I’m wanting to try a smart lock and have decided on either a Schlage Z-Wave Connect Camelot BE469 CAM 605 or Qwikset 914 (guess Yales are supposed to be good too). I have an ST hub, Echo Dot, Logitech hub, Android phone, and iPad. I’ve read threads here about these locks but still kind of confusing.
I know some consider the Schlage better but haven’t decided whether I want a touchscreen or not.
Do they both work equally well with ST & Alexa?
Physical size is important to me the smaller the better are they about the same size?
Can I remotely lock/unlock from my mobile devices? Same with Alexa?
I’m assuming I can setup either lock with a program to lock my house at 11:00 PM and unlock at 8:00 AM?
I have two Kwikset 914’s (deadbolts) and one Kwikset 912 (lever). I went with them because they have that option to rekey them whenever you want and my house already had regular Kwikset stuff So I was able to key my existing locks to one of the new deadbolts and now they all match.
I will say that in the last couple weeks the device health shows some of them randomly offline. The wierd thing is if I hit the little “X” to cancel out of the device health warning and then hit refresh on the device they come right up. I don’t currently have them in any routines but that is a little worry some. Also both deadbolts are Z wave and the lever is Zigbee. So far in my experience the Z wave seemed to perform better. Maybe because in my house I have a lot more Z wave devices like dimmer switches and fan controllers and the mesh is just much better but I’ve been looking for the Z wave module to replace the one that has zigbee. They are on ebay pretty regularly but im trying not to pay a lot for one so havent gotten it yet. The Zigbee one also seems to chew through batteries but again it might be a range/mesh issue.
As far as them being standalone devices, like hitting the lock button and them locking or typing in the password and unlocking, they have been extremely reliable.
tgauchat
(ActionTiles.com co-founder Terry @ActionTiles; GitHub: @cosmicpuppy)
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A keypad (it’s not really a “screen”) is tremendously convenient.
Alternative ways to open the lock are much more likely to fail than the local keypad and it doesn’t reduce security in any significant way.
Furthermore, assigning unique PINs or giving out an emergency access code to friend, neighbor, contractors, or spontaneous phone call is trivial compared to setting up a rule or making them use an App.
I have the Schlage Z-wave Connect Camelot and have been using it for about a year or so. I use the Lock Manager smart app by @ethayer and the garyd9 : Z-Wave Schlage Touchscreen Lock DTH. I have not had any issues. Alexa wasn’t working at first for me, but with Echosistant it solved any Alexa/Lock issues I had. It’s a little large in size, but the fact I never have to pull out my keys to open my door is amazing. Its also VERY easy to switch the keypad codes with Lock Manager.
Kwikset is fine for a budget lock. Yale and Schlage are in the next category up. All three work fine with SmartThings for basic lock/unlock , although you will need custom code if you want to be able to access the advanced features.
They all work the same with Alexa and Google home, but you do require smartthings for that integration and it doesn’t work quite the way you might expect. You can’t just say “echo, unlock the front door.” The phrasing will have to be a little different. I’m tired now, so I will let other people go into those details.
Meanwhile, the following two threads should be of interest (these are clickable links)
All three brands have different models with someone different sizes, so you just have to look at each.
With all of them you will certainly be able to set a time schedule such is locked at 11 PM, unlock at 8 AM. That’s no problem. You also be able to access them remotely from the SmartThings mobile app.
Thanks for all the replies and links… sounds like either would work. We are retired and usually at home so mainly interested in locking at night and unlocking in the morning. Then maybe the occasional lock/unlock via the ST app.
Having a heavy duty lock is problemly a non issue for me since we’re always home. The bigger issue is trying to decide if having physical keys is a necessity since my son is blind. It would probably be the rare occurrence that he wouldn’t be home before it auto locked at night.
Specifically I was asking if the Schlage Connect Camelot was about the same size as the Qwikset 914?
Since your son is blind, you might want to consider choosing a model that has actual buttons rather than just a touch screen. That way he will be able to use it even if the app is not working.
I would think this is likely your issue, or perhaps interference. My ZigBee lock battery lasts much longer than the older Z-Wave lock versions. For the ZigBee lock, after over a year of use on my main door, the battery is at 74%.
Yeah that’s been my dilemma all along and why I was even considering the Qwikset 914 otherwise I would just get the Schlage BE469 touchscreen. Never looked at Yales but thought they were more expensive.
Never considered that the app might not work at times.
SmartThings does have occasional outages. Some are for scheduled updates, some are just problems. When it happens, the SmartThings app will not work for a little while. Although the outages may only be a short time, maybe as short as 15 minutes, if you’re standing outside your door waiting to get in, that’s not a good thing. (And, yes, that has happened to me. )
The keypad locks will work when you enter the code on the keypad even if the app is not working. That’s true whether it’s a touchscreen or a pushbutton. So it’s just good to have as a Plan B.
Smartthings has a status page, but it really only lists things that affect almost all customers in a major way, and for whatever reason they don’t always list their own scheduled downtime there. But you can see that there has been at least one outage a month for each of the last 15 months or so except, I believe in January. So it’s just something to be aware of.
As a note, you can get the Yale lock mentioned by @JDRoberts above for $95 ($85 each if you buy two) from the link below. This is a great price but be aware that they are ZigBee as you mentioned you were looking for Z-Wave.
For clarity, you can get the exact same model with Z wave instead of zigbee, it’s just that the discount site that @jhamstead linked to only has the zigbee on sale.
Both Z wave and zigbee are good for home automation, but zigbee can get drowned out by strong Wi-Fi and zwave does not. So many people prefer Zwave for a fixed position device like a doorlock, since then you don’t have to worry about potential Wi-Fi interference.
Yeah I’d like to stay with Z-Wave. I realize that Yale model is on sale and you say it also comes in Z-Wave but how does that model compare to the much more expensive Schlage BE469 and Qwikset 914?
Well after researching the dimensions of the locks guess I was was a little shocked on how large the interior piece of the lock was.The exterior part of the lock is very acceptable but the Schlage’s Interior is 3" x 8" and Kwikset 3 1/4" x 7 1/4"… kind of big.
Apparently the aesthetics are something you get used to.
I’ll try to watch for sales on the Schlage BE469 or Kwikset 914 and whichever is cheaper I’ll pick up. Thanks for the help!
I am interested in getting a smart lo co for my new front door. I’m leaning towards a schilage but when I close my fro my door, I have to push it a bit. I think it also has to so with the storm door being installed (air tight). Woulld this be a problem? My contractor just pout it in so if I need to make some type of adjustment I can ask him.
Thanks
Dom.
As long as the bolt moves smoothly once the door is closed, you should be OK. It will still be a person physically closing the door, right?
If your set up requires that you Press in on the door or lift up a little on the door knob while you lock/unlock the door, that is, requires that you are physically forcing the door to a slightly different position while the deadbolt is being moved, then the smart lock won’t work.
So the question is are you just having to force the door closed and then the bolt moves smoothly, or are you having to hold the door in a particular position while you move the bolt?
As far as the storm door, the first question is just will there be enough room for the smart lock? You might have to go with one of the retrofit locks where you don’t change anything on the exterior of the door, you just add a piece to the inside.
Beyond that, depending on the materials of the storm door, it may make it more difficult to get signal through to the lock when you’re outside of the house. So you might have to have a strategically placed repeater near a window on your way into the house. But that’s something you just have to experiment with.
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