The spare key acts as a backup if the original key gets lost or damaged beyond use. Surprisingly, some homeowners don’t carry a backup. Most have a spare key, but you still have a select group that doesn’t carry a spare. Considering how an estimated 37 percent of homeowners will lose a key in their lifetime, spare keys can save you from a lot of trouble. Everyone from homeowners to business owners to car owners should have a backup. Let’s have a look at why spare keys matter.
Ease Emergency Situations
Many parents have accidentally locked a young child in the home alone. The danger comes from how young and energetic children can get into anything without supervision. The dangers include playing with the oven to finding small items that he could choke on. Having a spare key hidden nearby, you can enter the home quickly without incident. Without a spare, it would be best if you called 911 in this scenario because you have to get to the child as soon as possible. Don’t even Google, “Locksmith near me” because this type of situation requires immediate action with children under the age of four.
Preventing accidental lockouts through a spare key lends you peace of mind. You don’t have to stress, and in an emergency, you can enter the premises quickly.
Spare Keys Snapped
After keys age past the seven-year mark, they become more fragile and have a higher risk of breaking. Keys that experience heavy use also face this risk. With a spare key, you switch over to it if you start to see signs of damage. For example, you see minor cracks along the shaft, which means your key could be in danger of breaking. The spare key ensures that you can safely replace the damaged key before it breaks off in the lock. That saves you anywhere from $97 to $213 for a locksmith visit. You can usually expect a key broken off into the lock to cost at least that much.
Saves Money and Reduces Stress
A spare key saves you on cash. You don’t have to hire a locksmith for one reason or the other because you can simply pull out the spare. Having a spare also lowers your stress levels. You don’t have to wait helplessly because you can quickly pull out the spare. It would feel embarrassing to have to call 911 because you locked your keys in the home, but with a small child, you would be wise if you were to do it because you don’t know what he might get into alone.
Replace Your Key Easily
If you lose a key without a spare, the cost depends on the type of key lost. With a spare, you can clone the key, which costs less. After you have lost or broken a key, the local locksmith asks for the spare. To duplicate a spare, the process is less tedious than replacing the key altogether. When you have no spare, the locksmith will have to disassemble the lock and resort to cumbersome key replacement. As you can imagine, that takes more time than cloning a key. Cloning only takes several minutes.
Individual Key Settings
In particular, this advantage speaks more to cars because you can set individual settings with a car key. You might have two drivers for one car who have different preferences when it comes to their car settings. With most of the newer vehicles, the mirrors, the automatic seats and the temperature settings will all get controlled through the key settings of each driver. You can save the configuration for each driver to save time adjusting.
More Convenience for Multiple Users
You get far greater convenience with a spare because you can have multiple people in the home with a key. Without a spare, you will have to wait for the other person to get home to get inside. Carrying a spare in some form, you have much greater flexibility. However, the one thing to keep in mind is that the more spare keys you have, the less secure your home. That’s because any one of the people with a spare could make a secret copy without your awareness of it. They could come back later to burglarize the home. You want a spare or two, but you don’t want to have three or four unnecessary copies.
How Many Spare Keys Should You Have?
In general, you want to have one key for each occupant and a spare key. If you have five people in the home, a spare key may not be necessary because the likelihood of all five people losing their keys at the same time are low. Again, this looks at the principle of how more keys lying around mean less security. Those who have two people in the home might have two keys and one spare. The more people who have keys, the less need for a spare.
How Should You Store a Spare?
Avoid hiding a spare anywhere obvious like under the doormat because many burglars check this hiding place. The fake rock has also become an obvious hiding spot, but vinyl siding is less known. Where you hide your spare key doesn’t matter as long as it isn’t obvious. Don’t go with the conventional hiding places because burglars will most likely check this.
Having a spare keeps you from having to Google, “Locksmith near me.” Locksmiths come in handy when needed. At A1 Locksmith in Philadelphia, we have the knowledge to help you with your locks. We can help you get back inside quickly. Through our company, we can provide you with the spare keys needed. The process is quick and inexpensive, and it makes sense to have a spare before you lose your original key.