Smart Home Tech: Smart Locks!

When it comes to locking and unlocking your front door, a conventional lock probably does the job but let me take you on a journey to discover the wonderful world of Smart Locks!

First, what can a smart lock do? Smart locks can provide you some convenience and utility! From opening your door remotely to providing codes to your friends and family to access your apartment when it is needed! And don’t worry, you can set a specific period for each of them.

The days of coming back home to check if you locked the door or not are over. With a simple click and using your smartphone you can lock or unlock the door and check the status. So, don’t worry if you are already hitting the road heading to your wonderful holidays, no need to make a turn back home! And if you want to feel safe, during your time away, a smart lock gives you the possibility to track who comes in and out and also gives you the possibility to connect it with your surveillance camera.

If you are already a smart home lover and you have more smart devices, connect them all together and let your creativity flow. Your imagination is the limit! Create great features like turning on the lights whenever you come home and more.

Are you normally the one losing your keys forgetting them in the car or losing them in that messy handbag? pick a smart lock that unlocks your door automatically whenever you approach it (with your phone)

It sounds quite cool, right? The best part of this is that you don’t need to replace your door or your existing deadbolt to make an upgrade!  You can have a retrofit smart lock which allows you to keep the deadbolt on your door. That’s right! Some smart locks are designed to hang on to the deadbolt that you already have. And it couldn’t be easier, the smart lock uses your old key inside the device and allows you to use your old key from outside if ever something were to go wrong with the smart lock. That’s perfect if you don’t want to change your keys. What are you adding? Connectivity!

My suggestion? Check first if your door is smart-lock compatible before buying it. Then you won’t have any problems in the future ?

Of course, if you are ready to take a step further, you can replace your current deadbolt altogether. It may take more time to install but it would be worth it too! You want some inspiration?  Schlage Sense, Yale Assure SL touchscreen Deadbolt.

There are so many options out there that picking the perfect smart lock for your home could be tricky. The offers in the market go from fingerprint and numerical codes to Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connections.

And what is better? All depends on you! What you want and what makes sense for you is the most important. If you wonder how you should connect with your smart lock, here I want to share some pro and cons that will help you to decide what fits better for you!

And If you find this blog useful or you have more questions about smart locks don’t hesitate to leave a comment on the section below. I look forward to hearing from you!

Bluetooth: August Smart Lock, Poly-Control’s Danalock, Kwikset Kevo.

Pro:

• It doesn’t consume so much battery life as Wi-Fi.
• Your smart lock is connected directly with your phone or tablet meaning you don’t need any hub device.

Cons:

• Limited Range.
• It allows you to control your smart lock while you are at home, but you won’t be able to use your phone to lock or unlock your door remotely.

Wi-Fi: August Smart Lock Pro and connect bundle, Kwikset Kevo Plus, Schlage Encode Smart Wi-Fi Deadbolt.

Pro:

• Lock and unlock your door remotely.
• Create new users or access codes
• View your lock status. (Lock or unlock)
• It gives you the possibility to integrate your smart lock with Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa.

Cons:

• Consumes more battery life.
• Easier to hack. (Make sure to stick to reliable brands with years of experience such as Schlage, Yale or, Kwikset to avoid higher risks)

Z-Wave: Schlage Camelot Touchscreen Deadbolt, Yale Real Living Touchscreen Z-Wave Deadbolt. 

Pro:

• You can connect to more third-party devices than a standard Bluetooth lock.
• Smart lock connects to a Z-wave compatible hub. That hub will translate the lock’s Z-Wave signal into something your router can understand.
• With a Z- Wave you can lock or unlock your door from anywhere

Cons:

• Z-wave locks don’t connect directly with your phone; they need to connect to a compatible hub.

(Do you want to know more about Z-Wave? Don’t miss my next post!)