10 things to consider before purchasing a digital door lock

 

There are so many different types of coded door locks available on the market, that it's sometimes hard to know which one is best for your application. Digital door locks are either mechanical or electronic in operation. A basic mechanical push-button door lock can cost anything upwards of £30 whereas a top of the range digital electronic lock can cost several hundred pounds.

Before purchasing a digital keyless door lock it's worthwhile examining where and how it will be used and what features you'd like it to have. To help make the selection process easier, we've come up with a list of 10 questions you should ask yourself before you buy one of our keypad code locks.
 

How often will the lock be used? Is it for high or low volume usage?

This is particularly important, because if you expect a high level of traffic in and out of the door at all times of the day, you'll need a much more robust lock than one that's only going to be used occasionally.
 

Is the lock for an internal or external door?

If the lock is for an external door, then again it needs to be more robust than a digital lock designed for internal use.
 

What is the door made of? Wood, aluminium or glass?

You'll need a lock suitable for the material of the door.
 

Do you need a knob handle or a lever handle on the lock?

A knob handle is more suited to internal doors where the lock isn't used very often, whereas a lever handle can be used for a wider variety of high-use applications.
 

Do you need a keypad on both sides of the door?

This is called a 'back-to-back' facility and it's useful when you want to restrict access both in and out of the door.
 

Do you need a 'hold open' facility?

This allows the lock to remain open for free entry without having to enter the code and it's useful if you need free access during the day.
 

What finish do you require? How often will you need to change the code?

For locks in public areas, we recommend that you change the access code regularly. It's much easier to re-code an electronic digital lock, as you don't have to remove it from the door to change the access code.
 

Do you want the door to lock automatically when it's shut? If so, then you'll need a digital lock with a spring-loaded mortice latch. Do you require access with a key?

This is known as a combination lock where you can unlock the door using the access code on the keypad or by using the key override feature. This feature is useful if you have staff members that need to be able to access every digital door lock in the building with a single key.

 

We hope that by asking these questions you have a clearer idea of your requirements, but if you still need to ask a question then our technical support team would be more than happy to help. 

 

 

09, Aug 2012