New to home automation but would like to ease into it. We are android based.
What got me thinking about this was an issue we are having with the cold weather and getting my son into the house after the bus drops him off. Which got me considering being able to monitor when someone comes in a door in addition be able to remote lock AND unlock as needed.
I have done some looking on mainly schlage and yale but am concerned as with some stuff i find one can only unlock and not lock which i do not want. Then when reading some stuff on yale the locks that looked like they were remotely able to be controlled seemed like they could not. So I am confused. My question is, what lock does one get that is reasonably priced allows locking and unlocking, easy on batteries and works well in really cold environments?
We do not yet have a hub of any sorts and would be our first connected device. We are thinking the smartthings route as i have seen it seems simple to setup and use and also supports a number of different devices.
Future: What I would like to do is control some lights as well. Kids forget to turn the lights off. Also I would like to create some lighting scenes in our living area. Can i easily do all of this with the smartthings hub and appropriate switches for example? what would you recommend getting to satisfy these 2 scenarios?
I really like my schlage camelot lock. $200. remote unlocking is fine, you can even do remote code changes. or know which code was used. and even change home mode if it is unlocked and your presence is detected. Mine has been installed for months and it is 95% battery. We have had many days 10-20 degrees in the last month.
Smart Things is great for lights also. I would recommend either GE switches or aeon micro switches for 100% reliability. GE link bulbs and TCPs are not reliable through Smart Things.
You can definitely do the things you mentioned with Smart Things. If I were you I would wait until April/May for hub version 2.0. If you can’t wait, here is 10% off any hub or kit http://fbuy.me/4E4D
Thanks for the quick reply. Can you also lock remotely with the Schlage? Glad to hear about the battery lasting. Lats week we had wind chills here into the -40 to -50 range which is not uncommon here is the reason I want to make sure it works in the cold. that is when I really need my son to be able to get in safely.
So when you mention certain bulbs are not reliable what do you mean?
Thanks for the link by the way. What will 2.0 get me that the current version does not have?
Yes you can lock/unlock remotely. I would suggest also adding a contact sensor to the door to verify that it is closed when it is locked. Otherwise it could be open but “locked”. Smart things dashboard is neat because it will show you both the values of closed and locked in one icon. Showing that the door is secure. You can write “apps” which are really just rules to tell you that the door was left open or unlocked when you are in a certain mode. You can have the door auto lock if you left home without locking it. ETC. Another reason I like the Schlage is it has manual key, pin code access AND z wave access.
Thanks again for the response. To make sure we are talking the same lock. This is the lock i was looking at. is this the same model that you have?
Cool. i will check out the links. I have a number of tcp bulbs that I know i can’t dim but I would assume I can put a switch on them to turn them on or off if i wanted.
@bline22 I also have the Schlage Camelot lock. love it!! I have it auto lock after 30 sec. It works for me. Have not figured out how to do the remote code changes- need to ask @greg if he will be so kind as to help us non coders on that one.
I also just purchased the GE link bulb about a week ago. so far it has been flawless. However I understand if you have more than one triggering at the same time there can be issues… hope that helps
I was speaking about the TCP Connected bulbs. If you have a TCP “dumb” bulb I’m sure it will work fine with any z wave switch through Smart Things.
I’m a non coder too. I’ve tried, but it hasn’t worked out. I’m waiting for all the updated documentation and them I’m going to give it another shot. Here is the code I use for remote code management. I’m on an older version of the code though. Haven’t bothered updating to the latest since I know it was working for my needs. Also it appears his updated version is a paid version.
Thanks again for the help. Not sure yet if i will wait for version 2 or just get the current hub. Glad to hear that you don’t have to be a coder to get this stuff working as well. I currently don’t have the time to tinker with it to that extent even though I would like to. I just need it to plug in and work in as little time as possible and it sounds like this could work for us.
Do you guys know at all what the model number differences are between the schlage locks? so for example I did a quick search to see that there is a
BE469NX CEN 622
BE469NX CAM 716
And there were others. Really the BE469NX stayed the same it was the 3 characters after that and then the 3 digits after those characters that seem to vary. I want to make sure I get the model that can lock and unlock remotely and don’t know if these are different models that either allow or don’t that functionality. Any ideas?
I work for Schlage and have 3 of those and 3 of the FE595 Zwave Lever sets. They all work great. They are even better when using some of the smart apps from here, remote code changes, scheduled lock, which code was used, etc.
The Cen and Cam refer to the outside style of the deadbolt . Cam (Camelot) is rounded at the top and bottom and Cen (Century) is squared. The numbers at the end are the finishes, 622 - Matte Black, 619 - Satin Nickle, 716 aged bronze.
@bline22 I guess i will be going against the grain. I would recommend from my experience the kwikset locks. I use the kwikset 912 lever lock and the battery life has been phenomenal so far. I have the kwikset autolock after being open for 30 seconds. I did some research on the schlage deadbolts and lever locks and it seems sometime they have trouble relaying the state back to the smart things app. with my kwikset set lock i get instant status updates when locked and unlocked, as well as being able to know what code is used to unlock the door and even when my lock is jammed because door hasn’t been shut all the way i can see it on the mobile app saying that lock is jammed. Now a big key factor when looking for new household locks is what keyway you have, because if you have currently kwikset, or yale keyway they may not always mate up with schlage lock. For example my house has schlage locks and if i replace all to kwikset will not be able to utilize my current keys at all, whereas if i used schlage i could just rekey the new shlage locks. Im still thinking whether or not i want to go with schlage zwave locks, because i’ve had great luck with my kwikset, however have not tried schlage yet so cannot compare directly.
As for light switch my recommendation would be linear light switches, if you ever plan to replace your lights with leds bulbs someday. Some of the ge light switches don’t have option to wire a neutral which is needed for low voltage led bulbs to function properly(especially where dimming is concerned). Otherwise you can get flickering, and humming. All the Linear lights switches offer neutral wiring, and if you have neutral wire avaliable in your gangbox then the linear/evolve light switches i found work wonderfully.
I also have the Schlage Camelot touchpad and it has worked perfectly from day 1. Locks and unlocks as designed based on coming/going and ST status settings, and also notifies me when the lock is opened (and I’m away) and which code was used - great for contractors and other uses. It was the first thing I bought in a cold winter environment and linked without problem to ST.
