Many homes are broken into when the intruder smashes a window in the door or next to the door & reaches in & simply unlocks the door & lets themselves in. So why not have the locks at the bottom of the door to prevent this scenario from happening? Yes, it would be a pain to bend down to unlock your doors - but isn't it worth it if it means protecting your home? And now they have remote keyless entry for your home - so if you had this technology you wouldn't even have to bother with bending over to let yourself in your house!
-- funkychunky, Apr 04 2003

(?) Keyless entry for your house http://www.kwikset....emote+Keyless+Entry
This could work in conjunction with the bottom door lock [funkychunky, Oct 04 2004]

This is prudent house design, but hardly a new idea. Home security books have been touting this since I was a boy. (Shortly after printing was invented, if you believe the rumours.)
-- DrCurry, Apr 04 2003


Maybe I should have put my idea in the door section. I guess mainly my idea was that all home doors would work this way - the doors would have the precut hole for the knob at the bottom rather than the middle of the door. You are right though [fogfreak] - intruders would find a way to get around this & find some tool to use to unlock it anyway. Although, that would take them longer which increases their odds of being caught.
-- funkychunky, Apr 04 2003


[fogfreak] Using a dual cylinder deadbolt (keyed inside and out) does add to security but you must be VERY disciplined to leave a key in the deadbolt on the inside when anyone is home.
-- bristolz, Apr 04 2003


I'm not saying that the type of lock Fogfreak described isn't dangerous - because it is - but if you leave a key in the inside lock while you are sleeping then a person would still be able to break in by smashing the window - reaching in & turning the key in the lock. I think the whole purpose of those locks is to prevent that kind of break in from happening because there is nothing for the burglar to turn/unlatch to get in.
-- funkychunky, Apr 04 2003


Whether or not the double-cylinder lock poses a fire danger would probably depend in some measure on whether or not there was an alternate means of egress (such as a window) available. A window over some pricker pushes would not appreciably interfere with egress in case of a fire, but would make things unpleasant for a burglar who had to use it every trip.
-- supercat, Apr 04 2003


I have read reports of intruders pushing a long stick/cane/pole with a hook on the end through the letterbox and using it to pick up keys lying around on a nearby table or ledge - as lots of people habitually do.

(just remembered that the USAian I related this story to, told me that letterboxes are not common in the States)
-- po, Apr 04 2003


One of the beauties of the dual cylinder deadbolt is that it helps prevent a burglar from getting OUT of the house with anything of size. But the fire escape problem is why I mentioned the discipline of leaving a key in the inside cylinder when anyone is occupying the house.
-- bristolz, Apr 04 2003


As an alternate to the discipline of keeping a key in the lock, one might argue that all residents just keep a key around their necks at all times, like military dog tags. That of course also requires some discipline.
-- ye_river_xiv, Feb 01 2007


I keep a key to my front door deadlock on a hook in the lobby; leaving it in the lock would prevent a not-at-home resident from unlocking it.
-- angel, Feb 01 2007


Add a false 2nd doorknob at the bottom or a false dead lock (key needed for both sides). Will deter most burglars. And maybe a fake camera lens.
-- popbottle, Mar 22 2015


A fake door would work even better.
-- FlyingToaster, Mar 22 2015


A fake house would work even more better.
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Mar 22 2015


//just remembered that the USAian I related this story to, told me that letterboxes are not common in the States//

Mail slots are not unusual in the US, but it depends on where you live and when it was built, and all sorts of other factors. Newer installations tend to be the sort with the double spring loaded flap, which, quite frankly, I don't think anyone is going to successfully manipulate a long thin tool through. I sort of assume that is the purpose of that design.
-- MechE, Mar 23 2015


//Newer installations tend to be the sort with the double spring loaded flap, which, quite frankly, I don't think anyone is going to successfully manipulate a long thin tool through.//

You have just summarised the paradoxical evolution of human genitals.
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Mar 23 2015


Based on the title, I thought this was going to be an idea for a door lock shaped like a bottom.
-- hippo, Mar 23 2015


//letterboxes are not common in the States//

Not common 'round here. Instead there's a different system, outside, there is a little locked box. The key is some form of universal USPS key. The USPS person can then unlock that box to obtain another key. This key opens the front door, then, inside that, there is an additional mail box which must be unlocked and mail added, before the whole process is reversed. I can't help but think that the shove-it-through-a- hole in the door system is a little faster.
-- bs0u0155, Mar 23 2015


Mailslots aren't as common as they used to be. Regarding the idea, I've never been fond of windows in doors because it does pose a security risk. Not only does such a window allow the possibility for an easy break-in, but it also allows someone I don't know or like knocking at my door to see if I'm standing on the other side. This bothers me greatly.

I lived in a house once where there was a window about the size of an arrowslit in a medieval castle, maybe 5 inches wide, situated about 18 inches to the left of the door. Between it and the door was a small wall abutment perhaps 18 inches wide, which served (intentionally or incidentally I don't know) as a shield to prevent an arm from reaching through the window and unlocking the door.
-- 21 Quest, Mar 23 2015



random, halfbakery