I am ordering a new Smart Door Deadbolt Lock with Key for our vacation house and my previous research on this forum has recommended these 2 brands as the best. However, even with these brands, I am overwhelmed with the choices on technology. Given my setup below, can you help?
Eero Pro 6 for Wifi
Hubitat
Ring for Door Sensors, Keypad, Motion Sensor (Not necessarily using monitoring service)
Econet Z-Wave Shutoff Valve
Between Yale and Schlage, which do you suggest?
Within Yale, they have to choose from 1 of 3 technologies:
Wifi and Bluetooth
Z-Wave Plus
Zigbee
Which do you suggest?
As far as your lock goes, I have been very happy with my Yale Zigbee locks. That being said, I'd recommend adding a few zigbee line-powered devices (like smart plugs or dedicated repeates) as repeaters to strengthen your zigbee mesh. I would also suggest doing the same on the z-wave side to ensure your water shutoff is as reliable as possible.
I agree with Zigbee locks as they have been much less hassle BUT have not had any experience with the 700 Z-Wave Series so can't say anything about those.. I have both Yale and Kwikset locks and they have been reliable and decent as to battery life.
edit: the other consideration is physical buttons vs touch screen. I actually have and like both - touch screen has held up well over the last couple of years. Family prefers physical buttons so prefer those slightly more.
There are a number of people who have Z-Wave Plus locks that are completely happy with them so I think either solution can work. With Z-Wave you might have a few additional hoops to jump through if things don't work right out of the gate.. Also Z-Wave might be cheaper as well.
Both zigbee and z-wave form mesh networks. Hubitat is capable of working with both protocols, but you’ll need to understand a little about how to build out solid meshes for each. These pages of the hub documentation should help.
Since this is a vacation home, the primary concern should be with security. In the USA locks are evaluated by ANSI for security.
ANSI Grade 3 locks are OK for interior doors, locking a home office or apartments in a multi-family dwelling. They are not ideal for exterior doors.
ANSI Grade 2 II locks are suitable for most residential applications. Most Smart Lock are Type II, including Kwikset and Yale.
The most secure locks are ANSI Type I. The Schlage smart locks meet Grade 1 security requirements. That is what I purchased for my own home. It is also what I would recommend for a vacation home that is unoccupied much of the time.
Another option is the August lock which utilizes your own deadbolt, so that lock will be as secure (or not) as your deadbolt.
As for the choice between communications protocol, that is up to you. My Schlage is Z-wave. Z-wave can be tricky to pair with Hubitat. Unless the lock is a few feet away from your hub, you are likely to need a Z-wave range extender/repeater. For security reasons, a lock passes a lot of data between the lock and the hub, more so that most sensors and actuators. For that reason a stable connection is paramount.
I used to have Schlage locks and replaced with Yales. I like the yales. I have both physical buttons and touch screens. The physical buttons are better if you’re hands are gloved (lock is on my shed). Ironically the Yale Zwave (non-plus) has been more reliable for me over the years. The two takes that replaced my old Schlage’s show similar (yet not as bad) issues as my Schlage’s did with inconsistent message loss between them and the hub. all are Zwave. I keep waiting/hoping an eventual Zwave plus lock driver will fix the issues. I never had issues with any locks back in my ST days using the rboy drivers/app.
Personally, I won’t buy kwikset locks. As a bit of a lockpicking hobbiest, their cores are pretty poor. All but one of my yales are keyless. They have external 9v contacts to power the lock if the battery dies. Indeed, Schlage makes the better cores. Yale cores are also quite good.
Honestly, buy the style you like and features you like. 99% of criminals will not pick a lock, drill it, etc. they’ll break a window. Picking a new to you lock takes infinitely longer than smashing a window. Locks are deterrents… same goes for bike locks. Most thief’s are just going to cut/break the cable/lock rather than bothering to pick it.
I just ordered U-Tec Ultraloq Pro Z-Wave lock. (Feb. 12, 2022). Should take about a week to get here and then I’ll report back. I went with this one due to its many ways to lock/unlock including a fingerprint reader, code, keys, and app (It also has auto-unlock and the “magic shake” which I probably won’t enable. With the magic shack you literally shack your cell phone and it is supposed to unlock).
I also like that it comes with a door sensor to prevent it from trying to lock if the door is open/ajar as it also has auto-lock.
I also liked that it has a 1 touch lock button and battery port in case the batteries die and you are away (but then again, also has a hidden regular key too which I believe is a Schlage). It is ANSI 1 which is good too.
Just BTW, I had a Passivebolt Shepherd lock that was a disaster. Myriad of problems and when bolt locked up they acknowledged my support ticket but I never got a response after that. I happened to be in Ann Arbor, where they are located, but address is just a mailbox and attendant refused to try to contact them for me in any way.
all are Zwave. I keep waiting/hoping an eventual Zwave plus lock driver will fix the issues. I never had issues with any locks back in my ST days using the rboy drivers/app.
