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Best Zigbee Door Locks


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I am getting ready to add zigbee door locks to my house. The last time I did this was back in 2008 and we used Baldwin locks with C4. I was very happy with their performance but not with the keypad buttons that eventually faded in color and the numbers wore off.

In terms of size/appearance, long term durability of the finish and of the keypads, what does everyone recommend today?

I am only thinking of those options that have C4 zigbee direct integration. If I should be thinking different here, please give me your thoughts.

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On 6/6/2020 at 4:19 AM, C4 User said:

I am getting ready to add zigbee door locks to my house. The last time I did this was back in 2008 and we used Baldwin locks with C4. I was very happy with their performance but not with the keypad buttons that eventually faded in color and the numbers wore off.

In terms of size/appearance, long term durability of the finish and of the keypads, what does everyone recommend today?

I am only thinking of those options that have C4 zigbee direct integration. If I should be thinking different here, please give me your thoughts.

We have the Yale Zigbee locks with physical buttons, and they have all been very reliable and durable.  I think the Yale locks with the touchscreens (not the physical buttons) are a little more prone to failure.  One other non-C4 related tip -- most of these Zigbee/Z-wave locks have pretty crappy (i.e., easily picked) physical locking mechanisms.  We had a locksmith replace the cylinders inside all our Yale Zigbee locks with more secure physical locks. It was quick and easy to do; he didn't seem fazed by the electronic components. Plus, if you have a bunch of locks, you can put them all on a single key in this step.

 

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I have Yale in two homes all with touchscreens.   The touchscreens have functionally worked perfect but if one is in direct high UV area sunlight I have had one fade.   Yale replaced it though without much fuss.

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44 minutes ago, Don Cohen said:

Another vote for Kwikset.  I have 3 of the model linked to above, and haven't had any problems with them.  The touchpad works fine, although we actually open them mostly via programming elsewhere.

Don - just to clarify on your response.  You were able to get the  Kwikset 99160-009 working in C4?

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1 hour ago, zaphod said:

Would this look work with Control4 - Kwikset 99160-009 SmartCode ZigBee https://www.amazon.ca/Kwikset-99160-009-SmartCode-Touchscreen-Featuring/dp/B01F8QCC3I

The 916 is a supported model, but like all Zigbee locks they have to have the right card in them from Control4, means purchasing the lockset from a Control4 dealer not Amazon.

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1 hour ago, zaphod said:

Don - just to clarify on your response.  You were able to get the  Kwikset 99160-009 working in C4?

My locks were purchased through Control4.  I don't know how or if the Amazon variant is different (other than the price! 😉 )

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I have 2 of the Yale Touchscreen locks and 2 Kwikset locks all on Control4.  The 2 Yale locks are protected due to covered porches - front and back.  1 of the Kwiksets is exposed to the elements in Southern Texas so the heat wears on the finish.  I've seen a Yale lock do the same.

I personally like the Yale locks better since they respond to C4 much faster.  There is a slight delay on the Kwiksets.  

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14 minutes ago, SY3 said:

The ones from Amazon won't work with Control4.  Not the same Zigbee stack.

OK, but what does the C4 compatible Zigbee stack add so much to the price?  Almost tripling the price in this instance.

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4 minutes ago, zaphod said:

OK, but what does the C4 compatible Zigbee stack add so much to the price?  Almost tripling the price in this instance.

I've had dealers tell me the same thing.  They don't understand why C4 sets the price so high on these.  I don't like it myself and even had my Yale zigbee card go bad once (very rare for this to happen).  Thankfully it was still under warranty and they replaced it immediately for me.  

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Have 4 Baldwin Locks installed since 2009, zero issues with them and reliable.   Have 2 Yale locks for outside gates access to backyard.  They have also worked well and easy for service providers (pool, landscapers, etc) to access with their unique codes.

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I'm looking to upgrade my 2GIG alarm system to Qolsys IQ Panel 2+, which can be integrated with C4.  The Qolsys panel also supports Z-wave smart locks and I would be able to lock/unlock through Alarm.com if I maintain that service.

My question is can I control the Qolsys Z-wave locks through the integrated C4 driver or not?  I'm deciding whether I should use the C4 ZigBee version instead.

Thanks,

Dino

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On 6/9/2020 at 9:42 AM, zaphod said:

So the Zigbee 916 lock is US$145 on Amazon, but US$400 from a C4 dealer?  Do I have that right?

They cost more because there are 2 middle men added to the sale. Control4 and your Dealer.

I suspect Control4 is buying for about the same cost as Amazon sells them for, plus the added cost of the different Zigbee card and development, plus support and warranty overhead by Control4, plus the dealer's markup to you for his warranty and support and overhead.

The other business model would end up costing the same. You buy the lock, and dealer sells you the card. The dealer and Control4 have to profit on the deal to cover their support, liability overhead, so it's going to be a damn expensive card. Then the conversation becomes "How come the card costs $250 and the locks only $150, can't cost $20 to make the card"

 

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4 hours ago, dinom said:

I'm looking to upgrade my 2GIG alarm system to Qolsys IQ Panel 2+, which can be integrated with C4.  The Qolsys panel also supports Z-wave smart locks and I would be able to lock/unlock through Alarm.com if I maintain that service.

My question is can I control the Qolsys Z-wave locks through the integrated C4 driver or not?  I'm deciding whether I should use the C4 ZigBee version instead.

Thanks,

Dino

Consider your zwave/zigbee coverage also before picking a flavor. Without adequate signal neither work well. So if you have Control4 lights and such, or sufficient controller placement, than Zigbee will likely prove more reliable than a limited zwave deployment.

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24 minutes ago, RAV said:

They cost more because there are 2 middle men added to the sale. Control4 and your Dealer.

I suspect Control4 is buying for about the same cost as Amazon sells them for, plus the added cost of the different Zigbee card and development, plus support and warranty overhead by Control4, plus the dealer's markup to you for his warranty and support and overhead.

The other business model would end up costing the same. You buy the lock, and dealer sells you the card. The dealer and Control4 have to profit on the deal to cover their support, liability overhead, so it's going to be a damn expensive card. Then the conversation becomes "How come the card costs $250 and the locks only $150, can't cost $20 to make the card"

 

Does there have to be two middle men?

Why is this so different than buying other third party products, like an Echo Dot, or a Hue light bulb, which, although not a proprietary C4 product, works as a device in my C4 system.  I can buy an Echo Dot for $50 and the manufacturer, Amazon assumes warranty, support, etc?  Same think with lots of other third party devices?  The only difference that I can think of is that the lock uses Zigbee as opposed to Wifi or ethernet.  I may pay for a driver but I am not paying large markups.

 

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On 6/9/2020 at 11:23 AM, zaphod said:

OK, but what does the C4 compatible Zigbee stack add so much to the price?  Almost tripling the price in this instance.

Compare c4 lighting to other zigbee or zwave lighting you can buy at a big box store. Also 3x cost if not higher 

It’s the business model 

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On 6/10/2020 at 11:19 PM, zaphod said:

Does there have to be two middle men?

Why is this so different than buying other third party products, like an Echo Dot, or a Hue light bulb, which, although not a proprietary C4 product, works as a device in my C4 system.  I can buy an Echo Dot for $50 and the manufacturer, Amazon assumes warranty, support, etc?  Same think with lots of other third party devices?  The only difference that I can think of is that the lock uses Zigbee as opposed to Wifi or ethernet.  I may pay for a driver but I am not paying large markups.

 

Yes, this one is exaggerating and doesn't make any sense, same lock, $30 C4 module is not adding any reliability to anything just the price tag x4 times, I went a very risky way, I bought a Z-wave model from ebay @ $100 and added a C4 Zigbee module for $50 at that time and worked!  Risky cause you have to have the firmware of the lock at certain release otherwise it worn't work 100% and will not report battery level!

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