Since my childhood, I was closely accustomed to the use and convenience of having a remote car locking system in our car and I was very much fond of it. Still I remember that often I used to wonder if my father could have installed a remote locking system for our home too. After I grew up and started using a laptop, I used a password for my laptop as well as I used password for various Apps related to my social media profiles. It was all for safety as these passwords are safe keys to keep hackers away. But still in mind I was keen to have one such lock for the house, so that we can stay tension free that should we never forget keys or we do not have to worry about getting it unlawfully replicated.
However, to cut the long story short, finding a smart lock for your home makes your home indeed smarter. Here in this article, we have given some tips for how to choose a smart lock for your smart home.Since the invention of the traditional pin- tumbler locks by Linus Yale Sr., you can be 100% sure that they have provided safety to innumerable homeowners. With these locks installed, you can be double sure that hardly any home break-ins would occur to your home.
But in the 20th century, if you are counting on your home safety and lock, you will surely look for something modern, sleek and perhaps digital, and that is why smart locks have been awash in the market. Nowadays, for anyone designing a security system in his or her smart home should lack no option but to upgrade from traditional-mechanical-digital to smart locks for safety.
According to ‘Assa Abloy’, (Swedish conglomerate whose offerings cover products and services ranging from locks, doors, gates, and entrance automation), “Just like all cars are built with a software, the locks will have their software as well” in the near future.
Due to the array of features in the smart home locks, today’s household management has become somehow simple. When integrated with the complete smart home solutions, smart locks can give you better and digitally controlled access management of your smart home, far better than the traditional locks. So, with the varieties of smart locks available in the market, how can you buy an excellent smart lock for your home? Believe us, it’s quite simple. You need to go through the five tips mentioned below and get yourself fully geared for your smart home’s digital access management.
01. Remote Access
Some smart locks don’t allow you to access them through an internet connection; while some models count on only Bluetooth connectivity. The technology of the short-distance transmission reduces the obligatory demand of power needed to run the smart lock hence allowing you to connect directly to the lock from another Bluetooth gadget. Bluetooth appliances are not virtually active Wi-Fi devices. You have to make a choice between the devices.
While choosing a smart lock, check the one, which uses Z-Wave technology in connecting the lock with the home network security. With these locks, you may connect them to the internet, which allows you to control and access your door locks from any part of the world. With this feature, it becomes more accessible for you to manage your doors remotely.
There are other practical advantages of using a remote lock. You can receive deliveries at your home without straining to wait at home inconveniencing you from your daily schedules. What you do is to tell the delivery man to call you after his arrival, and you can remotely unlock the doors for him as you continue with your errands. Amazing right?
02. App Connectivity
For the smart locks’ optimum performance, they should have functional connectivity with the Smartphone App so that you can monitor and control them with ease. The good thing with Apps is that they can be downloaded free from the play store or Appstore. With them, you can maximize all their smart lock features. These feature help in the communication of your gadgets with the others in your smart home. Besides many features brought to you by this App, it also can assist you in problem-solving of the lock by giving you pertinent information relating to the gadget.
The application feeds you with the right time notifications about anything happening involving the lock. It also has a log which shows you anyone who might have attempted to access your smart home at any time of the day. The application works with the remote access features to enable you to unlock or lock the doors from anywhere. You can also use them to check whether your doors are locked properly or might have been tampered with thereby putting your home security at your easy control.
But make sure that the Apps you are downloading are from standard providers so that no one cannot hack your data from their back end.
03. Customized Access
Allowing visitors or servants in your absence at home by remotely opening your doors for them might not be acceptable due to lack of trust issue. But there are some advanced smart locks, which can allow you to create custom access codes. With it, you just set up a code for you and any other person whom you can trust to access your house in your absentia. Each model comes with their specific rules and protocols, which you can choose for combination with the codes. For instance, you can create a code for your daughter, which works only between the times when she comes from school and from her tuition classes. Any other time apart from this one, the code will remain inactive. Having this feature enabled you will get to enjoy high control of your smart home and you will get to limit the random access to your house.
You can also go for those locks, which report logs to allow you to see the codes entered and their exact time. They send you alert messages, both via email and text at the real-time letting you know that the door is being tampered and also with the added information with and by which code. The feature helps the homeowners to monitor their home by knowing the details of each entry and departure without being present at the spot physically.
04. Battery Power
Indeed, traditional locks have never run out of juice, but the smart locks need a constant power source to make them work. Majority of them depend on the battery power. You need to give much attention to the original battery of the smart lock. Like some confident homeowners, you might have the notion that battery issue has nothing much to worry about. But imagine the hard time when you might be in steep trouble that the door lock can’t be opened as the battery is completely down.
Hence while checking vital features of the smart locks, always consider how they utilize their battery power and the battery life expectancy. Some of the smart locks and their automation protocols help them to conserve power. These locks perform the same primary functions and communicate with the devices at a certain limit while saving energy and in low power state enables the battery life conservation for a longer time.
05. Ability to Integrate
Nobody likes things which do not integrate well with others, particularly in-Home Automation or Smart Home appliances as it can surely complicates things and makes them annoying. Smart locks are no exception to this hazard. The ability to integrate with other smart technology and devices should be one of the most critical features in the smart lock you have chosen so far. If the integration is done seamlessly, it improves the smart lock’s acceptability and enables it to create a complex complete series of tasks by communicating and integrating with other devices.
For example, if you could get a smart lock that would communicate with your Nest Cam and Ring doorbell, don’t give it a second thought. Take it home since you could have significantly upgraded your smart home security with this new device.
Final Thoughts:
According to research by lock manufacturer ‘Schlage and Wakefield’, in the USA, 61% of Gen Y are more likely to rent an apartment due to its electronic-access features including keyless entry doors, while 55% are likelier to pay more for an apartment that has “high-tech door locks”.
Having gone through the above tips, you can now confidently walk into your nearby store and get yourself a smart lock of your own choice. Hope these tips smart lock for your smart home will help you in smart shopping.
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Author Bio
Fidelis Kinai – Fidelis Muti possess a bachelor’s in English and Journalism and have over four years of professional experienced writing and proofreading materials for print and online platforms, including newspapers, magazines, websites, blogs, and social media accounts. He also have over three years of experience as a marketing assistant and social media manager. He is versatile and diligent and will produce exemplary content within time to meet your deadline. He can deliver most work within 2-3 days; rush orders are accepted whenever possible. He is based in the Kenya but travel often and work for clients all over the world.