Why open doors with keys? Now, homeowners can make their locks more secure, fashionable and convenient.
Doors with electronic locks can be opened with personal identification numbers, fingerprints or cards. Not only do they provide the convenience of not having to carry keys, they are also a fashion statement.
'Locks are not just related to security now, they also have to be trendy. Therefore, electronic lock companies constantly have to update the design, colour or finish of locks to attract buyers,' says Alex Cheung, sales and marketing manager at Kaba Hong Kong.
Electronic locks are easy to install. Homeowners can replace the entire mechanical lock case with an electronic one, or add an electronic lock above it for extra security.
If you want to install a lock which recognises fingerprints, most can save and recognise up to 100 fingerprints. Alternatively, a card lock will come with 20 cards in the package. Although these locks are not as popular in Hong Kong as they are in, for example, South Korea, where 30 per cent of home door locks are electronic, Cheung predicts this will change. 'An electronic lock used to cost HK$8,000, but now people only have to pay about HK$4,000, which is not that much more than a good traditional mechanical lock which will cost about HK$3,000,' he says.
Other advantages electronic locks offer are an auto-locking system that locks your door automatically after you close it, an alarm system, and a system allowing residents to lock the door from inside the house. Some users may worry that intruders will be able to 'steal' fingerprints left on the touch pad, but Cheung says touchscreens will remove all traces of fingerprints.