A home is a place which is supposed to provide comfort to people. It is a place to run to when one needs to feel a sense of security. In order to feel secure though, one has to feel safe as well. A safe home is a place which is meant to protect too. Safety, however, starts from what may seem as the simplest of things.
What better way is there then to start than by providing good locks for your home?
Choosing one for your home though can be quite daunting since there are so many kinds to choose from.
Below are some bits of information tat may help you decide on what kind of locks you’ll need for the best place on earth – your home.
Padlocks
Of all the locks that can be used, the only one that is portable and not permanently attached to a particular place is a padlock.
There is, however, a wide variety of padlocks to choose from. Besides having different sizes and shapes to choose from, padlocks also come with certain features that may better suit your need.
If you are the type who has the tendency to misplace things, or if you simply hate the inconvenience of having to bring things around, you may want to choose a combination lock instead of a keyed one. Unlike keyed locks, a combination lock eliminates the need for keys and instead, uses a combination of letters and numbers -or even both- in order to release or set the lock.
There are also rekeyable and non-rekeyable locks to choose from. Rekeyable locks remove the necessity of having to replace the whole locking mechanism in order to replace the locks. This may happen in situations when burglaries have taken place. For non-rekeyable locks, the whole locking mechanism has to be replaced so that the lock can provide the safety that it should be providing.
There are also key-retaining and nonkey-retaining locks. In key-retaining locks, the locks have to be set in place before the key can be pulled out. In nonkey-retaining locks, the keys can be pulled out of the locking mechanism without having to activate the lock.
A disadvantage of padlocks is that they may be easily broken down or destroyed by tools such as hammer or bolt cutters. Some padlocks now are designed with shrouded shackles so that the padlocks are not easily made accessible to tools that may destroy them.
Cam Locks
Cam locks are discretely placed on items, usually on pieces of furniture, to protect your belongings during storage. In terms of aesthetics, they are conspicuously hid so they don’t serve as eye sores on wherever they are placed.
Cam locks are cylindrical in shape and are usually installed in wooden parts of closets or cabinets. A metal plate with a hole is placed on the other side of the closet, or piece of furniture, in order to receive the fin coming from the cam lock.
Cylinder Locks
Cylinder locks follow the standard lock and key design that one usually imagines of locks. They come with a keyhole with a specially designed mechanism, all in one cylinder.
Pins within the mechanism need to be arranged in a certain position in order to be unlocked. The key is specifically designed to match the pattern of keys in the lock’s mechanism. The cylinder may be either euro or oval-shaped. They may also have single or double cylinders.
For those with single cylinder, keys may be used on only one side of the lock. For those with double cylinders, keys are used on either side of the locking mechanism.
Deadbolt Locks
Amongst all types of locks, the one that can probably be considered as the best in terms of efficiency is the deadbolt lock. They probably are the best locks to be used on doors where security is of utmost importance.
Deadbolts may be locked using thumb-turn locks in order to activate the entire locking mechanism. They are also pretty sturdy. They are not easily destroyed or tampered with so they are perfect to use on the main door of your household.
There are two main kinds of deadbolt locks, although there are many variations now available as well. However, the more common ones are the single deadbolts and the double deadbolts.
Single deadbolts can be locked from one side of the lock with the use of either a key or a thumbturn locks. A double deadbolt can be locked on both sides of the mechanism using either a key or a combination of a key and thumbturn locks.
Knob Locks
Homeowners usually make the mistake of using doorknobs with locks, otherwise known as knob locks, for the main doors of their homes.
Although these are often used in a combination with deadbolts, they are not considered to be a good combination for external doors.
The main mechanism f these locks are often attached to the knob and not to the door itself. The locking mechanism can then be easily disassembled and removed once the doorknobs are removed from the door itself.
For main doors, simple passage locks may probably be a better option to use in combination with a deadbolt.
Mortise Locks
These locks are usually installed on door edges ad not on its sides as with other locks. A pocket is cut in to the door to accommodate the lock while another is placed the door frame as a place for the receiving plate. Two to seven levers can activate the lock. The more levers activated, the more secure the lock becomes.
Euro profile Cylinders
These locks are also known as “din cylinders”. They are widely used in Europe and in North America. They are often used on sliding doors and room dividing doors. Although they come in a standard form, they do come in different varieties. They can be either single cylinder, double cylinder, or single cylinder with a thumb-turn lock on one side and a locking cylinder on the other.
While length of these locks may vary, the rest of the dimensions are pretty standard.
A single screw found in the middle of the cylinder usually holds this lock in place. If not attached well, ot if not properly reinforced, these locks may easily come out of place or be dislodged. In order for them to be truly effective, proper installation procedures should be followed always.
Night Latch
Night latches are locks where all mechanisms are installed on the door’s surface, including the receiving plate. A thumbturn lock is located on one side of the door, while a key is used to lock or unlock the mechanism on the other side. A night latch operates pretty much in the same manner as a deadbolt with the only difference being on the location of the main mechanism and receiving plate.
Furniture Locks
When talking about furniture locks, you would probably be talking about a wide spectrum of locks. They may, as what their name implies, be found in many types of furniture. However, there are two basic styles which are associated with furniture locks They are either bolt styles or push button styles.
Bolt style locks are more often used on desks, cabinet and drawers, although this is, of course, not their main use or purpose. They usually have a piece of flat metal that comes out on the side which sets the lock in place.
Push button style furniture locks are more frequently found on filing cabinets and sliding doors. A retractable rod goes in and out of the mechanism in order to get activated. The lock itself serves as a button that activates the locking mechanism whenever it gets pushed.
Sash Lock
A sash lock is made up of two components. These are a built-in sprung lock that is non-locking ad a deadbolt lock that gets activated when the provided key is used on it.
By just a turn of the handle, the sprung lock keeps the door closed without necessarily locking it. The deadbolt provides the actual locking mechanism with the use of the key.
FAQs
What is the best type of front door lock?
In order to determine the best type of front door lock for your home, you would first have to determine the type of building you plan to install the lock on. You also will have to consider the type of door that you will be using.
Wooden door types will have a different lock requirement as compared to doors made from PVC or composite. Wooden doors also usually require at least two kinds of front door locks.
Building codes and regulations usually set different escape requirements and it is these set of requirements that determine the types of locks that can be used for a particular building type. An apartment building, for example, will have a different lock requirement as compared to a house.
It would probably be best to consult with a vetted and experienced locksmith as he should be in a better position to give recommendations. He would also be in a better position to fit the locks to make sure that they are properly installed.
What can you recommend for wooden doors and how many locks should be placed on them?
For wooden doors, it would be best to install either a night latch, a mortise deadlock or a mortise sash lock.
Generally speaking, it would be best to place two locks on wooden doors. An example would be a combination of a non-tested night latch and any other kind of tested lock. Take caution though in using non-tested locks as they may not actually be providing you with a locking mechanism that works properly.
There are different locks for different types of doors and situations.
Knowing what lock is best for a given door is needed, especially when you talk about keeping you, your home and most especially your loved ones safe. After all, it is your home. It is where security should be of paramount importance.