I've been listening to a lot of real estate investing podcasts lately. I listened to one where a guy said that he'll re-key his locks once a year because he does short term rentals (vacation properties). Someone asked him if he had considered using electronic deadbolts and electronic access (like a keypad, NFC, etc.). He responded that his biggest worry was having the batteries die on the system when he wasn't around.
I started thinking of ways around this. One, obviously, would be to run power through the door via special hinges (available and relatively cheap). But I thought of another system that might be better. What if you just reversed the location of the lock? Usually the cylinder and deadbolt are in the door and the deadbolt extends into the door frame, but you could easily put it in the wall outside the door and have the deadbolt extend into the door itself. With electronic bolts you could even have several deadbolts around the door if you are really paranoid.
I see an obvious limit to this right off the bat. If you have a limited approach from either side of the door (no wall around the door) then you really can't have something in the wall itself. I currently have this at my house since the door opens to a narrow hallway. But if you are going electronic, then you just need the lock to connect to a motor to move the deadbolt. The key doesn't need to be connected directly.
The other issue with any of these systems is hacking. But every lock has its limits (and most are fairly weak), so this is just a different kind of weak, not necessarily weaker.
Is there something I'm missing? Is is inherently weaker to have the cylinder and deadbolt located in the wall instead of the door?