This is interesting. Masonite has announced they will soon be offering a new exterior door which is pre-wired to connect to the home’s electrical system with options for Yale smart locks and Ring doorbells that will mount the doorbell on the door itself rather than the wall or door frame. And provide mains power for both smart devices. The system also has a battery back up built-in. There are also plans for a sensor that would indicate whether the door was open or closed.
They say they intend to eventually work with other brands, but these are the initial partners. And they expect to have them available “this spring“ whatever that means. The expectation is that 40% of the doors would be sold for new construction and 60% would be renovations to existing homes.
It looks like integration with smartthings, etc., would be exactly the same as it is now, what this is is power infrastructure.
Electrical work would be required to connect the door to the existing electrical system in the home, which sounds similar to putting in a brand new mains-powered porch light where one never was before. Most people will use an electrician for this.
It’s an interesting product from a major company.
Of course as with all pre-release products, we’ll have to wait to see what actually gets produced, as well as what the cost will be.
Stacey on IOT had more details than many of the other first reports: