Electronic door lock is safe?

[JoneQ]

If fire breaks out, the electronic door lock will be melted? If happen, it will be dangerous. People in the house will be trapped.
My neighbor installed an electronic door lock. My wife wants to replace our old door lock.
But I am very worried!! Electronic door lock is safe? Is it worth buying?

 

[Nanren888]

Generally electrical doors are done not with an electronic lock, but with an electric strike, the side that is in the wall.
As with all things, there are two types. Some fail/power off open and some default to locked.

 

[Martaine2005]

I doubt it would cause a trapped scenario. Plastic melting point is 200-300 degrees C. Wood burning point is apprx 300 degrees C. Aluminium is about 650-700 degrees C. Steel is 1300-1600 etc.
One would hope the occupants were out long before these temperatures.

Martin

 

[ChosunOne]

If a fire melts a door lock, then the fire at that door is pretty intense, so that door is not a way out anyway---because it's already vigorously ablaze, and it doesn't matter if it melted an electronic lock or a mechanical lock (which is just as susceptible to melting).

As Nanren said, electronic door strikes come in two flavors: "Fail-safe" (unlocks when power fails) and "Fail-secure" (locks when power fails). In homes, Fail-safe is almost always used, and you need a battery backup in case of power outage, so it doesn't leave your home unsecure.

 

[Tha fios agaibh]

I've got electronic locks which have the electronics on the outside and locking mechanism which opens mechanically from the inside. Kind of like how you can open your car door from the inside with a dead battery.
If it's an electrical striker it should default open on power loss according to fire code.

 

[mrgrtt123]

I am not that sure since there will always be a pro and con on everything.

Electronic door locks rely heavily on technology, and technology doesn't always work according to plan, there is a possibility that the lock will encounter an error and not respond to your phone or remote.

Most electronic door locks come with a manual lock that you can open using a key, providing you with an alternative way to get in should the software encounter issues.

 

[Nanren888]

I am not that sure since there will always be a pro and con on everything.

Most electronic door locks come with a manual lock that you can open using a key, providing you with an alternative way to get in should the software encounter issues.

I suspect that's the driver for electric strikes.In the simple case, you have a standard lock with the ability to operate without power. The strike simply allows it to open without the manual lock opening.
A little different if you want deadbolts.

 

[HellasTechn]

If fire breaks out, the electronic door lock will be melted? If happen, it will be dangerous. People in the house will be trapped.
My neighbor installed an electronic door lock. My wife wants to replace our old door lock.
But I am very worried!! Electronic door lock is safe? Is it worth buying?

It is always a good idea to be able to operate things manually. Can you figure out a way to manually bypass the electronic lock from inside? For example to attatch some small mechanism that will allow you to pull open the doors latch in case of emergency or failure while use the electronic lock under normal circumstances?

There you go, like this :

Electronic door locks rely heavily on technology, and technology doesn't always work according to plan, there is a possibility that the lock will encounter an error and not respond to your phone or remote.

 

[Bluejets]

Electronic locks are largely for use in things like hospitals and government offices etc. to keep the public from certain areas with access via rfid tags for ease of employee entry.
In these, the doors open automatically by power down during any fire alarm situation.
I can't think of any need for one in a domestic situation.
All sound like a "keeping up with the Jones's" situation.