Smartlocks - New Generation Lock Products Need Mechanical Backups

Smartlocks appear to be all the rage today. We have written about many different offerings that have come about in the last few years including August, Goji, Lockitron, Yale and others.

Many of these "startups", have sought funding through crowd-funding campaigns and few have successfully released to the market.

An article we read today explains about the lack of foresight from many of these "new-age" manufacturers. Specifically, the deliberate removal of mechanical override cylinders from offerings. Mechanical override is a vital component in intelligent smart locks because, if the batteries are flat or there is a weather related malfunction or other issue, NOT getting locked out would seem to be an integral backup plan, no?

Customers across the marketplace are quickly understanding and appreciating the benefits of smart locks but may seem to be returning in droves to the old and time tested mechanical security options that have proven to maintain reliability.

I have installed multiple wireless access control deadbolts for particular customers over the last few years and I have always strongly recommended a mechanical key override, just in case. Glad i did so too, especially with one particular customer who let their batteries run flat and resorted to just using the override key. (effectively defeating the purpose of the "smart" function)

In the source below, find the article i read. There, the author explains how his wife was locked out of their home due to a malfunctioning product. Now, she refuses to use the "smart" component and only uses her mechanical key.

The author also explains how the established industry manufacturers also realized the benefits of the mechanical override backup and include them deliberately with their offerings.

(source...)