Smart Lock Installation in Erie, PA

Will a smart lock fit an Erie door?

Most smart locks are made to replace a standard deadbolt in a door already bored for one, which covers most doors hung in recent decades. Older doors take more planning, and Erie has many: 2024 Census Bureau estimates date 43 percent of its homes to 1939 or earlier. An original door from that era may carry a mortise lock, may be thicker or thinner than a modern slab, or may have extra holes from past hardware. A few smart locks are designed for mortise doors; otherwise the door needs boring for a deadbolt, a real change to a period door you plan to keep. Send photos of both faces and the edge so the fit can be checked before anything is ordered.

Shared houses and rentals

In a house split into apartments, the kind of conversion East Bayfront's 2020 neighborhood plan discusses, a smart lock on the street door changes access for every household, so that is the owner's call. Renters should get the landlord's approval in writing and plan to hand over codes and any keys at move-out. The article Pennsylvania landlord-tenant lock changes covers whether a tenant can change the locks.

One city policy narrows the options further. For a rooming house converted into dwelling units, City of Erie zoning policy allows only passage (non-locking) locks on bedroom doors, so a keypad or smart lock that locks a bedroom door in such a building does not fit that policy. This is general information, not legal advice.

Cold, snow and batteries

According to NOAA's Pennsylvania summary, lake-effect snow reaches the state's northwest corner, where Erie sits. Cold cuts battery output, so a lock that ran all summer may warn of low power in January.

• Change batteries in the fall instead of waiting for the warning, using the type the manufacturer specifies.
• Choose a model built for outdoor cold, and keep drifting snow and ice off an exterior keypad; a storm door or an overhang helps.
• Keep a working mechanical key, and leave a copy with a neighbor or family member rather than hidden by the door.

A smart lock with dead batteries and no key override is a lockout waiting to happen. More on smart lock installation and the Erie page.