With good reason most people rank safety and security within their homes near the top of their priority lists. No one wants to worry about intruders while they're sleeping or falling prey to burglars when they're away. Therefore, home security door locks are items which need a lot of careful consideration before buying. Locks come in many types and styles, and both the lock and the way the lock mounts are important factors in keeping your home safe.

Front doors are usually given top priority when people start thinking about security even though every exterior door and window can provide a point of entry for intruders. You'll find that some areas of the country have building codes which deal with door security. These statutes may require a certain type of deadbolt on a rental property. Or they may disallow the use of the double deadbolts which require a key before people can get out of the building in an emergency.

Double dead bolt home security locks do a good job of keeping intruders from being able to break through window panes, reach in, and unlock doors from the inside. However they can present a problem in emergency situations for the occupants of the house. For instance, if there's a fire and they can't get to the key, or have lost the key, they wouldn't be able to safely escape through the door. A "captured key" however has a mechanism that provides the same security from intruders, but still allows the people of the house to escape safely.

All really good home security door locks will normally have a deadbolt associated with them that should hold even if the lock is picked. The real secret to a good, protective lock, though, is in the strike plate or box that the bolt portion enters. Most security experts say a bolt needs to be at least one inch long or more to be resistant enough to kicking and prying.

Where the bolt goes is also important for good home security door locks. Using a strike box instead of just a strike plate really improves the security of any brand of lock and can make a big difference in safety without having to change the locks themselves. A strike box only costs about $10 per door, a really thrifty security measure. For best results with either a strike plate or box, it should be anchored with three inch long or better screws or nails.

Cost-conscious consumers often find that a more expensive home security door lock is a more secure lock and justifies the higher initial investment. The fact that many of the high security steel locks can withstand thousands of pounds of pressure is appealing to buyers and has increased the popularity of this type of lock.