Last week my neighbor locked herself out of her loft. With no spare key stashed somewhere in the building, it was locksmith time. 100.00 dollars and 45 minutes later she was back inside her place. This got me to looking into keyless entry systems for my place. I haven’t locked myself out yet, but it’s only a matter of time.

After spending the morning searching the Internet, I found what looks like a solid solution for me. The Schlage Touchscreen Deadbolt, an electronic lock that is smartphone ready, and can be installed in less than an hour with no modifications to the door. The lock system allows you to store up to 30 PIN numbers, which can be enabled and disabled as needed. There is also an auto lock feature that will lock the door 30 seconds after it has been disarmed, and the door closed.

For added secu­ri­ty the dead bolt motor con­tains an audi­ble alarm. In the event some­one enters a PIN incor­rect­ly 4-times, the lock is tam­pered with, or if there is sig­nif­i­cant force placed on the door. The alarm will sound with audible beeps that get louder over time. I don’t think it would prevent a break in, but it might let your neighbors know something is up. The alarm can also be set to emit two audible beeps when the door is opened, alerting you to activity at your front door.

The cost of the lock runs about 200 bucks on Amazon, or about double the cost of one visit from the locksmith.