Entr - Yale Introduce a Family Friendly Smart Lock

Yale is known worldwide as one of the oldest lock manufacturers in the lucrative North American Market. Yale products have been continually built since Linus Yale patented his original pin tumbler mechanism back in 1865.

In recent years, the advent of "The Internet Of Things" has opened up many industries to the technological revolution. The large technology behemoths like Apple, Google, Microsoft to name a few, have capitalized on this technology boom with products like the iPhone, Android etc to make all people lives a little more "connected".

Many industries including, thermostats, alarm systems, web cameras, lighting switches and door locks have seen the new IOT "smart tech" be embedded in their products. Virtually allowing most of the devices and gadgets that surround our lives, to work together seamlessly.

There are already a great many options to choose from in the $30 Billion home security market with many "new-age" smart locks already gracing the shelves of locksmith shops, hardware stores and online e-commerce websites.

The Entr by Yale, looks like yet another entrant to this crowded market. The video above shows the product developed for the standard European market, but I am lead to believe that similar models are being produced for the North American market too.

I think the product looks pretty good. Dont you?

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Why Is Re-keying Your Home Locks Vital And Important For Home Security?

Pictured here is a typical front door entrance set found commonly across the United States.

Many customers we visit, ask us to re-key their locks. It is one of a locksmiths principal service offerings.

But why is it a vital and important project upon buying, renting or moving to your new home, to re-key locks?

In our vast 35+ years of experience across four continents, we have re-keyed a great many lock systems for our customers. The obvious reason for re-keying your locks, is to lock out a key holder.

We attend many customers who rarely think to re-key their locks when they first move in to their new home or office. Many seem to think that previous owners or tenants have returned all the operating keys and that full disclosure indicates there are no additional operating keys "out there".

But time and again, we find that many homeowners are unaware that many of their new locks, installed by the building contractor, are in fact master-keyed. The reason their locks are master-keyed is often a building contractor or home construction company, will build more than one or two or three houses in a new locality and to minimize the number of different keys that each of their tradespeople are required to carry, to access each different property, the builder will order direct from the manufacturer, all their locks keyed to their master system. The builder will obviously hand over the individual operating keys for each new property to the new owner or agent, but many new homeowners are unaware that their new locks are actually master-keyed and will often delay or forget altogether to ensure no-one but they have keys or copies to their new home. Perhaps they are lured into a false sense of security that their new home is secure because they have original keys in their possession?

There are some builders who operate with integrity and install Construction Keyed locks to doors. And these builders will also instruct the customer to insert their individual operating key to all their new locks and in so doing, their construction keyed cylinders will naturally and automatically "switch off" the construction keying function.

We just came from another customer where we re-keyed their locks. In dismantling the cylinders we discovered master pins in multiple chambers, indicating (most likely) that these locks have never been changed, since original installation.

Now, here is the rub!

How Do You Prevent Being Locked Out Of Your Home?

As a practising locksmith for almost 35 years across the planet, I have attended a great many "lock outs", rescuing stranded customers who are locked out of their homes or office buildings.

The skills that a professional locksmith brings to bear, include the special training in learning the art of picking locks.

These days, with the advent of online video sources, more and more videos are appearing daily showing people, including locksmiths and hobbiests displaying their prowess at picking locks.

There are few brands of locks available that are particularly difficult to pick/manipulate, presenting increased challenges to would be lock pickers. Some of these brands include (but are not limited to) Abloy Protec, Assa Twin, Multilock, Bilock, Medeco, Primus and others. Few are bump proof and virtually pick proof like Protec or Bilock and the industry is constantly evolving to produce better mechanical "mousetraps" aimed at increasing the security of our homes or offices.

But, the pain felt when you accidentally lock yourself out and the sometimes long wait for the professional locksmith to attend and rescue you, can be mitigated using a hidden key safe.

There are a number of versions available in todays market and one worth considering is pictured above. A simple water sprinkler with a cavity and screw on cap, that can hold a couple of spare keys is a painless and inexpensive method that would be so helpful to some people.

Locksmiths would probably prefer i didnt mention products like these, because these types of products could reduce the calls for professional locksmith services.

I dont really care all that much as i am in the business of "Securing America - One Door At A Time" and the interests of my clientelle and their families are more important that a few quibbling locksmiths.

And if i can save you a couple of bucks and some extra time and inconvenience, then why the heck not?

These dummy sprinkler heads can be purchased just about anywhere but Amazon have them fairly cheap.

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Fire Rated Nightlatch - New Product From Assa-Abloy Asia-Pacific, Lockwood Australia

Lockwood Australia recently released their new fire rated nightlatch, the Lockwood 507.

Designed to withstand 4 hours of fire and rated accordingly, this new product is constructed using high-quality 304 Grade Stainless steel.

Installation is simple and straightforward and a perfect solution for utility cabinets, service cupboards, janitors closets, etc.

The 507 Rim/Surface mounted nightlatch conforms to a standard 60mm/2-3/8" backset (the standard distance between the edge of the lock body and the center of the keyhole)

The latch mechanism is also fire rated and also constructed from 304 Grade Stainless Steel, as is the lock body/case and strike plate.

The product is supplied without an external cylinder ensuring the ability to use with an existing master key system.

The lock mechanism has been tested and certified to 500,000 operations and is corrosion resistant for up to 168 hours, neutral salt spray ( that means testing involved direct spray of seawater for 168 hours). This makes this an ideal product for use in coastal regions, river-side buildings etc.

The product is of sufficient quality that the manufacturer warranties the product with a 25 year mechanical warranty.

Available soon by special request to North America.

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