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A smart lock that cannot unlock during an outage is a decorative brick. You want a mechanical keyway, a battery you can change without a circus, and a thumbturn on the inside.
Deadbolt vs latch
Replace the deadbolt if you can. Cheap latch-only “smart” locks are easier to defeat and worse in a blackout. Brands like August, Level, and Schlage-class locks are the ones to research for your door thickness, not a no-name Amazon special.
Battery warnings
You need weeks of warning, not a dead Tuesday. Keep a 9 V jump or a key with a neighbor. Wi-Fi bridges fail; Bluetooth-only can be annoying from the street.
Guest codes
Unique codes you can kill beat hiding a metal key in a fake rock. Do not give a delivery driver a code that also opens the back door forever.
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