Here’s a guide to some common issues of lock experience during the cold Winter months in Chicago, as prepared by the professional Chicago lock repair and lock rekeying service team here at Chicago Locksmith.
Winter Issues with Traditional Deadbolt Locks
Traditional keyed locks often experience issues in cold temperatures, especially when the weather drops below freezing. This is due to moisture getting trapped inside the lock and then freezing. This can prevent keys from fitting inside locks, or makes it difficult for the key to turn inside the lock – which often causes the key to break off inside the lock. This issue can be fixed by warming up a key with a hair dryer and fitting it carefully inside a frozen lock to thaw out the impacted ice.
Winter Issues with Smart Locks
Smart locks can experience issues with their locking mechanisms in freezing weather. It’s possible that your smart lock will fail to recognize your code or keystrokes, or that the cold weather will rapidly deplete its battery’s energy, causing it to die or become dysfunctional. This can sometimes be fixed by changing your smart lock battery. If your smart lock has a keyhole, you may be able to use a traditional key until your local Chicago smart lock repair service team can repair the issue.
Winter Issues with Biometric Locks
Biometric locks can experience the same battery drainage issues in freezing temperatures that smart locks experience. Sometimes cold weather can dry out your hands, making it difficult for the biometric lock to recognize your fingerprint. Additionally, dry hands in the winter can interfere with your skin’s ability to provide conductance, which provides a tiny amount of heat and electricity in your fingerprints that helps the biometric lock to recognize a finger touch and print. We recommend moisturizing and warming up your hands to see if this solves the issue.
Winter Issues with Car Locks
Cold temperatures can interfere with car locks, potentially freezing the interior of the lock as moisture freezes, and causing keys to break off inside the lock. Modern cars with keyless entry also experience winter issues with frozen lock mechanisms, rendering the key fob useless. If you have a remote start vehicle, try warming up your car for a few minutes and seeing if this unfreezes your locks. You can also try applying warm air from a cordless hair dryer onto the key lock for a few minutes to thaw out impacted ice. You can also – carefully – heat your key with a lighter and insert it into the keyhole to see if this solves the issue.
