I have a freezer and a lot of tools etc. in my shed so I need regular access to it. At present the door is secured by a barrel bolt which can be padlocked. As it is a bit fiddly to unlock the padlock, slide back the bolt, find somewhere to put the padlock, use the shed then go back through the locking process again, I usually leave it unlocked.
The trouble is that the contents of my shed wont be insured unless the shed is locked, so I'm looking for recommendations for a suitable lock that is easy to use, ideally with one hand.
Big bolt, convenient places to hang the padlock, easy padlock to handle (i.e. long shackle, not a short shackle or disk).
For most shed doors, it's really difficult to securely attach any sort of lock, even a rimlock. You can find yourself stuck with a bolt, just because it's mechanically the strongest attachment.
I've got one door with a home-made bolt that works pretty well. Inch round bar on the inside slides back and forth in conduit guides. A welded-on stick handle pokes through the door to the outside. It's locked by a hasp and staple outside which flaps over the handle slot and locks it in place. When "in use", remove the lock, fold the hasp down, hang the padlock off that and you just work it as a sliding bolt from either side.
I used a garage door T-handle, turning a big steel strip inside.
(Actually three strips, top, middle and bottom, linked together. The door and frame is also reinforced, so altogether it's pretty strong against mindless kicking. Less so against someone with a brain breaking the handle off and turning the shaft inside it.)
No indication of shed construction. Will a rim lock do the job. In my experience insurance companies only require a lock on outbuildings. Don't specify anything substantial. Our garage has a lock in the middle of the handle like some old hotel rooms.
We don't keep much regularly needed or anything of real value in the hut, but I'll explain what I fixed up. It has an ordinary and very cheap not very effective mortise lock. Slightly concerned about its security, I added an alarm circuit to it (plus garage/workshop) and drilled holes through the side of the hut frame through into the edge of the door. Into the holes I inserted bolts. The bolt heads look as if they are part of the structure, but they just push in and pull out to release the door. The holes were drilled such that the door has to be pushed in with just the right amount of pressure, before the bolts can be pulled out enough to release the door. Often as not that is all we use to lock the door.
At the hinge side of the door, I drilled the frame and door to match, so that headless 8" nails could be fitted sticking out from the frame about 1.5". As the door closes, the sticky out bits (pins) go into matching recesses in the door. That prevents anyone using a crowbar on the hinges to get in - take the hinges completely off, and the door still will not open due to the interlocked pins.
We also have a bit of old lace curtain hung across the hut window, so no one can see what might be inside it and the window is wired with 4mm steel wire on the inside, such that breaking the glass does not allow entry. It has been like that for 20 years, untouched except by us.
For my garage I use an electronic keypad entry, on its 'people' door. You just tap the correct sequence of six digits and the door opens. I fitted this after becoming fed up of others not returning the door's key back to where it belongs.
Really the most secure ways are the hidden methods, where you need to know the secret of entry, rather than an obvious lock. All you can do is delay them and have them make lots of noise to get in.
We then fall back on a normal key to get in. The key pad lock just releases the latch part, the actual lock is a standard one which can be operated by a yale key.
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