Does anybody make door knobs that allow exit yet remain locked?

Hello all, new user and first post. This forum has a lot of great information and I am glad I found it. I have what I hope to be an easy problem.

I just purchased an Elk M1K kit and my goal is to ensure that all house exits are locked when the system is secured at night. I plan to add electric door strikes and hopefully (fingers crossed that they are compatible) weigand proximity readers with built in keypads (in case somebody forgets or looses their fob). With a door handle that allows exit while remaining locked, the keypad will get us back into the house easily but ensure that the house is always locked.

Does anybody know of door handles that allow you to open the door, yet always remain locked (auto-lock)?

Or, should I be looking at this from a different angle? I thought about electric deadbolts but I wouldn't want an exit blocked if the power was out and they were engaged. I looked for some that were hardwired but couldn't find any with a manual override.

Thank you for any answers/help/guidance.

Welcome to CT!

Unless I'm missing something, all door handles remain locked if you exit.

I think you may have knocked something loose for me, if I had a request to exit sensor at the door, the handles could remain locked at all times and I assume I could program the Elk so when the request to exit is triggered, disengage the door strike.

However, an always locked door knob that you can turn to open from inside even though it is locked on the outside would remove the need to buy additional request to exit sensors. But, if they don't exist, the request to exit may be the only option.

Thanks!

Welcome to CT, scriptx.

If I understand you correctly, you want a mechanical lock that has to have the key to open it from the outside and can always be opened without the key from the inside. If so, what you need is a classroom lock configuration. Not sure they are the look you are looking for. Might try calling a local locksmith or locksmith supply house, too, for more residential "looking" options.

TXFlatLander, you nailed it, that is exactly what I was looking for!

I know I've seen a lot of locks that you push in and twist to lock. These will stay locked even when the doorknob is turned. It's the lock with the simple push button locks that will tend to popout when you turn the knob.

Those are just regular entrance lockets you can get anywhere. As an example, a Schlage Entry lockset from Lowes or HD. They have a key on the outside and a button/knob that turns on the inside. When the inside button is turned to the locked position, the outside is locked and you need a key, but you can freely turn/open it from the inside and it still remains locked.

Take a look at the Schlage code locks. They make a deadbolt, and they also make the bottom handle. I only have the deadbolts, but I think you can set the bottom one to always require a code for entry, and then it relocks after a few seconds.

The deadbolt requires a manual turn of the lock after code entry, so you couldn't do it with that one. But, you should not be relying upon just the bottom door handle to keep your door locked, one light kick and the door is open. The deadbolt and the proper anchors into the inside door frame will make this much more difficult for a bad guy, and while he's repeatedly kicking the door, your alarm will be going off and he will lose valuable time. Less chance of a smash and grab.

You need a Storeroom function lever set. It will have a key on the outside that will unlock the door but always remain locked from the outside.
You will have free egress from inside.

Just in case anybody ever needs the same, I found many knobs at Lowes and Home Depot that did this!

scriptx said:

Just in case anybody ever needs the same, I found many knobs at Lowes and Home Depot that did this!

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Yeah, I think most of the newer residential locks have this feature. Most people add an extra deadbolt to one of those handle/locks just for extra security. Without the deadbolt I think it's easier to kick the door in

You'll only need 1 exterior keypad. How often will someone lose or forget their key? They can walk around the house.

Garage door access keypad may be another consideration.

I put an electric door strike on the door between my house and the garage. It is now my wife's most favorite feature of our HA system. Neither of use carries a house key any more.

I run the door strike off of a battery backup to avoid power outage issues. I have the strike in a fail safe configuration and just keep the door knob locked at all times. We also keep a lockbox with a spare key outside for disasters.

We still use the normal locking door knob instead of getting a special knob. We added a 'request to exit' motion detector inside that unlocks the door if you approach it from the inside. We mounted an ELK-M1KPAS (the decora sized keypad) on the garage side. The garage door uses its own keypad access system.

A few items that we learned:

1. Most, but not all, electronic strike plates are "no load". This means they will not unlock if you have any pressure on them. Even the pressure exerted by the foam gaskets around the door were enough to affect operation of our strike plate.

2. Request to exit button vs motion detector. Our back door is a busy place. There are several doors in close proximity. The back door and laundry room are especially awkward. We have found that the back door and laundry room are too close to prevent accidentally triggering the electronic strike. This issue does not affect proper operation, but when you enter and leave the laundry we often hear the heavy thud of the strike plate engaging and re-locking. Every house is different, but if we had it all to do over again, I think I would have put in a big red 'request-to-exit' button instead of the motion detector.

We like it so much we are planning to add one to the front door as well.

jaysonc, how did you get around the "no load" issue on the door? I didn't even think of that! Was there a specific strike you purchased?
Do you have your garage door being monitored through your security system? I am curious, do I have to get in the habit of opening the garage door first, then arming the system or can I program an ELK to ignore garage door opening for 10/15 minutes after arming?

jaysonc said:

..... I think I would have put in a big red 'request-to-exit' button instead of the motion detector.

Click to expand...

This is the "Push to Exit" green button we use at work to get out of our server room that has maglocks if we forget to badge in. Works well. There are variations of the same thing