We live in a very modern time. As Steven Fry once said; “this is the most modern minute, right now.”
He’s right. Everything is becoming less complicated, more connected and simpler. Take cars for example. Until about 15-ish years ago, remote central locking was preserved for the luxury car market or those who could afford to have it retro-fitted. Now, it is a standard feature on every car that is made now. Who would ever go back to manually locking your car?
Ever thought of locking or unlocking your door via the use of a remote? Or even less, a stylish keypad on your door handle? Well John Fredericks now has such a solution. The Yale keyfree door handle.
This new handle allows you to remotely unlock your door using a fob, just like your car. Great if you’re rushing into the house to escape the bad weather! If you don’t fancy carrying a fob with you, a pin number is all that is required. Pick a number, anywhere between 4-12 digits, plug it in, and the door unlocks. Simple. No keys required, so no worrying if you’ve locked the door as it automatically locks on the latch when you close it anyway.
The product has been rigorously tested over the course of the last few years and is now available on John Fredericks’ high quality PVCu single doors and composite doors. They make a great addition to their already fantastic range of doors, and will help installers gain that vital USP over others where this product isn’t available. We have been fitting their doors with the keyfree door handle for the last few months and we can only report totally positive feedback from all departments for the handle!
If you are interested in any of the products John Fredericks offers, including the keyfree door handle, please call 01422 314100 and ask for Thomas Monks or contact them on Twitter at @jfplastics or @NewbuildsNo1.
i d think twice about using yale due to the fact that most of the product they supply is sub standard right now.
there must similar products from a more reliable source
Yeah its awesome if you want to make sure your young children dont open the door and get out you have to listen to an 80 decibel alarm going off every time the doors opened from the inside >.<
We have fitted these before, I think they are great in theory but not in practice as I have personally witnessed one opened with a coat hanger!
DGB, I can’t believe you’ve been mugged by this lock. Firstly, its Yale – most loved by retail? – Hated by the trade. Secondly, why would fredericks fit a lock that the only focus of defence is to disengage the external handle. This is all that happens when you hit the fob. But, I hear you say, all them hooks and stuff engage. Yep they do, when you lift the handle like a normal lever lever lock. But, I hear you say, I hit the fob and I hear a whirr and thats the cylinder deadlocking and the outside handle… Read more »
Rob – we’ve sold this product for nearly two years and not had a single major issue with any of the handles we have sold. Any little niggles, of which I can only remember two were sorted within 24 hours, so no complaints there. We took the handle apart and put it back together again, our excellent service engineer and an independent locksmith both looked at it, both said that there weren’t the security issues you mention in the comment above. As for the looks, I don’t think there is anything wrong with it! It’s not that much bigger than… Read more »
DGB, Rob is 100% correct in his technical assesment of the Key Free system, btw calling it key free is kind of daft considering you really should carry a key as if the batteries run out on either the unit itself or on the keyfob you cannot gain entry and so half to use the backup method of using a normal key to gain entry via the pull down cover at the bottom of the handle. Also i would love some examples of bigger/nearly as big handles as its gigantic compared to the handles from the likes of Avocet, Mila,… Read more »
Peter – we were selling these handles way before cheques for the adverts were falling on my desk so what a stupid comment that is! Fact of the matter is, customers like them. We have sold plenty over the last couple of years and the feedback from customers has been great. A handle like this is always going to be bigger than a normal handle, but to say it’s gigantic is a little bit over the top don’t you think. Also, I have written about the keyfree handle before I was putting adverts on here. Don’t want you thinking I’m… Read more »
No more stupid than yours :-)
can someone pick up DGB dummy he,s spit it out
the fact is its a shite gimmicky product
Although, much better than the Homesafe fingerprinting system which really is the Godzilla of handles!!
The lock itself is ok but for locksmiths like myself it puts me out of work,cause there is no euro cylinder which will go faulty,What i would like to know is at what cost would it be to replace the remote on this system,the other thing is i discovered that era have a similar version of this and costs around £250 how many customers in this day and age would want to spend this kind of money then for a tradesman to fit it as well.Just wanting peoples opinion on this does everyone think this will take off,and is mechanical… Read more »
There is a eurocylinder fitted in the lock as it requires a second way of gaining access in case the batteries run out. And dont worry these are not selling that well due to the high cost and they are ugly as hell.
hi all just read an article and according to mila they say that in the next 5 years most doors will be keyfree,looking for opinion on this.I dont think so myself,from what i see,people trying to haggle on price for jobs done.Also i have found that on some of my recent jobs some people want the bare bones fixed,replaced,this tells me that most customers would nt pay a couple of hundred quid for a new set of fancy handles for their property,even if you look at new buid houses it is the cheapest of the cheapest,no security handles,no anti snap… Read more »
I would say that article is rubbish, how many key free systems do you see fitted on your travels, next to none and why is this ? 1) they are extremely expensive, normally in the region of a £250 uplift. So if your composite door set costs £400 you are adding on a massive amount that the customers just wont pay unless they are a gadget person who likes the idea of them. 2) These are sold as a security product they are not, they have a eurocylinder fitted to them so they are as easy to break into as… Read more »
yes i would agree on that probably the main issue is the cost,take for instance the locca if i remember when this first came out it was £99 then the price went up a little,I dont even know if this product is still available anymore,If it was such a good device we would see hundreds fitted to doors
At the moment I am looking to replace my front door and this post and thread is possibly the most informative on the web. Really interested in the keyfree system. I have some questions if possible: 1. To open the door from the inside is it a case of just pulling the handle down or is there a button to press at the same time – if this isn’t the case how do you prevent the handle being pulled by say a long wire? 2. When the handle is pulled up (inside or outside) I assume that engages the deadlock… Read more »
Hi tals 1) no just operate the handle as if the door was unlocked and it opens, so yes any manipulation device put through a letterbox that can operate a door handle will open the door, likewise any small child can open the door 24×7 as you cannot physically lock the door from the internal side. The only way that you can get some sort of protection is to leave the alarm on the door that alerts you to every time the door is opened which in my house would get turned off very quickly due to its anoyence. 2)… Read more »
Hi Tals I’m afraid I have to disagree with Peter on this one. We have been selling the Keyfree handle for over a year now, and I can honestly say that the feedback from the customers we have sold it too has been 100% positive! The reason why not many people are having a keyless option fitted yet isn’t because of the cost, it’s due to lack of knowledge of the product. We sell ours for £250 including VAT and fitting. When you compare that to the cost of say a car key fob at around £160, it’s cheap. You… Read more »
You cant compare it to a car key system >.< And a £250 uplift over a standard lock and handle system whilst pretty competive is still a lot of money on a £800-£1000 composite door at retail and a £400 composite door at trade so cost is a major factor in it. If they have solved the internal handle problem then i stand corrected however there are still a number of ways that the product fails with regards to security which have been discussed in this thread. But to get a comparison have a look at how many key free… Read more »
It’s a little bit more than 1% to be fair, it would take me some time to work out what the exact % is, but I know it’s more than 1%. People aren’t buying it in bulk yet not because of price, not because they are unsure of security, but because it is new. People in this country always seem to be scared of new technology for the home. Unlike Asian countries like Japan and South Korea for example where they are so far ahead of ourselves. And why can’t we compare it to car key systems? Both remotely unlock… Read more »
Its been out for over 18 months so wouldnt say its new to be honest.
Yeah a glider and a 747 both fly through the sky so they can be compared also?
I think it is more a reference to new as in concept. The button is reassuring. Thank you for the comments – Peter I think you probably misunderstood me on point 2 – or maybe I am misunderstanding it. The act of lifting the handle actions the deadlock – unless I am mistaken. If you don’t do that then yes you just have a the handle lock
I have now put in an order for one of these, when it’s been in for a month or so i’ll post my impressions of it which hopefully will be useful. If anyone has any questions i’ll be happy to give my personal experience.
OK – I did promise impressions after a month of it in, it’s only been a day so i’ll give impressions now and then in a month :) Yes their is a button on the handle to open the door from the inside and this is stiff enough and angled in such a way that you could never open the door through the letter box and highly unlikely if you broke the door window. Contrary to comments on the web Silent mode is silent on the door with the exception it does confirm when the door has been deadlocked. Which… Read more »
Thanks for this update tals! Much appreciated! I am glad to see that you are overall happy so far with your purchase. The one negative you have raised is one which I have heard before so it doesn’t surprise me. But I am glad that since using the door handle you have found out that many of the negatives you have read about it have turned out not to be true!
Please let us all know in a months time how it has fit in to your daily life.
Regards
DGB
So we have now had the Yale Keyfree system for over a month now, I waited till after trick or treaters just in case I would have any feedback regarding that but with the rain we only had one set of children so no findings regarding that. I have a pretty good idea of it’s working’s and pros and cons. The system works either via a remote keyfob or via the keypad entry, my wife and I use the keyfob’s most of the time and the children use the keypad entry. With the keypad entry you can have up to… Read more »