simon1967
Established Member
Hi all,
I’ve been refurbishing my home for a few years now but have only recently got into Smart tech for the home. Quite a few Alexa enabled devices have found their way around the house so as my new front door is on order, I started looking at smart door locks. Then I got confused very quickly.
Basically, I have 2 lockable front doors:
- The first is the porch door which has a standard double glazing style lock. Not sure of the technical term but to enter, you have to turn the key on the outside to open (even though it has a handle which doesn’t seem to do anything). To let yourself out, turn the inside handle and the door will lock behind you. To engage the handles securely, the handle needs to be lifted upwards.
- the second, the main house door, will be a standard composite door - WITHOUT any of the lock mechanisms installed. We are fitting it into an old door frame so putting a full composite door and frame was not an option so we have a blank door to do what we like with. My current door has a standard mortice lock along with a Yale night latch but would prefer to get rid of the night latch and get something much cleaner looking.
So, I have several questions:
As always, any advice will be gratefully received.
I’ve been refurbishing my home for a few years now but have only recently got into Smart tech for the home. Quite a few Alexa enabled devices have found their way around the house so as my new front door is on order, I started looking at smart door locks. Then I got confused very quickly.
Basically, I have 2 lockable front doors:
- The first is the porch door which has a standard double glazing style lock. Not sure of the technical term but to enter, you have to turn the key on the outside to open (even though it has a handle which doesn’t seem to do anything). To let yourself out, turn the inside handle and the door will lock behind you. To engage the handles securely, the handle needs to be lifted upwards.
- the second, the main house door, will be a standard composite door - WITHOUT any of the lock mechanisms installed. We are fitting it into an old door frame so putting a full composite door and frame was not an option so we have a blank door to do what we like with. My current door has a standard mortice lock along with a Yale night latch but would prefer to get rid of the night latch and get something much cleaner looking.
So, I have several questions:
- is it possible to use the same smart lock system on both doors and enter using the same method? Long shot as they are completely different locking mechanisms but it would be cool if my Apple Watch was able to unlock both doors.
- I note that may of the smart locks can use different systems - Apple Homekit, Alexa, Zigbee etc but is there one that does both Apple & Alexa? We all use iPhones and have Apple watches so would that be our best bet and not worry about Alexa integration. Ideally, we would like it to recognise our phones and automatically unlock the door on approach. Anything more complicated than that ie a keypad etc seems to rather defeat the object of having a smart lock as it would be just as easy to use a key.
- If we take the Apple approach, can we still tell Alexa to remotely lock the door at night or would we not need that option as locks automatically lock themselves?
- I’m not a fan of keypads so the locks I’ve seen so far for the main house door are the Danalock V3 (discrete and inoffensive) and the Ultion Smartlock. They both seem to be able to use regular keys as well (as a backup).
- For the porch door, I’m not really sure which locks work with these types of doors? Do I need to change the door handle / key barrel / mechanism on it so that the handle actually can open the door from the outside instead of relying on a key turn? This door actually confuses me quite a bit.
- Or just stick with regular keys as the expense of having two smart door locks isn’t worth the expense?
As always, any advice will be gratefully received.