Question: Our building is considering installing electronic locks on all doors. What happens when the power goes out? Will each electronic door lock need a backup power source?
Answer: If battery operated door handles have a code, fingerprint or fob, these WILL continue to work even in a power outage.
If doors are hard wired and the power goes out, no doors will work.
However, if a system is hard wired to, say, the building entrance door or garage door, and there is a power outage, the doors would only work if there is a backup power battery. Some buildings have backup power batteries that last a few hours or longer. If this is the case, the system will continue to work as long as the backup power battery lasts.
If a building or apartment door uses a battery operated door handle controlled by a mobile phone, the doors will stop working during a power outage as these doors rely on wifi. Wifi is generally connected to the power and, therefore, would not operate during a power failure.
If the battery operated door handles have a code, fingerprint or fob, these WILL continue to work even in a power outage.
To recap:
- Hard wired doors would not work in a power outage.
- Doors with a backup battery will work for as long as the backup power battery lasts.
- Doors that use batteries to operate the door handles and use their mobile phone to open and rely on wifi will not work if there is a power outage as the wifi replies on power unless the power has a backup battery connected.
- Doors that use batteries to operate the door handles will continue to work if they can be opened via a pin code, fingerprint or fob. A power outage would not affect these doors.
Jake Sharp
MiMOR
E: jake@mimor.com.au
T: 1300 064 667
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