4 ms·
Nice. mine were initial versions of Lockitron. And then an August(didn't have much patience to test it, so returned it). Haven't tried Yale Z-wave (is it standa
by calvinbhai 9y ago
Nice. mine were initial versions of Lockitron. And then an August(didn't have much patience to test it, so returned it). Haven't tried Yale Z-wave (is it standalone? or is it bundled with a security service?). I'll give it a try when I move next time.
- alistairSH 9y agoAh, yeah, I was skeptical of the upstart brands. Yale and Schlage seem to be reliable (Dad has used both, his rental agency prefers the Yale on all homes for consistency). Z-wave and Zigbee are two of the common home automation protocols. So, you'd use those locks (or other devices) in conjunction with an automation hub (I use Samsung Smartthings, Dad uses a Vera). Some will also integrate with the Nest system or Alexa, but I'm not sure if that's directly, or via one of the hubs I mentioned. You can build your own "security" system with these. Quotes because adding cellular/phone support isn't usually directly supported, though there are ways to hack it together. I have mine set with timers, motion sensors, a Nest thermostat, and light switches. I'll add cameras eventually - waiting to see how the Nest video doorbell works out (if it's good, I'll likely cough up the money and go all Nest camera).
- calvinbhai 9y agoThanks for that info!! Will certainly try these options next time! Just curious, how often do you need to change/charge batteries?
- Bedon292 9y agoI have a Schlage on my house, and just changed the batteries (4 AA) after a year. They read as '60%' in SmartThings, but they were getting sluggish. You could hear that it did not have enough torque to do its job as well.
- alistairSH 9y agoAnnually. They don't die in that time, but better safe than sorry (and locked out on a rainy day).
- ghaff 9y agoI have a Schlage smart lock and still keep a spare key hidden. I'd never trust the electronics 100%.