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mrspete

Choosing a keyless lock

9 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago

I've always had a regular lock + a deadbolt, so that's what I assumed we'd choose for our new house ... but we definitely want a keyless lock. Several questions:

- Do you have the keyless lock just on the garage door entry, or whatever door you use everyday for your family entrance? Or do you also have a keyless lock on the front door for guests? I'm leaning towards just the garage because I don't think the keyless lock is all that attractive and because the keyless locks are fairly expensive.

- Did you opt for just the keyless deadbolt with the door handle ON the lock, or did you go for a set? I'm inclined to want a set (just looks more comfortable), but I'm not finding a great range of styles.


- I've been reading about single vs. double cylinder locks. I didn't realize it, but I've always had single cylinder locks -- I can't imagine why anyone would want a lock that requires a key for the interior -- thoughts?

- Any general advice in making a good choice here?

Thanks!

Comments (20)

  • 9 years ago

    Be very careful. Most of the holes drilled in doors will not fit both the Schlage pushbutton deadbolt and the pushbutton lockset. In my townhouse, I had a pushbutton dead bolt and a regular (non-keyed) lockset on the front door and a pushbutton lockset on the garage-to-house door. In my new house, several of the doors have the Schlage lever locksets. One of the patio doors has a DIGITAL lock I remachined to work on the Anderson patio doors. The rest have key locks.

    We rarely use the keys. I don't even carry them on a regular basis.

  • 9 years ago

    In my family, we prefer double cylinder locks on the front door and the garage door, to keep nonverbal special need kids from running out into traffic or wandering around the woods. The back door is single cylinder, for fire escape purposes, and we make sure to have a secured backyard perimeter.

    Oh, and we also put doubles on balcony doors, again, for keeping cognitively impaired kids from falling from second/third stories.

    (I keep the key either with me at all times or hidden in one of my dozen purses.)

    Anyway... I dislike the aesthetics of the keyless locks, so I'd limit one to the garage entry. But... my garage dumps into my foyer, so I'd probably skip it there, too, lol. My sister has one, in the front door of her 100+ year old house, and let's just say... No, just no. ;-)

    My bias -- I'd use skeleton keys if I could, 'cause they're just cool.

  • 9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Mrs, Pete, not sure if this is helpful but I have the second photo that you posted ( the silver setup) from our garage to the house. It is one of my favorite things about the house. It is awesome that the kids don't have keys to lose and they can get into the house. We also have a keypad for the garage door. When I am going in and out a lot I can just set that upper knob as open. Love it! We haven't done it, but temporary codes can be set for timeframe or number of entries.

    Any time I have seen an interior lock, it has the key right in it. If there was a fire, one would want to be able to exit.

  • 9 years ago

    We got Emtek keyless locks for the garage-to house doors. Wow, they are worth it! They feel beefy and there's no "looseness" to the action. They work flawlessly so far (about 6 months old). We used the same code for both so no one forgets it.

    One thing the salesperson mentioned is that if you have your arms full of groceries or bags, it's nice to have a lever action so you don't have to set everything down. And that's exactly right.

    I would definitely consider putting one on the front door too. I think the right one could be very attractive. Function first!


  • 9 years ago

    The reason for the interior cylinder is to prevent an intruder from breaking the window in the door, reaching in and unlocking it. Double cylinders are forbidden by code in my suburb for fire safety reasons.

  • 9 years ago

    I've been using the Schlage keypad locks for 10 years and in three different homes during that span. I use the models that can be managed remotely, which send me texts/alerts when certain codes are used, and which can trigger other events like lights turning on and cameras recording.

    i prefer to use the keypad for the lever (doorknob), and to use a traditional deadbolt. Why? Because I give out lots of codes, to family members, house and pet sitters, etc... and I want to be able to throw the deadbolt at night and not worry about someone with a code entering.

    i use them on multiple doors, but only on doors that are regularly used. I would not use them on a "decorative" front door that the family rarely used.

    As far as aesthetics, you get over it real quick. The convenience and functionality is wonderful.

  • 9 years ago

    We have this setup from Kwikset, just because this was the existing brand throughout the house. It has Z-Wave so it integrates with our Honeywell Tuxedo Panel.

  • 9 years ago

    Be very careful. Most of the holes drilled in doors will not fit both
    the Schlage pushbutton deadbolt and the pushbutton lockset.

    Interesting and not something I would've guessed.

    In my family, we prefer double cylinder
    locks on the front door and the garage door, to keep nonverbal special
    need kids from running out into traffic or wandering around the woods.

    That makes sense. We don't have special needs kids, but our first house came without a dead-bolt, and my husband installed one -- he installed it up high, saying that he himself had been "wandering" kid, and his dad had installed a second dead-bolt up high /out of his reach. We didn't have kids yet, but he was being proactive.

    My bias -- I'd use skeleton keys if I could, 'cause they're just cool.

    Way cool, but low on the function scale.

    We got Emtek keyless locks for the garage-to house doors.

    I will look into that name brand.

    it's nice to have a lever action

    Oh, yes, if I were choosing door hardware for looks, it'd be cut glass knobs (okay, not for exterior doors), but I understand that levers are far superior for function and for aging-in-place, so levers it is.

    The reason for the interior cylinder is to prevent an intruder from
    breaking the window in the door, reaching in and unlocking it.

    And with pier glasses beside doors being so popular, that's a real fear.

    I want to be able to throw
    the deadbolt at night and not worry about someone with a code entering.

    That's a sensible choice ... another option: Install a second, non-coded deadbolt. They're very inexpensive.

    As far as aesthetics, you get over it real quick. The convenience and functionality is wonderful.

    I think I'm fine with the keypad on the garage door ... but not on the front door.

    I've been using the Schlage keypad locks for 10 years and in three
    different homes during that span. I use the models that can be managed
    remotely, which send me texts/alerts when certain codes are used, and
    which can trigger other events like lights turning on and cameras
    recording.

    My daughter has that in her new home, and I am not interested in all those texts /alerts. My son-in-law comments sometimes that someone went in/out of the back door X number of times while he was at work. I don't care to know that.


  • 9 years ago

    We have a Yale deadbolt combo lock (it has a key also, which is good for backup). With grade school + kids it is fantastic. You can program tons of codes, some with specific schedules on them (so housecleaner's code is only valid Wednesday from 7am to 5pm for example). My kids chose their own codes and they love it - something as simple as they can run out from the car and get themselves into the house while I'm unbuckling the toddler. Also, the alerts thing is great for when they get home after school - I don't have to wait for them to send me an imessage or something to know they've gotten home safely. The alert thing also works well for a cleaning lady situation so you know when she arrived and departed (though we've had a long relationship w/our current one so I don't need to check up on her).

  • 9 years ago

    I'm putting (have put) a keyless lock on the garage, I figure one is enough if it gives house access.

    My brother has one on his detached garage and another on the bottom level (not the main door) to his house. It turned out handy for access when he and his wife wanted to go out of town and we all wanted me to visit for a week to go take care of Dad at the retirement community nearby. (Dad was failing with Alzheimer's.) They didn't have to leave me a key when I flew in from out of town, just the code.

  • 9 years ago

    We've had a garage door code for years--and it's been awesome since the kids never had to carry keys (which means they never lost keys).

    For the new house, I'm sure we'll do a garage door code again, and I'd like a keyless front door lock as well. I don't find them unattractive at all, but I'm a function over form type.

    I've had issues with too many people having the garage door code (cleaning people, pet sitters) and it's inconvenient to change it, so I'm looking forward to having more control over a front door code and being able to assign one to a specific person (say, when the cleaning person quits and we get a new one).

    However, I have a friend who is a Homeland Security guy and he says he would never get an internet-connected lock because he doesn't think they're secure.

  • 9 years ago

    We opted for one similar to your top left picture. This choice fell squarely onto my DH's shoulders to pick. He's the 'techie' guy in our household. I would have been perfectly fine with a good ole' fashioned key lock, but he insisted. Now that we have it installed, I absolutely love it. No need to remember keys. We have a temporary code on there now that we've given the subs so they can come and go and we don't have to be there to let them in. My kids will benefit because they never remember to bring a house key with them (they are 13 and 11). He does get the alerts that say when the code is activated, but I'm with you....I could care less when/how often someone comes and goes. But he does, so he opts for the alerts and I don't. He can also unlock it remotely if someone needs to get in and doesn't have the code. It's been very convenient so far and we don't even live there yet. And bonus that the blue numbers match my blue door! :)

  • 9 years ago

    However, I have a friend who is a Homeland Security guy and he says he
    would never get an internet-connected lock because he doesn't think
    they're secure.

    I agree. I also don't trust all these home security systems and don't really understand how it's a good thing to have strangers able to view videos of whether you're home or not.

    Different question:

    I looked at keyless -- what's the right word? -- door attachments? last night at Lowe's. I saw three basic designs -- I'm thinking about the garage-to-house door, so looks aren't 'specially important; this isn't for the front door:

    - Flat panel

    - Button for each number

    - Button with two numbers on each button

    At first glance, I lean towards the style in the middle. I'm thinking that if you were hurrying or carrying bags, it'd be easier if the buttons had some "feely-feel" to them ... and I think single-number buttons would just be easier than shared-number buttons (though we have shared-number buttons on one of our car doors, and it works just fine ... but those buttons are also considerably larger than the ones on these lock sets).

    Please ignore looks and lack of lever handles in the above pictures. At the moment, I'm thinking ONLY of "button style".

    Y'all who have experience with such things, am I on the right track?

  • 9 years ago

    Get ones where the numbers will never rub off.

  • 9 years ago

    We have the button with two numbers and it works fine, plus it seems less noticeable-looking. Ours is not bluetooth.

    For our new house, I am definitely going with the smart/bluetooth version. That way I can lock/unlock from my phone if I'm bringing stuff in or just need to lock up.


  • 9 years ago

    We got one of the keypad locks a few months ago, the kind with the flat surface for the numbers, and a key backup. I don't know why we waited so long to get one. We are in a townhouse without a garage, so its on our front door, which is our main door. Ours can be connected to the internet, but we have not done so.

    Its so nice to have one of these things... The ability to put in a temporary code for out of town guests, or people coming to do work at your house is awesome! And you can change and remove these codes at your will, or even change your main code, without having to rekey anything. If you are not driving somewhere, you can leave your keys at home.

    There are two kinds of these locks, those that take a key, and those that don't. The ones that don't take a key usually have a knob on the outside that you can turn, that throws the bolt. So you physically move the bolt. The kind with a key has a motor in it, and after you put in the right code the motor throws the bolt. If you get this kind, you need to make sure that the bolt slides freely in and out of the catch on the jamb. If it binds at all, its not going to work well, if at all.

    If you get a lock without a key, look for one that has the ability to hook up power to it externally in case the battery dies while you are away, otherwise you won't be able to get back in.

  • 9 years ago

    ^^^Good point about external power.

  • 9 years ago

    I don't have any experience with the keyless locks (but have enjoyed reading this thread for my future purchases), but I do with the interior key locks. I had a basement where my kids played, and didn't want them wandering outside without my knowledge, so the interior key was a nice security feature.

    I've also heard that the lever handles are better as we age in that knobs get more difficult to turn as we loose strength in our hands :-(

  • 9 years ago

    The security issue is all relative. With the combo lock my kids don't need to carry keys, which they are likely to lose, and I don't have to hand out keys to cleaning ladies, family members, etc. In addition to no lost keys floating about, to lock the door just requires a simple one-touch, so it's a lot more likely the deadbolt will be locked rather than needing to have and use the key each time you leave. And I can check on my phone/get notifications if someone forgets to even do that, and then lock it remotely. The overwhelming majority of break-ins are crimes of opportunity. Someone sees you leaving your house and checks to see if the door is unlocked, or breaks in manually. If someone is going to hack me, they're much more likely to go after identity theft or break into my bank accounts. Someone using a sophisticated hack to open my locks and then physically enter my house for unknown (to them) things to steal and then have to successfully fence them seems orders of magnitude less likely than some russian hacker trying to access my bank accounts.