How to Properly Choose a Door Lock

There is a huge variety of door locks available for your residential or commercial property. They can range from deadbolts to keyed entry knobs or from front entry handle set to keyless entry access systems. So how do you know which one would be the best for the specific purpose you need it for? Whether it is for your front door, your bedroom or the patio door, it is important to give thought to the type of lock that will best suit your need. So basically, the first step to choosing the proper lock is to figure out where you are going to place it.

The level of security locks provide can vary. But basically there are three grades of security:

1     Grade 1: this is the highest grade security. It is the strongest grade you can get for your residential or commercial product.

2    Grade 2: this grade is intended for higher residential security. It is designed and built to offer excellent security as well as durability. It is mostly used for residential applications but it can also be used in some light commercial applications.

3      Grade 3: This is basic residential security. It is the lowest grade of security and the minimal acceptable quality for residential door locks.

When you hire a residential or commercial locksmith, I recommend that you let him know where you want your lock to be. Then you should ask what the best grade lock for that application would be. I think that for any door inside your house (like the door to the bathroom or the kitchen) you can use grade 3 but if it is for a lock that will be exposed to others or the environment (like the front door) you should go for at least grade 2 for a residential home and grade 1 for a door at a commercial place.  Of course the lowest the level of security, meaning grade 3, the cheaper it will be but remember that going for the cheapest products will often times lead to risk exposure and the chances of someone breaking into your home or business will increase. The best you can do is ask for your commercial or residential locksmith’s opinion and do as he advises but also make sure that he is qualified for the job. 

Locks Facts

New technology develops year to year and whenever a product is launched we might feel the desire to buy it, but not the feeling of actually needing it. However, if a new product or service is launched and we acquire it, we use it for some time and get used to it, we would feel desperate and we would feel a huge need to get it back if it were taken away from us.

Just think of the internet or cell phones. They haven’t been around for that long but we have become so dependent on those two things. If you leave the house and realize you forgot your phone, you go crazy! Or if for some reason the internet is off, you can’t find what to do all day and you get frustrated.

As we get used to things, we begin to take them for granted. Just like phones or the internet, imagine what our world would be like if locks didn’t exist! When you think of locks, technology isn’t exactly what comes into your mind. But what if nobody had ever invented them!? Before they existed, people were used to not having locks. But now that they do exist, if they were ever to disappear we would get a terrible feeling of being unsafe and we would never want to leave our house in fear that someone would break in and steal everything.

The oldest lock was discovered about 4,000 years ago in ancient Egypt. The lock was one of the most important inventions in Ancient Egypt. While that was the first actual lock found, there were also other attempts at securing items. People would use knots in rope like the thief knot to secure their belongings. The first combination lock was created by an American called James Sargent who came up with it in 1857. I think it’s safe to say that life would be so much different if nobody had ever invented the lock. Now you can easily contact a locksmith and you will have a wide variety of high-tech locks available!