UPDATE: well, I've belatedly realised I've left out a key piece of information. I need to buy a pair of locks - one for a regular wooden entrance door, and one for a security screen door in front of it.
Turns out hardly anyone (reputable) makes a decent smart lock for screen doors, except the Yale Unity range, but those aren't Z-Wave compatible.
Guess we're sticking with keys for a while longer...
Hey folks - the time's come for me to consider diving into smart locks.
I've been running HA for many years now, and have resisted the urge so far, but a few recent incidents have me thinking smart locks are the next upgrade I need to think of.
My requirements, equal in priority, are:
- Must be usable via HA (automating my locks is the primary reason I'm considering this move)
- Key lock backup (I'm petrified of flat batteries stopping me from entering)
- Ability for HA to report on battery level (see above)
- Local network only (prefer IP, but will consider Z-Wave - anything that calls home in the cloud is a hard no)
- Code and/or fingerprint entry (unique code per person, at least 6 codes)
I say "consider Z-Wave" as I don't currently utilise any Z-Wave devices. The main reason for this is that I run HA (Home Assistant) on a (heh!) HA (high availability) Proxmox setup, and I hadn't sat down to think through how that would work with a Z-Wave USB hub across two nodes.
But, after some cursory research, it seems there's enough options out there that will let me control Z-Wave remotely via MQTT, so I can use one of my RasPis to host a Z-Wave hub just fine.
There's been plenty of positive comments on other posts regarding Schlage's locks, so I'll probably start my research there. But I'm very keen to hear of anyone's experiences with any smart lock brands - good or bad - to help guide my research.
While I'm at it, I'm open to recommendations on a Z-Wave hub. I have zero Z-Wave experience, but I gather it's reasonably straightforward to use. Simple enough requirements:
- Usable on a RasPi running Rasbian
- Decent enough range - has to reach the smart locks through a couple of internal walls, from the garage to the front door (about 6m/20ft)
Cheers in advance for any advice offered!
I can't speak to the quality of actual locksets or recommended any products, but LockPickingLawyer on YouTube has a number of short videos discussing smart locks. My impression is most of them are trash at just being a lock. The ones made by traditional lockset manufacturers probably aren't generally good at being smart, but I've been wrong about major brands' commitment to open standards before.
Assuming you can find a decent lock that talks Z-Wave, I think you're on the right track with Zwave2MQTT and a USB dongle. I'd be squeamish about using a Pi specifically in a mission critical security control system for a couple of reasons (reliability, complexity, WiFi interference), but as long as you have keyed backup, it'll probably be OK.
I'll leave it to others to recommend the locks, but as I mentioned in another post her, most battery operated Z-Wave devices, in my experience, report their battery life. Most of mine seem to go from 100% to 70% to dead in about a day though, so accuracy might be hit & miss.
Maybe just leave one door with an old school keyed lockset as a plan B.
Yeah, I’m aiming at quality lock over quality smart. As long as I can get remote lock/unlock going, the smarts will be built into my HA/Node-RED automations.
Good point re keyed lock. I won’t be changing my back door locks, so can always jump a fence if I get desperate.