Is anyone else with a Vera 3 and Yale Door locks having an issue with rapidly dying batteries in their door locks? I have been replacing batteries like crazy lately and I don’t understand why. I finally put a set of Eneloop AA rechargeables in a couple of doors last night.
How often do you have the lock set to poll? I have mine set to 1080 and the batteries last quite a while.
They say the biggest battery drain is caused by resistance opening and closing.
I changed my original battery for the first time in over 3 years… Left all the polling to default. I’d say it should be pretty good.
I have a Schlage lock myself, after 8 months of a minimum 4x open/close motor action and a ton of Z-Wave communication I am still getting 86% battery levels reported via Z-Wave after 8 months, and should be able to get 2-3 years out of them.
My neighbor however had to change his batteries after a couple of months already on the exact same lock model for his home.
Difference being is that I kept adjusting the lock plate, until the deadbolt would lock/open at the slightest force (while still being securely locked). And the Schlage manual clearly states that when the lock is initially added to Z-Wave, the motor will close the lock at light power usage first, and if it feels resistance switch to a heavy power use mode.
It is this heavy power mode that will drain your batteries super fast. I am sure you can compensate for this by using high-power drain batteries, such as the non-rechargable Energizer Ultimate Lithium AA’s, but those are expensive (I use them in Aeon-Labs multi-sensors to be able to measure sub-zero temps, as Alkaline batteries can not handle those temps).
Pretty sure Yale uses an alike system; might force you to first fix the door mechanically allowing it to open/close the lock without any real effort, and then factory reset the lock, before you re-include it. Or whatever is required to have it include itself again at minimal power (manual might mention this, or Yale tech support).
Thanks for all the replies, guys. I will go check the polling rates. I should have also mentioned that I have been using these for months. I recently noticed what appears to be a spike in consumption, coming home to more than one “dead” lock. I suspect the latest firmware on my Vera 3 is a potential culprit. I have issues with my Linear Garage Door interface where I didn’t before.