We always have many concerns before purchasing smart door locks. Changing smart door locks is for safety and convenience, but is it really better than traditional door locks in use? What should we do if there are some problems, such as the lock running out of power?

I have bought 4 sets of smart locks over the past few years. After using them for so long, I have finally solved all my concerns before buying locks. Today we will talk about 4 concerns that people who have never been exposed to smart locks will have.

There are several ways to unlock the lock

There are at least 4 ways to unlock the door from the outside: key unlocking, password unlocking, fingerprint unlocking and card swiping unlocking. There are some smart locks, and there is a fifth way to unlock the door – face unlock.

Among them, \”key unlocking\” is the least commonly used and can be regarded as an emergency unlocking method. The keyholes of all smart locks are hidden deep and are very inconvenient to open. Moreover, after the key is used to unlock the lock, the lock will sound an alarm, which needs to be turned off by removing the battery, resetting the phone, or resetting the button.

Unlocking from the inside of the door. Different locks have different methods, but they can be roughly divided into three categories:

① Rotate the handle to unlock. This lock looks very similar to a traditional door lock. It has a door handle. Press down on the handle to unlock. Lift up the handle to quickly lock it.

② Press the button to unlock. There is a button on the door lock. Press this button to unlock the door, and the lock will automatically open. Anti-lock. There is an anti-lock button next to the button, which can prevent the button from being accidentally pressed.

③ Touch to unlock. A handle protrudes from the inside of the lock. Hold it with your hand (and touch the sensors inside and outside the handle at the same time) to unlock. This kind of lock often comes with a mechanical button or knob. If you don\’t want to hold the handle, you can use the button or knob to unlock. The reverse lock is the same as the previous button unlocking lock, which automatically locks after closing the door.

What should I do if the battery is out?

I bought 4 sets of smart locks and came into contact with 4 workers who installed the locks. Every worker will remind me before leaving: Don\’t leave the key in the house. If the lock is out of power, use the key to unlock it.

As mentioned before, key unlocking is an emergency unlocking method. Yes, it\’s urgent to run out of power.

In addition, there will be a Type-c charging port on the outside of the smart lock, usually next to the keyhole. . Find a power bank and plug it in to charge the door lock and use it to temporarily open the door.

Of course, the chances of needing to use these two emergency unlocking methods are very small. Because the smart door lock will alarm when the battery is low, it can probably be opened for another twenty or thirty seconds after the alarm.secondary lock. As long as you charge the door lock or replace the battery in time during this period, you\’ll be fine.

Is charging troublesome?

Smart door locks are generally powered by batteries, and the batteries here can also be divided into two types –

One ​​is dry battery , usually AA batteries, occasionally AA batteries. Common door locks need to be installed with about 5 AA batteries. My family also bought a door lock that requires batteries. It is quite special (it can be hung with sky and ground hooks) and requires 10 AA batteries.

It’s easy to replace the dry battery with a new one.

The other is rechargeable batteries, which is also a popular approach now. When charging, you can remove the battery and plug it into the mobile phone charger for charging.

If it is a smart lock with a handle, the door can be opened from indoors even without batteries. But if it is a smart lock that is opened by buttons or sensors, it cannot be unlocked when the battery is removed. This means that we cannot escape when danger occurs, so it is still very dangerous.

So I will choose another charging method more often: next to the battery, there will also be a Tpye-C interface. You can drag the power strip over and charge it with a mobile phone charger. You can also plug in the power bank and charge it here.

Can the lock be replaced directly on an old door?

It can be replaced, but different doors require different locks——

When buying a lock, you need to measure the dimensions of the door, including: door edge width, door thickness, door gap size, etc. Different locks require different measurement locations, so be sure to ask customer service to determine what dimensions need to be measured before making payment.

I have installed 4 locks, and none of them can be done by directly removing the old lock and installing the new lock. It often requires re-drilling and grinding, and it takes at least 1 day to install the lock. Hours.

In terms of door lock size, smart locks without handles are often longer, while smart locks with handles are shorter. Therefore, when opening holes, smart locks without handles will open more and larger holes in the longitudinal direction.

In this way, when the smart lock without a handle is replaced with a smart lock with a handle or a traditional door lock, it may not be able to block the hole in the back. In addition, every time the lock is changed, it must be replaced. There are many holes in the door. If the lock is changed too many times, the holes in the door will become a large area and the lock will not be fixed.

These two issues still need to be paid attention to, which means that we cannot change locks frequently and at will. You have to replace the door together, so before buying a lock, it is recommended to think carefully and buy a product that is good enough and you like it.