Thursday, November 8, 2012

Caregiver Aids #17: Combination Door Lock


So you're a caregiver. So you have people coming to your home to help your loved one. Sometimes you're not there when they arrive and your loved one can't answer the door. Do you leave your door unlocked for all to enter, whether wanted or not? Do you hide a key somewhere, like under the doormat?

This handy little deadbolt with a combination lock can be the answer to all your troubles.

You can assign up to 19 4-digit codes to unlock the door. This way, each person that comes to the house can have his/her own code. When that person is no longer a part of the "caregiving team" you can delete the code. 

In our case, during those rare times when we're both out of the house, we can lock the doorknob and that will stop access by those who have a combination to open the deadbolt. 

There are lots of other relatively inexpensive home access options, including locks that can be wirelessly controlled. I didn't entertain using those for Skip because she has so much trouble with her hands, operating a remote entry system wouldn't have worked for her. This gives us what we need without Skip's hands having to be part of the solution.

7 comments:

kmilyun said...

Great idea on how to control the access to your home! Me, I would never get in LOL as I have enough troubles remembering my ATM pin. I finally made it the same as my best friends so I can always call her if/and when I forget it . ...

Muffie said...

What a great tool! I can think of so many uses for it. Glad you found just what you need.
Peace,
Muff

zoomdoggies said...

Brilliant! I was thinking we'd have to resort to the kind of lockbox realtors use, but this looks like a much better option. Thank you!

Cranky said...

Thanks, all! The lock was installed by my friend BW on Monday. The manufacturer claimed a 30 minute installation requiring only a screwdriver. In our case, it was 2 hours and a drill was needed, too, even though we were just replacing an existing dead bolt. Nonetheless, it's in and it works as advertised. Great tool!

Diane J Standiford said...

OMGosh! That is BRILLIANT!! Locks have been a problem at my home (my asst living home)---thanks for a PERFECT solution!

Cranky said...

Diane - glad to help! Can't remember if I said what it cost. It was about $105 on Amazon, made by Schlage. The info on Amazon said 30 minutes to install. It was more like 90 minutes for my friend BW, but our deadbolt in the door and in the jam don't line up exactly, requiring additional finagling, so that accounted for some of the extra time.

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