Battery life for these units is supposed to be years. It doesn't actually move the deadbolt, it just engages and disengages. You have to turn the deadbolt by hand. I’ve had it installed for over a year with its original battery and still no warning that it’s low.
Schlage Z-wave door lock
- Thread starter DeLicious
- Start date
Battery life for these units is supposed to be years. It doesn't actually move the deadbolt, it just engages and disengages. You have to turn the deadbolt by hand. I’ve had it installed for over a year with its original battery and still no warning that it’s low.
wuench
Senior Member
I have some of the old kwiksets that do move the lock and they run down quickly. This does seem like a much better design. I was actually considering the non-zwave versions to replace my kwiksets. And this lock has me considering zwave again as my Insteon replacement. Since Zwave doesn't have status updates, I am wondering if you'll be able to tell if the locks are locked or if you can only control them.
drozwood90
Senior Member
You are saying, that all that happens for this model is the locking mechanism is on or off. That is, from the outside, you can manually slide the deadbolt in and out, or that feature is disabled?
--Dan
drozwood90
Senior Member
I might be interested in your lock. I'm looking for the HS system itself to be able to move the deadbolt. I thought I would just use a joint power connector to allow the power to get through when the door is closed.
--Dan
Rupp
Senior Member
I'm not sure about the ELK Z-Wave interface but the next beta release of HomeSeer will work with these locks - both the dead bolts and "normal" locks found here:
http://www.homeseer.com/support/newsletter...cement-back.htm
I can't wait. Finally a way to be alerted if the doors are not locked when we go to bed. The whole house audio will pleasently alert us to the fact that the doors are not secure.
housecontrols
Member
I know first hand the lock works very well.
You can change codes. You can be notified if someone enters a code. You can delete codes. It's pretty darn good. The lock that is. The Schlage bridge is pretty plain on features. They sort of went backwards in technology there. Kinda like plain wrap. Remenber the Blue stripe stuff. Vera works the lock and I hear Homeseer will be soon.
I ran into some stumbling blocks although.
What Schlage does not tell us is that only certain Zwave devices can Wake the lock and comunicate with it.
This can be a problem is the controller is not within range of the lock. Zwave is a Mesh technology but only certain Zwave devices can pass along commands to communicate directly with the lock. Those that can are the ACT module that Schlage sells , the new trane thermostat and a compliant controller like Schlage link or Vera. I have heard as time goes on more and more devices will have this feature. The work around is simple just have the last device in the route to the lock be one that supports the "beam" . That's it.
You can change codes. You can be notified if someone enters a code. You can delete codes. It's pretty darn good. The lock that is. The Schlage bridge is pretty plain on features. They sort of went backwards in technology there. Kinda like plain wrap. Remenber the Blue stripe stuff. Vera works the lock and I hear Homeseer will be soon.
I ran into some stumbling blocks although.
What Schlage does not tell us is that only certain Zwave devices can Wake the lock and comunicate with it.
This can be a problem is the controller is not within range of the lock. Zwave is a Mesh technology but only certain Zwave devices can pass along commands to communicate directly with the lock. Those that can are the ACT module that Schlage sells , the new trane thermostat and a compliant controller like Schlage link or Vera. I have heard as time goes on more and more devices will have this feature. The work around is simple just have the last device in the route to the lock be one that supports the "beam" . That's it.
macromark
Active Member
Correct. Our first beta was posted to our message board today - FYI
The locks use the new Z-Wave 'beaconing' technology which allows them to "sleep" until a beacon packet (for lack of a better term) wakes them up. This is essential since the locks are battery powered and need to conserve energy, when they're not being accessed. To use this technology, the locks must be in direct range of a compatible controller (or PC interface, such as the HomeSeer SmartStick (with latest firmware) or Aeon Labs USB stick) OR... they must be in direct range of some other beaconing-savvy device (such as the Schlage light modules or Trane thermostats)... as you've already said.
I have the previous version of these locks on all of my doors, they are awesome. But I don't want to go out and spend another $200 for each door. I wonder how hard it would be to solder a Zigbee Pro module into these to activate the pin on the tumbler. Anyone have experience with making Zigbee Pro devices?
DrunkenLizard
Active Member
I think it would be nice if they could offer these with a smartkey like option. I really like being able to rekey my locks whenever I have the whim or need.
twilo123
Active Member
it's not just the direct connection to it the lock actually supports encryption through a security class written by Schlage for zwave. very few others have supported it for a couple of reasons (1. Schlage held out as long as possible to release the code for others to integrate it, 2. they ripped out other parts of the previous firmware to make room for the security encryption so you have a give and take now, 3. the issue already described previous regarding the sleep method (this was originally intended for smoke detectors actually but any batter operated low power module works with the method. there can be a group of these devices with a master of the group that works with this sub group though to get around the direct connection limitation. no one has really put it into physical practice yet though).
The locks report status whenever you press the lock/unlock button on the lock, or manually lock/unlock the lock. So the status in your software should always be up to date. Currently you need a PC interface that supports the "beaconing" feature of Z-Wave. The ones I know that work are the HomeSeer SmartStick, Wayne Dalton WD-10 (if update is available, will not work as shipped), and the AEON Labs USB. The beaconing frame can be routed through your existing Z-Wave devices, but the last device must support beaconing. There are only a couple devices on the market right now that support this, so you need to make sure you have one of these close to the locks if the lock is out of range of your PC interface. Since the dead bolt is not motorized, you cannot lock it if its unlocked. You can only send a command to unlock it for 5 seconds to let someone in. There is a thread on the HomeSeer message board that has more details.
-Rich
HomeSeer Tech
-Rich
HomeSeer Tech
housecontrols
Member
when I was on the phone with Schlage Tech support I got some guy who was what I would call Level 2 or 3 . He was very knoledgeable on the subject of the code. Schlage used the existing Zwave Security class for the lock . They added a vacation mode that was not a part of the Zwave lock class. This security class has been availablefor some time to those in Zwave. THe full version of the firmware is can be used. The major issue is that some of the current devices do not have room for all the code. Those controllers that have sort of an additional co-chip can handle future upgrades. This was a cost choice for the Latter . Now those cheaper controllers give reason to chop off features of the Zwave code so the Security class will fit.
We the consumer will probably loose out because of some short sided engineers.
