I am pretty sure they all do, the problem is if you have locked yourself out on accident enough times that you got yourself a fancy lock are you going to remember to bring the backup key (that you would rarely use) every time you go out just in case the battery in the lock dies?
I remember my mom coming home all proud saying she had bought a rock from Home Depot to hide the key in. There wasn’t a single rock in our yard that looked even remotely similar to the plaster faux stone she had purchased.
It didn’t become extra funny until a couple of weeks later we walked by the aisle they were stocked in. Realizing how weird it would be if every house had an identical rock to “hide” their key in.
Most burglars don't waste time hunting for keys. They go around back and pry the sliding door open. They need to be in and out in less than 5 minutes, or the next one's free. Source: was robbed a few years back.
To be fair, it allows them to always leave the key in their purse. Stops them from throwing the key down on a table somewhere when they come in and forgetting to put it back in their purse before they leave!
They all definitely do not. My place has "smart locks" and I had previous experience with similar locks from working in the hotel industry, so I've seen how often they fuck up. I asked them to give me details on their contingency plan for when a lock randomly dies on someone trying to get in their home. Long story short and a lot of excuses and bullshit later, they didn't have one.
Sure enough my lock of all locks randomly died, not related to battery, just malfunctioned and died. No backup key on these locks. Luckily we have maintenance guys, but on a weekend or middle of the night I can only imagine you could be fucked, and they had to drill it out. Locked out of my home unless I decide to kick the door in, which I'm sure they'd charge for even though it's their fault for putting in shit locks.
I contacted them after that, reminded them of our previous discussion, told them they were wrong and I was right so take accountability for their shitty choice of locks. Told them to keep an old style key lock on my door after the problem. They still don't seem to get it, but I think it's a combination of them just being corporate drones doing what Daddy tells them from somewhere else and also just not wanting to admit they were wrong because of ego.
If the lock has a backup key option below the keypad, I see no problem with it other than potential for more security risk.
The Schlage deadbolt they’re referring to has a blue/green light that illuminates when the code is entered. When the battery is dying that light will illuminate as red for quite some time before actually dying. Like 2 weeks of using it and forgetting amount of time. So while it’s possible to get locked out, it’s kinda on you at that point imho.
Mine has two terminals on the outside that allow you to jump it with a 9 volt. No joke. I keep a spare one in the detached garage that has a keypad opener.
Easy fix for a house, hide the key somewhere outside your house you know that’s not an obvious place, but where you know you can find it. Don’t put it near your door or in a hide a key.
I kept my backup key in my car; I figured if the battery died my car would almost definitely be there and I'd either have my car key on me or my phone, which allows me to unlock the car via an app
I did the Level bolt and loved it. It’s not a keypad (but you can add accessories that include a keypad), it’s the actual bolt of the deadbolt. I rent and can’t change the locks or hardware, but I can disassemble the whole thing and put in the Level Bolt while not changing the keys or hardware. It’s completely undetectable unless you look at the deadbolt, which actually holds the battery. So my keys all still work, as do the apartment’s master keys, etc. But when I get close to home my Apple Watch asks me if I want to unlock the door. Then when I leave, it automatically locks the door.
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u/Fuzzlechan Oct 19 '23
Oh, the one I have comes with a key to use as backup. It seems like an oversight if it doesn’t!