I’ve seen lots of posts about smart door locks but I am not sure I trust the technology yet nor do I want the expense of changing at least 5 exterior doors.
But what would be nice would be to know if hey are ‘locked’ - ie key has been turned and bolt sent across
so I don’t have to check such things before bed or going out etc.
I already have sensor to say the door is closed but ‘locked’ would be far more useful if I am going away for a few days etc (I travel a lot), it is easy to forget to check they are locked
I guess a simply electric contact could do it- maybe some integration with the konnected alarm I already have but that would need lots of new cables., but surely someone has thought of this before any solutions/ideas ?
Stop being cheap! Get smart locks. Smart Locks have proven to be awesome in my home. We literally don’t have to worry about if the door is locked because they lock themselves. Also gives remote access, 1 time access, who unlocked the door, when it was unlocked, if it is locked blah blah blah. Cost about $150 per lock.
You could try a recessed door sensor like the following. Just epoxy a small round magnet to the end of your deadbolt, and insert this battery powered contact sensor into the recessed door jamb hole for your deadbolt (you’ll have to drill it to be much deeper than it is today, of course… and not sure how you’d get it back out to change the battery… but it would be totally hidden!)
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RBoy
(www.rboyapps.com - Making SmartThings Easy!)
4
Very neat out of the box thinking!
This is a similar but cheaper recessed door sensor for about $20
Thanks both, I was thinking I was going to have to DIY something, but was thinking electric circuit - but using one of these looks a far neater option - will check relative sizes etc
Yeah, I read this a while back. Figured, if they want in, then they’ll get in. Don’t get me wrong, I am all for the most economical way to achieve a desired result. I just love spending other people’s money!
I have 4 exterior doors and every time I purchased another smart lock it was like nails in my eye sockets. Glad I did though because those things have been the most useful HA that I have invested in.
Don’t even know where my keys are…
Good Luck!
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RBoy
(www.rboyapps.com - Making SmartThings Easy!)
8
From the article:
During the period when a user paired their controller (such as a smartphone or smart home hub) with the device
So it’s ONLY vulnerable during the pairing process. i.e. they would need access to your lock physically and assuming it’s isn’t already paired to your existing hub. If it’s already paired, sorry guys you’ll have to find a way to hack into exclude it first, but then it would be easier to just break down the door
But then again if they have access to the “pairing” of the lock, why go through the process of hacking it? Can’t you just “unlock” it after pairing it using your app?
So the moral of this story:
Don’t leave your lock lying around unpaired - but then again you need the “Master Code” to start the pairing process…
Here’s another but the thread he links to with photos is gone / locked. I think the idea was the same as above but with a switch buried in the rebate rather than in the deadbolt housing.
As I recall the switch he used was this style (I bookmarked it to buy one but eventually got a smart lock instead):
Just to add a little clarification:
I’m the OP for your second link: “New(?) way to monitor a deadbolt lock”.
The micro switch that I use is this type:
There are lots of similar items out there.
Yes, I mounted the switch in the post that forms the rough opening for the door. It gets mounted close enough to the door jam that when the deadbolt is locked it trips the micro switch. Unfortunately, I no longer have the pictures of the installation.
I can try to take a couple new ones if anyone is interested.
I currently have two doors set up with this method, and both work very well after a couple years of use.
I actually sketched out such an idea a couple years ago lol.
In my plan, the magnet is not attached to the deadbolt but to a pivot arm inside the door jamb. As the deadbolt moves in, it pivots the arm to have the magnet swing into position next to the sensor - which with this arrangement can be housed such that the battery is easily accessible (a removable piece of molding).
The problem of course would have been that it would weaken the door jamb a bit, so I rolled with a standard sensor at the top of the door.
Just to report back- works wonderfully with my test door - I am using some “Mini Neodymium Magnet- 5 x 2mm n50 Rare Earth Strong Permanent Disc” magnets from ebay ~£2 $3, and a stripped down xiaomi door sensor (the oval shaped ones as they seem a little smaller), that sensor fits within the rebate where the bolt on the goes across (upvc door the rebate is quite large - in vertical plane)
I’ve dockered a DH to report ‘locked and unlocked’ in lieu of ‘open closed’ and all works well so far.
will try to get some when finished work, but really not much to see juts a bolt with magnets and a disassembled sensor - it’s the fact I have large rebates in the doors that it works
I did something similar to this except I used a pressure sensor that I installed in the door frame so the bolt would contact it when the deadbolt was locked. The issue I ran into is in the afternoon the heat causes the sensor to not respond reliably. Pressure/Force Sensitive Resister and a door sensor, Works!
I’m going to have to try this method instead and re purpose the ecolink sensor to monitor my condensate pump
As mentioned this is just to prove the concept - end solution I’ll make neater etc - and cause I had a bit of time for a play - but has been working fine for about a week now
Get smart locks. Smart Locks have proven to be awesome in my home. We literally don’t have to worry about if the door is locked because they lock themselves. Also gives remote access, 1 time access, who unlocked the door, when it was unlocked, if it is locked blah blah blah. Cost about $150 per lock.
