Push Button Locks - how good are they and any recommendations?

Locknut

Don't trust the pushbutton locks they can easly be bypassed or decoded in seconds unless you spend £100's.
The best option would be to give her a garage key or similar and put a keysafe inside said garage.

like this one. http://www.google.co.uk/products?hl=en&expIds=17259,17311,24472,27147,27846,27955&xhr=t&q=master+key+safe&cp=10&safe=off&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=HiklTfPlJ4qEhQfp6qGTAg&sa=X&oi=product_result_group&ct=title&resnum=1&sqi=2&ved=0CDQQrQQwAA

wacko911

Get a house alarm. If she looses the key and someone uses it, the alarm will go off. Plus your house will be better protected and less of a target when it's empty. Maybe even a cheapy self install alarm?

I have used cheap push button locks (<£20 fleabay) on the back door and an internal workshop ( to keep wee hands out). The backdoor one was so it would latch shut and prevent anyone sneaking in the back door and stealing car keys, type of burglarlys and the standard 7 level dead lock used when house was empty. Like others have said the sequence of keypress reduces the possible combos to about 4000, but it would take a long time to go through them. I did try guessing/forcing type attack on the lock but couldnt find a way to reduce the time it takes to open it. (unlike the £30 combo laptop lock which I can open in less than 5 seconds no matter what the code is set to!).

The correct way if you have 2 doors is to have the weak door/lock on the outside and the strong door & lock on the inside. The theory is you hear them smashing through the first door only to be stopped/slowed down by the second, giving you time to get your shotgun call the police, trigger the panic alarm etc.. The exception being if they are hidden after getting through the first door they then have time to attack the second door without being seen.

I would say go with your original plan, anyone your daughter brings in with her and learns the code is going to be someone you trust anyhow and if the key does go walkies then change the lock.

wazza

wacko911 wrote: »

Get a house alarm. If she looses the key and someone uses it, the alarm will go off. Plus your house will be better protected and less of a target when it's empty. Maybe even a cheapy self install alarm?

....

I already have an alarm installed.

wazza

Locknut wrote: »

Don't trust the pushbutton locks they can easly be bypassed or decoded in seconds unless you spend £100's.
The best option would be to give her a garage key or similar and put a keysafe inside said garage.

like this one. http://www.google.co.uk/products?hl=en&expIds=17259,17311,24472,27147,27846,27955&xhr=t&q=master+key+safe&cp=10&safe=off&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=HiklTfPlJ4qEhQfp6qGTAg&sa=X&oi=product_result_group&ct=title&resnum=1&sqi=2&ved=0CDQQrQQwAA

The idea of key safe appeals to me, also easier to install.

Locknut

And the beauty is you keep your BS deadlock on so insurance is happy. its just a case of finding a good hiding place for the box. Also the combo can be changed in seconds.

MX5huggy

Give the girl the key, how old does she have to be to get a key to her home?

diable

Tie the key to a piece of string and drop it through the letterbox ;o)))))

muckybutt

I use the locks regularly, the high street stores I look after have them fitted to most of the internal staff doors, a monthly code change rules out folks getting used to the codes. As for pressing buttons until you get the code ? ha you're having a laugh theres 10'000s of combinations.

As for insurance purposes I wouldnt think your insurers would have a problem as all of the stores I visit have them fitted on the cash offices.

A key safe however is another good idea.

Locknut

Muckybutt it very much depends on what make the store have on. the ones shown in the op's post and the like can be opened in seconds without a combo.
its not a case of pushing buttons randomly but thats all I will say on an open forum.

muckybutt

The ones we use are codelocks.com or borglocks.com