I ask myself, "why, in this day and age, am I still sticking a piece of metal into a groove to open the door?" I love locking and unlocking my car with a button on the key; is it possible to install the same system for my front door?
Still I'd have to hold something up to the door. Maybe I'm extremely lazy, but when I'm coming home laden with bags I want to squeeze my fingers together and have the door unlock, just as I do with my car door.
Ok presumably there is an emitter in the key and a receptor in the door. It'd be a matter of getting the right components and then linking the receptor to the lock mechanism. Does anyone know of retail components that would do this?
You can get remote control 'key fobs' from Maplin and the matching receivers.
You can also buy a 'yale type' front door lock designed for remote release. The lock bit is fairly standard but the fixed bit (where the latch bit goes into) can sort of 'open up' (I can't describe it well but if you see it you will understand) electrically. I've seen these locks in locksmiths- one use is for disabled people to open doors remotely with an (internal) push button.
I'm sure you could rig something from the combination of the Maplin bits and one of these locks.
I'm sure something is made at a price, but it would be pretty easy to DIY. Maplin do a remote kit, and 12 volt door lock releases are common - the sort where you 'buzz' someone in. The beauty of this is that a key would still work in the normal way. You'd probably have to add a relay between the two.
to get an idea of equipment / prices. I install their kit in various forms and it's good, reliable gear but it's a premium price! We also use "Acet" equipment but our supplier's website is apparently being rebuilt at the moment - it's slightly cheaper but it shows. HTH, Richard.
Because already cars have a complicated mechanism with a toggle-lock that's designed not to burst open in a crash. You also close a car door by slamming it, in a way you'd not normally need to use on a house door. The remote locking mechanism is just a small sear attached to this, and you still have a large manual handle to actually unfasten the latch.
For a house, you're talking about some form of electric deadbolt that retains the door directly. These are a pain in the backside.
I already have Dallas iButtons (and Java buttons) around the place, and they work locks on my car and my electric garage door. This is easy, because I don't have to deal with a big mechanical actuator.
An electronic release acceptable to your insurance company is likely to be in the £500-£1000 range -- that's what we use at work. That doesn't include the logic to operate it such as remotes, card swipe, and the intelligence to decide if it's you or an intruder trying to operate it, and continued operation during power cuts, etc.
I'd love something like this too, but I decided it's not viable cost wise today, and that's mainly the electronic lock part.
If you're looking at remote controls I'd suggest using something with a reasonable level of encryption, rather than a more standard control designed to turn on/off lights or an equivalent "lower security" application.
The Deedlock locks below look great, though, if a little expensive. (Does anybody know how this would affect one's house insurance? Don't they insist on 5-lever BS mortice locks?)
If it were my house I'd probably want to look at something like a Keeloq based remote control:
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not unbreakable, that is probably a better bet than a simpler code-hopping or similar device. I found a thread discussing Keeloq:
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