Smart Lock Installation in New Haven, CT

Will your door take one?

Most smart locks replace a standard deadbolt that sits in a round bore through the door. That suits many postwar houses; roughly four in ten Connecticut homes were built between 1950 and 1979. Older doors differ. About one in five homes in the state dates from 1939 or earlier, and a door from then may still carry a mortise lock in a pocket cut into its edge. Fitting a bored smart deadbolt there can mean altering or reinforcing the door, so on a pre-war door ask first whether the original door can stay as it is.

Shared entries and rentals

In Newhallville and Dixwell, the multi-family worker housing near the old Winchester plant can have a shared front door as well as a door for each flat. Connecticut's two-to-four-unit housing also includes three-deckers, most commonly built in New England between 1870 and 1920. A smart lock on a shared entry changes access for every household, so someone has to manage a code for each unit and remove codes when a tenant leaves. Who controls that door is a question for the owner.

If you rent, check your lease and get the owner's written approval before changing any lock, including your own unit door.

Cold, batteries and outages

Cold weakens the batteries most smart locks run on, so a keypad that responds well in October can lag in February. Replace batteries before winter instead of waiting for the low-battery alert. Power outages are the other test: in the 2011 Halloween nor'easter, more than 700,000 Connecticut residents lost power, some for more than a week. A battery lock keeps locking and unlocking without house power, but app and Wi-Fi access stop with the router.

Choose a model with a mechanical key override, and keep that key somewhere you can reach from outside, such as with a neighbor, not on a hook by the door.

What to include in a request

• The current lock type (knob, deadbolt or mortise) and a photo of the door edge.
• Whether the door is a single-family entry, a unit door or a shared entry, and whether the owner has approved.
• The make and model if you have already bought the lock.

More on smart lock installation, lock replacement and New Haven.