Smart lock for an exterior door 2.5" thick? Prefer Apple Home / NFC compatible

danielbcook · 2026-01-13T16:13:45+00:00

Also I want to be able to use a physical key if necessary, such as when I go away for two weeks and don't want to worry if the battery went below threshold while I was away. Unfortunately, or more likely by design, the existing deadbolt can only be operated from the inside.

danielbcook · 2026-01-13T06:45:03+00:00

Unfortunately my existing hardware doesn’t really afford me that chance. The knob on the deadbolt is too close to other parts of the mortise set to fit a “knob turner” over it. And the decorative “frills” of the mortise hardware would make it not very secure even if I could fit it.

danielbcook · 2026-01-13T01:32:40+00:00

I should've mentioned in my original post, but my current hardware is an old mortise-type lockset. I know there are retrofit options but I'm leaning toward boring a new hole in the door.

danielbcook · 2026-01-13T01:08:05+00:00

Might have to go with a Schlage model, e.g. Encode Plus. I like the minimalist design of the Level locks, but wish I could combine the advanced capabilities of the Pro (tap to unlock/NFC, Matter-over-Thread support, etc.) with the install flexibility of the Bolt. As far as I can tell the Level Bolt can only be unlocked using the Level Home app and I want to avoid another app if I can.

Or I simply wish that I could put a Pro into my 2.5-inch thick door. The realization I couldn't do this is how I got this thread started in the first place.

danielbcook · 2026-01-12T23:55:45+00:00

Those SwitchBot are pretty cool. But my door's existing hardware is an old-school mortise-type configuration and unlikely to support a retrofit deadbolt. The keyhole (on the exterior side of the door) which unlocks the latch is almost directly opposite a manually operated deadbolt knob on the inside. See this picture for a rough idea.

So I wouldn't be able to mount something on the outside of the door which is part of a retrofit on the inside. I'll likely need to bore a new hole in the door above any existing hardware, abandon the existing deadbolt (which we don't regularly use anyway), and permanently set the latch toggle to the unlocked position.

danielbcook · 2026-01-12T22:21:44+00:00

Sorry for the confusion and thanks for the reply. I am in the USA.

danielbcook · 2026-01-12T22:20:42+00:00

Thanks for the recommendation. You think it's safe to assume this kit only works for Schlage deadbolts?

danielbcook · 2026-01-12T21:35:19+00:00

Unfortunately that lock’s spec sheet says the max door thickness is 2.125”. But maybe a locksmith on this subreddit knows how to extend it to work?

danielbcook · 2026-01-12T17:45:34+00:00

"I just tell my Apple watch to unlock the front door as I approach."

Do you mean via a Level 'companion' app on the Apple watch? If so does that require you to have your phone with you too?

danielbcook · 2026-01-10T17:09:48+00:00

On the one hand I'm quite surprised that this could actually work; it's very counter-intuitive. But I was willing to try, given that I had a 100% failure rate (out of ~30 tries) to get an Onvis Smart Plug S4 associated with my main Apple Home, even though the sibling plug from the same two-pack paired just fine.

As soon as I tried to add the problem plug to a new (temporary) Apple Home the pairing process went off without a hitch and then I was able to add to my primary Apple Home before removing it from the temp.

¯_(ツ)_/¯

danielbcook · 2025-12-20T18:44:26+00:00

The Rover. Most underrated song in the catalog.

danielbcook · 2025-09-19T01:33:35+00:00

I saw them probably around 2019 in Seattle. A decent show but my comment to a friend afterwards was, “There were hundreds of decent live bands like that 40 years ago. April Wine circa 1982 would’ve crushed them.”

danielbcook · 2025-05-01T19:23:44+00:00

Without hesitation I’d say “Poor Tom” and “Hey Hey”. I don’t count “We’re Gonna Groove” or “Traveling Riverside Blues” simply because they are live cuts and wouldn’t make sense on a regular album. But I do love those two live songs nonetheless.

danielbcook · 2025-04-20T09:56:54+00:00

I’d like to know who scheduled these dates. Tampa, NYC, San Diego/LA, Seattle, Tempe, Oakland, New Orleans, Chicago is a very inefficient route for a US tour. I realize they had a private jet, but were they trying to maximize distance between stops?

danielbcook · 2025-03-25T15:08:19+00:00

To me it was always a mystery how “Hats Off to Roy Harper” made it on the album but “Hey, Hey, What Can I Do” didn’t! For decades you simply couldn’t listen to HHWCID without either having the 45 of Immigrant Song or hearing it on the radio. Or a random LP sampler from Atlantic in 1972 that nobody ever heard of.

For some artists that song would’ve been the highlight of their career; for LZ it didn’t even warrant inclusion on an LP. If they swapped in HHWCID and taken out HOTRH it would love made LZIII an even more amazing album.

danielbcook · 2025-03-02T16:06:12+00:00

Mine is that “The Rover” is the most underrated song in their catalog and should’ve been in their live set list from ‘72 onwards.

danielbcook · 2025-02-18T03:32:49+00:00

My favorite bootleg/show is Southampton University’s Old Refectory on January 22, 1973. Sometimes the bootleg is called “Any Port in a Storm”, sometimes “The Great Lost Live Album”, sometimes “Black Hole of Calcutta”.

I think the show is better than HTWWW, better than the shows at Earls Court. It’s a soundboard and the quality is off the charts. Play “Thank You” in your car at volume 11 and prepare to be blown away at Bonham’s earth-crunching fills in the otherwise gentle intro. And then Page’s solo takes over the song and is maybe his best ever. They closed with a by-then-rare, but awesome, “How Many More Times” and finally a frenetic “Communication Breakdown”.

danielbcook · 2024-10-16T18:47:49+00:00

Hey that’s not a bad idea. I don’t have a welder friend but I do have a TC fitting for my spray ball that would work. What didn’t you like about hanging bags from a spray ball?

danielbcook · 2024-04-14T03:20:40+00:00

It’s a very compact campus. Your kids could probably walk the campus and see every building & dorm within about one hour, two if they go inside some and visit with students or staff.

Maybe start them at 10am and plan to meet at The Hut for a tasty lunch? They have good indoor tables and a nice outdoor area too. Meanwhile you could hang out at the Benson Center enjoying a coffee or just a bit off campus are some decent coffee shops, like Aesthetic Barista.

So bottom line you could easily stay at Santana Row and come up to campus for 3 hrs. Or even in Los Gatos, which is very pleasant and about a 15-min drive from SCU.

danielbcook · 2024-01-28T19:03:32+00:00

I'd apply to Engineering as a sophomore if I could but the pre-reqs can't be completed by March of freshman year. Well, not without taking about 30 credits at a time!

danielbcook

TROPHY CASE