Smart Lock and Keypad Door Lock Installation in Orlando, FL

Keypad deadbolt, Wi-Fi smart lock or electronic lever

Almost every keyless door lock we put on an Orlando home falls into one of three groups. They all open without a key, but they are managed differently, and the right one depends on the door and on who needs to get in.

A keypad deadbolt is the simplest keyless entry: a real deadbolt with a keypad on the outside, the codes stored in the lock, no app and no Wi-Fi. It suits a family that is done carrying keys, a garage side door or a back door that only the household uses. Codes are added and deleted at the keypad, and with no radio talking to your router the batteries last longer than a Wi-Fi lock's.

A Wi-Fi or Bluetooth smart lock adds the phone: codes created from anywhere, codes that only work on certain days, a log of who came in and an alert when the door is left unlocked. That is what hosts and people who travel want, and it is the lock behind most of our vacation rental locksmith work. It needs a usable signal at the door, and Wi-Fi models generally go through batteries faster, so the technician checks the signal before recommending one.

An electronic lever is a keypad built into a lever handle. It locks the latch, not a deadbolt, so on an exterior door it goes under a deadbolt rather than in place of one. It is the right tool for a home office, the door from the garage into the house, a pool equipment room or an owner's closet in a rental. On luxury homes in Windermere, Dr. Phillips and Lake Nona, owners often pair a decorative handleset with a matching smart keypad deadbolt in the same finish, and we install those and keep the finishes consistent across the house. Business doors are a different job, covered under access control for Orlando businesses.

Which locks hold up in Florida

Heat, humidity and a daily rain shower are hard on electronics mounted to a door. The models that last here have sealed keypads, a real deadbolt inside, and a battery compartment on the interior side. Schlage Encode is what we install most: built-in Wi-Fi, keypad, backup key, and one most HOA boards already know. Yale Assure suits people who want no key at all. August fits over the existing deadbolt, which keeps a landlord's key working. For a gate, a garage side door or a pool door, a plain keypad deadbolt with no app is often the better tool.

A west-facing door with no overhang gets a different recommendation than a shaded entry. The technician looks at the exposure, checks the Wi-Fi strength at the door, and then suggests a model, or installs the one you already bought.

Reading the spec sheet for Florida sun and humidity

Before you buy a keyless lock, find the operating temperature on the manufacturer's spec sheet and read both numbers. Schlage, for example, lists its Encode Wi-Fi deadbolt at -31°F to 150.8°F for the outside lock body and 14°F to 120.2°F for the inside lock body, the half that holds the batteries. Most people only check the outside figure, and the inside one is much narrower.

That matters on two kinds of Orlando door. A west-facing front door with no porch roof takes the late-afternoon sun straight on, so choose a lock whose outside rating is published and generous, and think about a small hood over the door. A door whose inside faces an unconditioned garage, rather than an air-conditioned hallway, puts the battery side in the heat as well. If a model's temperature range is not published at all, we would rather recommend one whose range is.

Humidity is the slower problem. Summer swells wood and composite doors, the bolt starts to rub on the strike, and a motorized deadbolt reports a jam or drains its batteries pushing against it. A lock that throws freely in January can struggle in August, which is why the strike is set so the bolt has a little clearance, and why a lock that starts to sound slower is worth a door check before it jams.

Vacation rentals and guest codes

Orlando has more short-term rentals than almost anywhere, and every one of them turns over on a lock. We install the locks hosts actually use, connect them to the host's app so codes can be set from anywhere, and set up the first guest codes together. A code that starts at check-in and ends at checkout means nobody keeps a key and the cleaner never waits on the porch.

When a code fails on a Friday night, the guest's problem becomes the host's problem. We open the door for a locked-out guest with the owner's or manager's authorization and fix the cause, whether that is dead batteries, a lock that lost its network, or a door that shifted. Hosts and managers with several doors in Kissimmee, Davenport or ChampionsGate get one number and a standing rate.

• Guest, cleaner and maintenance codes set up with you
• Auto-lock timing set so a door left open by a guest still locks
• Low-battery alerts turned on in the app before we leave

What installing a keypad or smart lock involves

Most exterior doors in American homes are prepped the same way: a 2-1/8 inch hole through the face of the door, a 1 inch hole in the edge for the bolt, and a backset of 2-3/8 or 2-3/4 inches from the edge to the center of the big hole. Nearly every keypad deadbolt and smart lock is made for that prep, which is why swapping an existing deadbolt for a keyless one is usually a short job.

The work around the lock is where installs go right or wrong. A door that only has a knob gets a deadbolt bored through the face and edge, plus a strike set into the frame. A thick custom door may need a thick-door kit or a different model. A double-bored door with a decorative handleset needs a keyless deadbolt that fits that handleset. And on every door the strike has to line up so the bolt slides all the way home without anyone lifting or leaning on the door.

A door that drags on the threshold or rubs the frame is fixed first. The technician tightens or replaces the hinge screws, often with a long screw through the top hinge into the framing to pull a sagging door back up, moves the strike if it needs it, and only then mounts the lock. If the lock keeps a key cylinder, it can be rekeyed to match your other doors on the same visit. The last step is the one people skip: throwing the bolt from the keypad and from the app, again and again, until it locks cleanly every time.

Door prep, batteries and when the Wi-Fi drops

A motorized bolt has to slide with no resistance or it drains the batteries, jams and throws errors. Most smart lock complaints trace back to a door that was slightly out of line when the lock went on. We adjust the strike and the hinges, then calibrate the lock and test the auto-lock with you before leaving.

Batteries last months, not years, and the lock warns you weeks ahead. Models with a cylinder still open with the backup key when the batteries die; many have contacts for a 9-volt battery to wake the keypad. When the Wi-Fi drops, the lock keeps working at the door: every code already stored still opens it, and only remote changes wait until the network is back. We show you both on install day.

Bring your own lock or let us supply one. If you bought a model that will not suit your door, the technician says so before the box is opened and quotes the right one instead.

Managing codes after we leave

A keyless lock is only as private as its codes. Give each person their own code instead of one family code, so you can delete the dog walker without changing everyone else's. Skip birthdays, the house number and 1234. Change codes when a roommate moves out or a contractor finishes, and if you bought a house that came with a keypad, reset it to factory settings: the builder, the previous owner or a past agent may still have a working code.

Keypad-only models are programmed at the door with a master or programming code, often printed on a label on the lock or in the manual. Keep that label somewhere other than a drawer by the front door, because whoever has it can add codes. App-based locks are managed from your phone; where the app allows it, add a second administrator so one lost phone does not lock you out of your own settings.

Wipe the keypad now and then. On a lock opened with the same code for years, worn or smudged buttons show which digits are in it. On install day the technician sets up the first codes with you and walks through adding, scheduling and deleting one before the van leaves.