not have "social features". It should not rely on electricity. Your smoke detector should not be connecting to google servers. Your thermostat should not be connected to facebook. Those are facts. Either you instinctively understand those facts or you will learn them accom…
It wasn't when I bought it :(