re: Tell me about your smart lock

I have one of the schlage ones (connect z-wave). I chose it mostly because of security/build quality as well as looks, and not because of the smart functionality. I personally don't care for the way the nest yale ones look etc. I wanted a more traditional looking and matching lock.


With that said, I think the tech board had a thread on it smart locks as well, and I think the yale nest one had a lot of reps.

I've gotten anywhere from 6months to 1 year with battery life. I think the smart locks that rely on wifi, tend to chew up batteries more. The connect ones are z-wave. The nest yale ones offers more smart functionality and ease of use through the app. I.e. setting up codes, allowing codes to only be used at certain times of the day etc. Whereas the downside with the Schlage is that it operates through a hub. You can certainly add codes remotely, unlock remotely, disable codes remotely. But as far as I know you can't really assign your housekeeper a code, but set it that it only works from 6AM to 5PM for instance. Maybe you can, but I've never explored or looked into it that much.

With that said, I'm mostly using the keypad. I haven't used the key in a very long time. The biggest downside to any smart lock is that if your door isn't aligned or if you have a wooden door that swells and unswell and becomes off align, you can't really trust the remote locking features as it may not engage. May also run your battery out quicker.


Someone mentioned the August lock. Previous homeowner had one on that he left us. The back kept falling off and I'd think I'd miss the keypad functionality of the other locks. But it is a nice set-up if you're looking to keep your current door hardware and just enable some smart unlocking features.