I'm thinking about replacing the deadbolts on my front and garage doors with smart locks. My main concern is reliability - has anyone had issues with them failing in winter or just generally dying on you? I like the idea of keyless entry but don't want to deal with constant battery replacements.
Smart locks are generally reliable these days, though you'll want to pick one with good reviews specifically for cold weather since battery drain does accelerate in winter - most quality ones go through batteries maybe once or twice a year depending on usage, which isn't too bad. The bigger thing is making sure you get one from an established brand with solid customer service, since a failed lock on your main entry is more annoying than a failed smart bulb. Keyless entry is genuinely convenient, and the security features are solid, so it comes down to whether you're willing to do basic maintenance like battery checks and the occasional troubleshooting.
Don't cheap out on the brand thinking they're all basically the same - that's where people run into trouble. The reliability gap between a decent lock and a budget one is pretty real, especially when winter hits. What people don't always mention is that if you're going keyless, consider having a regular deadbolt as a backup on at least one door, just so you're not completely locked out if the smart one acts up. Battery life on the good ones is honestly fine if you're not obsessively unlocking it fifty times a day, and most will give you a warning before they actually die.
I switched my front door over to a Yale smart lock a couple years back and it's been solid through some pretty brutal winters here, so I'd say they're worth it if you go with something established. The battery thing isn't as annoying as people make it sound - mine goes through a set of AAs maybe every 8-10 months, which is way less frequent than I expected. My main tip would be to actually test it in your specific setup before committing, especially if you have a garage door since those can have weird interference issues. Are you planning to use it mostly for convenience or for actual security reasons like monitoring access, because that changes what features you'd actually use?
Are you planning to use the smart lock as your primary way in, or keeping a regular key option around as backup?
They're genuinely solid these days if you pick a reputable brand - I'd lean toward something like Yale or Level Lock since they've been doing this longer and have better winter performance overall. The battery thing is way overblown, most of them easily last 6-12 months depending on how much you use the keypad versus the physical key. Here's something most people don't think about though: install a weatherproof cover or small awning over the lock if you don't have one already. Moisture and direct rain exposure kills batteries faster than cold alone, and it protects against someone messing with it too.
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