Smart Lock Installation in Hartford, CT

Does your Hartford door suit a smart lock?

Most smart deadbolts are made for a door already drilled for a standard deadbolt, so look at the door before you buy. Blue Hills houses range from large Tudors to modest capes, and Southwest's Colonial Revival and Cape Cod houses date from the 1940s to the 1960s, so the house style alone will not tell you how a door is drilled. Older doors are harder. South Green's 19th-century homes and the West End's houses from the early 1900s may still have mortise locks, and about one in five Connecticut homes predates 1940. Fitting a standard smart deadbolt to a mortise door can mean altering an original door, so look for a model made for mortise locks or one that mounts over the existing deadbolt on the inside.

Approvals in shared buildings

In Asylum Hill's apartment buildings, the main entrance belongs to the building, so a keypad there is the owner's decision. For your unit door, get the landlord's written approval first. In an Upper Albany two-family, a shared front hall door affects both households, so both should agree on codes and on who manages them.

Under Conn. Gen. Stat. § 47a-16, a landlord may enter for inspections or repairs with reasonable notice, so plan how the landlord will get in before replacing a unit lock. Under § 47a-7b, a tenant covered by a court protective or restraining order who asks for new locks may get a new entry code on a digital lock instead. This is general information, not legal advice.

Batteries and outages

Batteries lose capacity in the cold, so an outdoor keypad can respond slowly on a subzero morning. Replace them each fall rather than waiting for a warning.

In the 2011 Halloween nor'easter, more than 700,000 Connecticut residents lost power, some for more than a week. A battery-powered lock keeps working, but a Wi-Fi bridge, app access and remote codes may not. If the lock has a key override, keep that key on you or with a neighbor, never hidden by the door.

What to send

Send a photo of the door face and edge, the current lock type, whether you own or rent, and the model if you already bought one. See smart lock installation, lock replacement or the Hartford page.