I am bout to order a new front door for our flat and came across the Yale Keyless option. Basically pin access.

Sound bloody fantastic as I am always forgetting my key.

Anyone have experience with these?

check with your insurers would be my advice.

thing with a key is that it’s either physically in your posession or not. PIN can be remembered by anyone.

I have a keyless entry on one of my doors. Its crap, a nightmare to fit properly, batteries forever dying (don’t like being cold) so you end up carrying a key anyway just in case!

You can get a box with a pin-keypad that screws onto a wall and holds a spare key. Seen them for elderly people’s houses, Nurses / home help or whatever they are seem to like to have them fitted, so they don’t need to carry keys for all the houses they visit. Low tech (no batteries required) and cheap, and your door is still normal.

Joe

You can get a box with a pin-keypad that screws onto a wall and holds a spare key. Seen them for elderly people’s houses, Nurses / home help or whatever they are seem to like to have them fitted, so they don’t need to carry keys for all the houses they visit. Low tech (no batteries required) and cheap, and your door is still normal.

Joe

Plenty of surfers use something similar, but it invalidates your car insurance, best check with home isnurers incase it’s the same.

PIN can be remembered by anyone.

Similarly, keys can be stolen or found by anyone.

I wouldn’t worry though. What’s the point in trying to crack a pin or steal a key when you can just smash a window? It’s far easier.

Similarly, keys can be stolen or found by anyone.

they can but it’s easier to prove your keys were stolen to gain an unforced entry and all your kit stolen than prove you’ve never communicated a pin to someone.

Dunno much about home systems, but my experiences with keyless entry in offices is that there are locks, and then there are locks.

But yeah, check your insurance. Just about every form I’ve filled in has had a tickbox for “five lever mortice deadlocks on all exit doors.”

What’s the point in trying to crack a pin or steal a key when you can just smash a window? It’s far easier.

It’s not breaking and entering. It’s just trespass.

Key pad or diigital locks are easily overcome, and once in and they have the code can return a few times with no sign of damage, then you habve to prove to your insurance company you didnt let anyone know the code ever, or that anyone saw you entering it.

With a mortice lock its either locked or open, and needs considerable effort and force to break it open, thus its obviously a burglary.

Key safes what old people have are also easily overcome to access the key or keys, big hammer and theyre open.

I always thought central locking for houses would be a good idea, you could ‘blip’ the house when you come home from the shops and you could lock the house from your couch

My friend in Hong Kong had a finger print scanner to get into his house. It was pretty cool, probably expensive as well.

Key safes what old people have are also easily overcome to access the key or keys, big hammer and theyre open.

I’ve got one and you’d need an angle grinder to get into it – 5mm steel case – a hammer wouldn’t even dent it!

All locks are penetrable, its a question of effort v reward– a good old five lever is more work than any multi locking system to break into, deadlocks are also fairly resistant, but keyless doors — expensive to buy, expensive to fix– a big dog would be cheaper

At work we use RFID key cards for all internal doors, which are set for different access levels according to the personnel concerned. My card is carried in my Jimi wallet along with my credit cards and Oyster card, and gets used dozens of times a day, so I’ve often wondered if that system would be useful for a house. The doors lock as soon as you go through, useful if you’re in and out to the garden or where ever.

What’s the point in trying to crack a pin or steal a key when you can just smash a window? It’s far easier.

It’s not breaking and entering. It’s just trespass.

Not true

i’ve always been tempted to wire up a car central locking system to my house, the newer style ones you don’t have to press a button for would be even better. Was going to hook it up to a linear actuator on my gate – it can lift 450kg so no one will be able to force it and when i get home with my arms full the gate just opens for me and the door unlocks.

Similarly, keys can be stolen or found by anyone.

If someone found or stole my keys I don’t think I would be too worried as I don’t have my address printed on my key fob.

If someone found or stole my keys I don’t think I would be too worried as I don’t have my address printed on my key fob.

If they knew you there would be a problem wouldn’t there, not suggesting that will happen, but if you lose keys etc that is the point you don’t know!

the problem i see with key pads is that after a while the keys being used shown signs of useage. it doesn’t take long, or a genius, to puch around on those four or five keys till you get the correct sequence.

Hormann make garage doors, and a range of electric openers and key fobs to match. They also make receivers for the same key fobs that can activate other things. This opens up all sorts of possibilities.

When I get around to creating a gate in our back fence I’ll get one and wire it up to one of those magnetic locks you get in office buildings, so I can open the back gate without having to faff about with padlocks and bolts.

Mechanical combination door locks are ridiculously easy to get through – there’s even a special tool which you slide behind the face, give it a wiggle, and it pops open. Electronic ones attached to a proper solenoid deadbolt are much better, but you may well run into insurance problems as they’re not a 5-lever mortice.

Mortice locks are by far the hardest to pick. Cylinder locks vary from stupidly easy to a bit fiddly, but still pickable, often in seconds.

In reality, though, a thief will almost never bother with picking or getting through a locked door non-destructively.

Combination locks all have a very weak point– the cylinder,as ben says they are the easiest to get in, there are some anti-bump/hardened cylinders and furniture that will definately deter a casual burglar, which in reality is what your’e trying to do.

The old five lever is the one— why do you think insures insist on it !

The trouble with fingerprint locks is that all they need to open it is your finger… it need not be attached to you…

Fingerprint scanners can, depending on the type, be ridiculously easy to fool. What do you leave behind on the scanner when you use it? A fingerprint. Next person comes along and presses gently with a piece of waxed paper, and bingo.

More sophisticated techniques involve copying a print from somewhere else and etching it onto glue or even a wine gum.

The trouble with fingerprint locks is that all they need to open it is your finger… it need not be attached to you…

A fingerprint. Next person comes along and presses gently with a piece of waxed paper, and bingo.

More sophisticated techniques involve copying a print from somewhere else and etching it onto glue or even a wine gum.

Attended a talk on biometric security recently, the above has been true in the past, but isn’t so for modern systems. Also many “fingerprint” scanners aren’t looking at the print, but the pattern of veins in your finger, far harder to copy.

There are not many doors that resist a chainsaw!

Most thieves don’t bother picking locks, they find a spade / fork in a neighbours shed and then do this:

footflaps – Member

Key safes what old people have are also easily overcome to access the key or keys, big hammer and theyre open.

I’ve got one and you’d need an angle grinder to get into it – 5mm steel case – a hammer wouldn’t even dent it!

But held ontop the wal with two small screws usually, and a big hammer and jobs done.