Smart locks help keep your home safe and secure with minimal effort and takes literally minutes to install on your door.
They also make great gifts for new homeowners, or family and friends who have just moved into a new place.
Maybe you’re looking for a gift for the senior citizens in your life. Smart keyless door locks are useful gifts due to functionalities like remote access and the auto lock feature.
Maybe you have elderly people who might have physical or mental conditions that create more difficulties in unlocking doors. I cover the Best Smart Locks for Seniors here to help you find the perfect smart lock for senior in your life.
If you’re in a hurry, these three locks are the best smart locks for senior citizens.
How Do Smart Locks Affect Seniors
Smart door locks’ functions and features include fingerprint sensors, Bluetooth detection, mobile apps, keypad input, voice control and more. They all add together to make smart home integrations a reality, and without the traditional key.
Keys don’t play a central role in the operation of smart locks, which is why it is useful for some people, like the senior citizen group.
Certain health issues such as dementia or Alzheimer’s are common afflictions in this age group. Sufferers may forget their keys and get locked out of their home. Smart, electronic locks solve this problem altogether.
Elderly are unfortunately more susceptible to thieves and housebreakers too. It can be hard for them to put up a fight if they happen to be there trying to prevent a thief from coming in at the front door.
A security bar can help prevent breach entry by adding hundreds of pounds of force, but it won’t help with normal entry and exit use. That’s where smart door locks come in to help the elderly.
Functions such as the Auto Lock feature ensures that the door is always locked after you leave the house. It’s a great feature for those who are prone to forgetting to lock the door as they enter or exit.
Smart locks provide high level security and convenience, while requiring minimal effort to operate. For those with access codes, you could create unique user codes and monitory door activity on a mobile app.
Smart Lock Benefits For Elderly People
Electronic door locks have a few core benefits for elderly people that’ll help make their lives easier and more convenient. It also allows others to help, especially with the first one with remote access.
Remote Access
Using a smart lock’s mobile app, you can check the real-time lock status if you have that nagging feeling like you’ve forgotten to lock the door when you left the house.
Multiple Keyless Entry Methods
The majority of smart locks are keyless door locks. No more keys to hold, no more keys to lose. Most locks feature more than one way to gain complete keyless access into your home.
Voice Control
Pair your smart lock with Google Home, Amazon Alexa, and Apple Siri and HomeKit voice assistants.
Once voice control is setup, you can use various voice commands to control the lock. Things like locking and unlocking. And yes – you can even pre-set customized commands such as “open sesame.”
Geofencing and Auto Unlocking / Locking
Coming home with bags of groceries in both your hands has never been easier. As you approach your front door, the smart lock will automatically unlock the door for you using Bluetooth usually. No more fumbling around searching for your keys anymore.
Geofencing is similar, but it uses GPS to detect you coming home from up to a 300 foot boundary and prepares to unlock the door for you as you arrive at your doorstep. It’s almost like having a doorman at your service 24/7!
5 Best Smart Locks for Seniors
1. Best Overall: Schlage Encode Smart WiFi Deadbolt
The Schlage Encode Smart WiFi Deadbolt works out of the box without the need for additional devices. The built-in WiFi lets you control its functions remotely on your smartphone app from anywhere you are, as long as your home has a stable Wi-Fi connection.
In the event you don’t have your phone with you, unlocking is made easy by using the capacitive touchscreen to input a pre-programmed access code. It could be a birthday or any series of digits that is easy to remember.
The built-in alarm alerts when any potential security breach is happening at the door for maximum security for any senior homeowner.
Those are just some of the highlights as to why the Schlage Encode is one of the more popular security locks for home automation systems.
2. Best Value: Danalock V3 Bluetooth & Z-Wave Smart Lock
The sleek Danalock V3 Bluetooth smart lock is so easy to install and has no buttons. There’s no confusion involved, which is great for the elderly who may suffer from cognitive impairments and need a lock with simple instructions.
Low profile but packed full of features. Auto-Unlock unlocks the door for you as you arrive with your smartphone.
The Danalock is a good smart lock for doors without a deadbolt. If you have an existing deadbolt, you can also get a deadbolt cover plate to replace your current deadbolt.
With Z-Wave Plus technology, it’s compatible with all kinds of smart home integrations for a connected home.
3. Best Budget Friendly: Ultraloq UL3 Fingerprint and Touchscreen Smart Lock
This Ultraloq smart lock features 5 keyless entry options to unlock the door: fingerprint users, multiple codes for the keypad, smartphone U-tech app, Knock to Open, and a traditional key.
The entire unit replaces the door handle itself, which is great for doors without a deadbolt – and the handle is reversible, which means it can be installed on both right-handed and left-handed doors.
The estimated 1-year battery life lasts up to 8,000 inputs of the access code, and features a low battery alert on the touchscreen display. The mobile app will remind you to change the batteries.
Another positive is it’s one of the best waterproof door locks.
4. Yale Assure Lock SL, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Deadbolt
Yale is known to produce some of the best locks in the world for the last 180+ years and their smart locks are no different.
This Bluetooth smart lock allows for key-free access to your home, and since there are no keyholes, there is no lock for anyone to try and pick.
The touchscreen keypad is responsive and makes it easy to input your access code to gain entry.
The elderly will find that they can easily fire up the August smartphone app to enable functions such as Auto-unlock and DoorSense.
With DoorSense, you’ll receive alerts when it detects that the front door has been left open for an abnormally long time. That helps to give you and your family peace of mind without worrying about whether the door’s closed and locked.
5. Kwikset Halo Wi-Fi Smart Lock Deadbolt
The Kwikset Halo smart lock connects directly to your home’s Wi-Fi for ultimate convenience and ease of use, without any need for a middle device like a SmartThings hub.
Features such as SecureScreen prevent prying eyes from copying access codes, and SmartKey protects against advanced break-in techniques on the keyhole.
Smart locks are seemingly simple devices, but there’re actually so many features in them.
This smart lock also works with Alexa and Google Assistant for complete hands free voice control. Voice control is great for the elderly who have more trouble with operating apps. Buttons and keypads can be a problem sometimes for sufferers of ailments like Parkinson’s that makes it hard for them to operate small devices.
Final Thoughts
Best Overall Smart Lock for Seniors
The Best Overall goes to Schlage Encode Smart WiFi Deadbolt. With all the security and ease of use it offers, it’s a great choice for seniors and younger homeowners alike. The Schlage lock offers keyless entry, along with the old school, traditional key.
Best Value Smart Lock for Seniors
The Danalock V3 Bluetooth Smart Lock may not look it, but it packs impressive features at an attractive price. It’s great for those making it perfect for those who want to get the most bang for buck.
Best Budget Friendly Smart Lock for Seniors
The Ultraloq UL3 Fingerprint and Touchscreen Smart Lock is the most budget-friendly lock and provides great value with its 5-in-1 keyless entry options.
If you’re looking for more options, check out my guide to the best smart locks.
