The Differences Between Deadbolts and Deadlatches

The deadbolt and deadlatch are the two most popular locking mechanisms, yet the exact difference between the two continues to confuse to this day. It remains one of the most commonly asked questions to locksmiths around the country, despite most insurance companies requiring one or the other for a full home insurance policy.

Even though insurance companies insist on deadbolts or deadlatches, there are still countless homes without them. This not only means that they’re more susceptible to break-ins, but that they risk the burglary not being covered by their insurance company. Today, we’ll discuss the differences between deadbolts and deadlatches and how they can help protect your home.

Deadbolts

Deadbolts are most commonly installed on doors where there’s only a key and knob set, and they have to be physically locked with a key once you close the door. Deadbolts add an extra layer of protection to your door, essentially double-locking it whenever you desire.

Most of the time, people tend to lock their doors with the knob set when they’re home and with the deadbolt when they’re not home. It’s generally not recommended to lock your door with the deadbolt when you’re home because in the case of an emergency, you won’t be able to leave your home quickly enough if you have to take the time to find your keys. If you do feel the need to use the deadbolt when you’re home, you should always leave a key in the back of the deadlock so you can easily exit.

Another mistake people commonly make is to leave a spare key in the back of the deadlock when they leave their home and then key-lock it from the outside. However, this means that if someone breaks into your home through a different door or window, you’re offering them an easy and convenient way to exit your home with all your belongings in tow and potentially with your spare key as well.

Deadlatches

While a deadbolt needs to be manually locked with a key, deadlatches self-deadlock when you close your door behind you. On older models of deadlatches, you’ll need to keylock it from the inside before you leave and then be able to close it without having to keylock it again. With newer models, however, you’ll only have to use a key when you’re unlocking the outside of your door.

This means that from the inside, you can unlock and open the door with the latch alone without any key required. Unfortunately, this results in many people locking themselves out as they don’t need to use their keys at all when leaving their homes, and then don’t realise that they don’t have it on them until it’s too late.

Unsurprisingly, this is one of the most common reasons emergency locksmiths get called out to homes. However, as long as you remember your keys, deadlatches offer premium convenience and premium home security.

Which is Right for You?

If you simply want to pull your door shut behind you and have it deadlock all on its own, then a deadlatch is the choice for you. If your door has a knob set and you’re looking to improve your home security, a deadbolt can help keep intruders out and offer you the option of having your front door locked or unlocked.