Smart locks. Dang they are cool
 

I am not big on electronics between passwords and having to do thing over the net. My mother's back door lock finally broke so I thought I try one of these fancy finger print/combo/key lock. Dang man, they are cool. The finger print reading works for me 90% of the time depending if my finger tip is wet or dirty. For my kids, wife and mom, it work flawlessly. If not, there's the key pad. Man, no more having to drag keys around especially for my mother when she goes for her daily walks. I am so impressed with them, I bought three more for my own house.

Yup, I bought one for the main entrance for both my houses. Sure is great not having to carry keys. I have a fingerprint one that I may put on my tool warehouse.

What happens when the batteries die?

Hahaha, my thoughts

I've have 2 digital key locks where you push the buttons in a code. Love it when you hands are full of groceries.

You change them. :D

With the one I have, it will flash a light at you for quite some time alerting you to change the battery. You'd have to ignore it for a long time before losing power.

Some also use a key as a backup as well. The battery is changed from the secure side of the door, so as long as you have key access to that area via a back up system, or some other access to the secure side of the door, you won't have an issue.

I feel like one of those flipper modules could wreak havoc on those security devices.

There is a regular backup key that you can use. Also, they have a USB slot where you can use a battery pack to juice it up and open as usual. Then change the batteries.

I was thinking you were going to go for those WiFi enabled locks that Walmart and Amazon can open.

I am a Cyber Crimes and Fraud Detective Lieutenant and would never give electronic access to any security device, especially a residence door. Anything that sends a signal can be hacked. We have a lot of cases! The bad guys are always one step ahead of technology and figure out work-arounds very quick.

Be safe, David

Having been a door and window installer for 25 years I can say that almost any patio door unit comes with a different style of lock. The cylinders can be changed somewhat, but they basically do not use the most common 2 key configurations.

Going with that and thinking your average "lock bumper" or raker is not going to have the ability to defeat these as quicky and will just 'break' in. So I buy Yale locks for entry doors because they are not common. The interlocking Yale is the best thing for a pair of French doors, or any double door.

being old fashioned, of just being old, I don't need another password or code. The fingerprint thing sounds interesting though. Thanks for the thread.

Maybe I've watched too much 'lockpicking lawyer' but it already seems like mechanical locks are designed by clowns. Obfuscation is the name of the game.

But I know for sure that adding a computer into the mix isn't going to make anything better for the end user.

Our kids had electronic locks on their last house, and then put some on their current house. (no biometrics, just the keypad) and they are super convenient.

The only problem is if the battery dies. I think folks have ended up locked out of the house once or twice because they weren't carrying keys and the batteries in the lock got low. I don't remember hearing about them having that problem in their first house, but it's happened in this one once or twice.

We have a pretty basic Quickset touchpad deadbolt. The batteries (4x AA) last a surprisingly long time - something like two years.
It beeps at us when the batteries are getting low, and gives you plenty of warning.
It's been great for letting in people that you don't want to give a key to... dog walkers, cleaners, neighbors, etc. You can even make different codes for different users... though we don't bother.

I have thought about all sorts of door and lock security. I've thought "wouldn't it be better if there were "bolts" in more than one spot. And there are pins that you can put in the hinges in place of hinge screws that help hold the hinge side like a bolt would. I've thought "let's replace the crap locks with good locks."

But after a few mins of thinking about upgrading locks, long screws, extra bolts, etc..., I realize that anyplace that's got a window on the ground floor is not worth spending much time, money, thought on securing a door. The average home, with front door, back door, side or garage door, and half a dozen downstairs windows is so full of points of entry, that a standard basic lock is enough to keep out anyone that would be stopped by any lock.

Multi-Layered is the way to go. Two locks. A camera. An alarm. A shotgun...

Our kids' have the backup key, but I don't know if they always carry it. I'm sure theirs either beeps or flashes a light or something. They probably either forget what that means or are so busy and distracted that they don't heed it until it's too late.

Just like Mike said, according to the locks mfg, battery will beep long before it goes out. I didn't set it up so it can be on thenet. jsut with my phone at initial setup. so its bio metric, key code or a regular key will get us into the house. Plus, my mother do not have internet so no hacking there.

I've put a ton of them on for customers. I'll stick with a good old simple reliable key.

.

We have a keypad screen one, works great, love it, no more house keys.

When it starts to die, it warns you...for like 3 WEEKS. If you still don't change the batteries after that time you deserve to get locked out of your own house. They last a bit over a year, I think I've changed them 3 times since Nov 2019.

Guest codes are great as well, the cleaners have one which is permanent until we delete it, and we can give a temp one to guests. Better than giving someone a spare key...