If you’re a smart homeowner, then you probably know that smart locks are a crucial part of smart homes. They are easy to use as well as add more safety to your place. People usually have at least one smart lock in their place, which is mostly fixed on their front door. But, a house has other doors too, right? What about them? Especially that patio glass door at the backside of your house.
As these glass doors are the sliding ones, they are different from the other doors in your place. Once you slide them, they have a locking system with a latch. Any experienced burglar could easily break this mechanism. Not only that, but they’re probably the biggest glasswork in your home, which also adds concern regarding the security and safety of your place.
So, if you’re looking for some smart locks for your patio doors, then there are some things that you should keep in mind, before getting any. And these things are:
- Will the smart lock suit your current smart home system?
If your place is managed by Google Nest, Alexa, or some other smart system, then you would have to make sure that your smart lock connects with your smart home integration seamlessly.
- Will the smart lock add one more layer of protection to your patio door?
It is not hidden, that most of the time burglars break into the home through the Patio doors. The reason behind this is that the lock mechanism of these doors is less safe, hence they could be easily broken. That will not be an issue with smart locks.
- Will the smart lock provide you with extra automation and keyless entry?
I mean, it’s called smart lock for a reason, right?
But we still have to look for an ideal smart lock for your patio sliding doors. It seems no one has actually put some resources into making them. However, you’ll get a read as soon as they’re out in the market.
However, I won’t be leaving you hanging in here. In this read, we’ll discuss some smart products that’ll add another layer of protection and charm to your patio sliding doors.
Keyless Entry
When we talk about smart locks, the first thought that would come into someone’s mind would be a keyless entry. A lock that would unlock with Bluetooth or geofencing automatically would be a perfect one. So, for this perfect lock, you can go for a keypad lock option. Here’s our recommended one.
Lockey Surface Mount Hook Bolt
The Lockey 2500 will add another layer of protection to your patio door, along with providing you with a keyless entry. So, it’ll only unlock when someone puts the right key. So make sure, you’ve shared the key with your family and friends, who would be using this lock. Along with that, it also comes with 2 keys, one for locking and another for unlocking.
Even if keys are considered old-fashioned, it’s always good to have extra accessibility. These locks are made for the doors which include hook bolts such as sliding doors. Also, you get a lifetime warranty on them. They are also weather-resistant. They are easy to use, as you can change the code, whenever you want.
Even though this lock is not the ideal one, however, it’s convenient as it comes with a keyless entry and is a much safer functioning lock.
Automated Opening
As I’ve mentioned before, smart locks should also include some automation for your door. Alright, so the auto slide performs this function for you and in a much cooler style than you can imagine. Here’s the recommended one.
Autoslide AS01BC Automatic Patio Door Starter Kit
So in simple words, the auto slide for your patio door is simply a DIY method. But, it totally automates the sliding door, which means it’ll open and close your door for you, even without you touching the door. You can open the Autoslide using two ways, either with its remote or with infrared movement sensors.
So, if you want a genuine hands-free experience, you should get those motion sensors. Now, these Autoslides are suitable for doors that weigh around 200 pounds. They come with a DVD, which shows how you can install them, which makes installing them quite easy. They also have a two-year warranty.
So, if you’re planning to get one, then the warranty will be a relaxing point for you, as these are quite expensive. Also, if you have a pet in your house, then don’t worry, they have a product for pets too. The smart tag door operation provided by Autoslide lets your pet in and out, hands-free. You have to do nothing, at all.
This package includes an RFID tag which you should add to your pet’s collar. So when they are at a fixed distance from your doors such as 10 ft, 5 ft, or even 3ft, it’ll open automatically. This definitely makes your door more effective, however, it still lacks the integration feature to connect with your smart home system.
For now, Autoslide doesn’t support any voice assistant, hence you cannot control it with your phone. But that doesn’t make it less cool. It’s still efficient!
Additional Locks
One of the major concerns with your current sliding door is its lack of safety. It barely provides any protection. As the burglar only has to work with a screwdriver to break into your house. So, these doors are not efficient at all.
So, if you want to add a few heavier support to your door, you can simply combine an additional lock to it. Here’s the recommended one.
Cal Lock Smart Bolt Lock Sliding Door
This lock is an effective and easy way to add another bulky layer of protection to your sliding patio door. The Cal-Lock works with a double-bolt mechanism that connects seamlessly to your recent door. It has been experimented with to resist a force of over 1000 pounds. You can also use these locks if you have a french door.
They are extremely easy to install, and they come in black and white color to suit your door color. Well, this is not a smart one, for sure. But it’s an easy way to add heavy layer protection to your current door lock. So, if you’re only trying to get extra security for your home, then this could be one of your steps.
Motion Sensors
If your main objective is to add security, then you can simply get a motion sensor for your sliding door. The motion sensor alerts you when something occurs around your sliding door.
One of the best motion sensors is the Samsung SmartThings motion sensor. It can work with ZigBee, Z-Wave, Alexa, Google, and SmartThings interface protocols. Even though it’s not anything like a lock, it still helps you with adding another layer of security around your patio door.
You can also go for glass break sensors. However, in some cases, if the burglar knows about them, then they can overcome the glass break sensors easily. But the motion sensors aren’t that easy to overcome, particularly when the burglar doesn’t know it’s there.
Secure Locks For Andersen Patio Doors
These locks are the real smart locks. However, the problem is that they’re particularly made for Andersen-hinged doors. So, if your existing door isn’t the Andersen one, then it won’t work for you.
So, if you want to renew your patio doors, then you might want to think about this lock and these doors. You can either get a new one or you can retrofit this lock if you already have the Andersen doors. If you want to find more about it, contact your nearest Andersen dealer.
I hope this read helped you. Thanks for reading!
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