The following article is extracted from doityourself.
Keyless door locks have become popular among homeowners in recent years. Although these locks were originally developed for use in cars with remote entry systems, they have been successfully modified for use in homes as well.
There are a number of reasons to consider including a keyless door lock in your home. However, there are also some risks associated with this type of system, so it’s important to consider all pros and cons before you install one in your home.
Advantages of Keyless Door Locks
One of the main advantages of a keyless door lock is not needing to carry a key. You’ll no longer need to worry about losing your key or fidgeting at the door to get it open.
It also means that you won’t need to store a spare key somewhere on your property, as many homeowners currently do. Because most criminals are used to looking around to find a spare key, eliminating the need for one will help make your home safer.
Another advantage of keyless door locks is that you can provide entry to your home for others at your discretion. You will not need to make copies of a key or leave keys for dog walkers, housekeepers, or house guests to get in to your home. Rather, you’ll simply need to tell those people the proper code in order to gain access.
With the system in place, you can also tell exactly when and how people attempted to access your home. This gives you a good idea of how secure your house is.
Disadvantages of Keyless Door Locks
While there are many benefits to including a keyless door lock system in your home, there are also some major drawbacks to consider as well. While keyless door lock systems are generally safe and designed to alert police or other authorities if incorrect codes are entered too many times, it is nonetheless possible that an intruder may be able to gain access to your home through this system by guessing or hacking the code.
Just as you can forget your keys and be locked out of your home, you can also forget the passcode to access your keyless entry system and be locked out. While it is safer to use a completely random code and avoid obvious choices like birth dates or simple, repetitive numbers, this can pose a problem if you have a difficult time remembering things.
One final disadvantage of keyless door locks is that electrically-powered systems may not function properly in the case of a power failure. This can leave your door completely locked throughout the failure, or it may result in the door not locking properly and remaining open. Fortunately, most systems have battery backup systems as a fail-safe.