The 5 Top Choices for Garage Door Locks
Garage door locks are pretty important pieces of equipment. And unfortunately, garage door locks are frequently disregarded pieces of equipment for many homeowners.
More often than not, homeowners are quite content with whatever lock happens to be on their garage door at the time they purchase their house. And yet many home break-ins occur through garage doors.
So if you haven’t given your garage door lock much consideration in a while, now might be a good time to evaluate your lock. And that’s particularly true if your garage door still has the lock that was installed at the time of your home’s construction.
Ideally, your lock should be one of the following 5 top choices for garage door locks:
#1: Electronically-Operated Locks
Cutting-edge products of modern technology, electronic locks are opened with fingerprints rather than keys. Each lock can store many fingerprints in memory to permit access to multiple people.
Electronic locks are among the most expensive of locks. But they also offer the highest level of security that’s currently available in garage door locks.
#2: Keyless Digital Locks
No keys are required for these locks. Instead, they’re operated with a keypad into which the correct digital code must be entered. These locks not susceptible to picking or ‘jimmying’ methods, as are most mechanical locks, and so they offer a very high level of security.
Many manufacturers of digital locks, in fact, offer lifetime warranties against damages caused by intruders.
#3: Garage Door Deadbolts
Deadbolt locks for garages typically come in two styles, single cylinder and double cylinder.
Single cylinder garage deadbolts require a key to operate from the outside, and are operated with a knob from the inside. Double cylinder deadbolts require that a key be used on both the inside and the outside of the door.
Deadbolt-style locks are much more difficult for thieves to overcome than the spring-style lock that is prevalent on many garage doors.
#4: T-Handle Locks
These locks are most commonly used on garage doors of metal construction. T-handle locks are operated with keys. However the keys for these locks are uniquely shaped, and difficult to duplicate. And that makes these locks more difficult for burglars to overcome.
#5: Side-Mounted Bolt
Garage door side-mounted bolts are deadbolt-style locks that are mounted on the door track. It’s a type of lock that can’t be accessed from outside the garage door, even with specialized tools.
A side-mounted door bolt is a relatively simple and inexpensive lock. But it offers good bang-for-the-buck value in terms of the security it provides.