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Why are fobs not used for residential homes?

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tokie said:
Imagine if a kid locks themselves out of the home. Assuming a proper server setup, the parent (from work) could remotely let the kid in.

Also I would think it would be much more secure.
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this has been in existence for years now, and for relatively cheap (~$250 for the "brain" and the door knob/lock).
you have a choice of fingerprint scanning, keypad (which is nice for allowing service ppl entry at set times, temp access codes). all controlled from a browser or phone app.
 
I don't even have a housekey on my keyring. I open the garage door, I close the garage door. I walk in the house. The only time I can even remember using a house key was earlier this spring when my 5 year old thought it would be fun to lock me out of the house by deadbolting the garage entry when I went out to get the mail. Then I just went outside where spare key is stored, retreived it, and unlocked the door.

Having a badge swipe or keypad to get in my house is just added complexity, fail points, and costs.

I like little dashes of "automation". I put a sensor on the light to my mudroom/entry way from the garage. My wife and daughter *never* turned that light off so I put a sensor switch in there that works awesome.

I also put electronic timer switches on the vent fans in our bathrooms. Start the shower, punch a button the wall and the fan will run for an hour and shutoff. Works great too.

Some people just want to add complexity for the sake of complexity.
 
Garage doors are extremely easy to break into though. Just need a bit of leverage to get your fingers under the door, then you pull up. Then again if they really want in, breaking a window is less effort. That's what alarm systems, and the stickers, are for.

I like automated stuff too, like my thermostat system, and I also have one of those timers for the bathroom fan. It's also an inline fan so it's super quiet and better quality. The fan unit is actually in the basement. All you hear is the sound of air flow going to the vent.

If I was building a house from scratch though I'd want everything controlled via a relay in a central panel. That way it would make it easy to automate practically anything. The light switch would actually control a relay that then turns on the light. But if I want to, I can interface with that relay through other means such as timers and CDS cells etc.
 
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JulesMaximus said:
Wait, you mean you don't have a backup power generator for your entire house? :hmm:
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Nope. Just on computer/networking equipment so I can do important things like keep cruising for porn report power outtages on the utility companies website.
 
My server stuff is good for about 4-5 hours on battery. When I redo the server room electrical I will probably put a few outlets around the house on that UPS too.
 
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