Parcel lockers
For buildings where the lobby has become a warehouse.
Committees usually get in touch after the third parcel in a month has walked out of the lobby. A locker is the fix, and there are two kinds worth fitting. Below is how each one works, what it costs installed, and how many compartments your building actually needs.
- Keyed, 12
- From $9,800
- 12 compartments, installed, no power needed
- Code-entry, 18
- From $16,500
- 18 compartments, installed, needs a power supply
- Lead time
- About 6 weeks
- From deposit, either kind
Side by Side
Keyed or code-entry
Both are steel, both are fitted by us, both carry the same 5-year hardware guarantee. The difference is what opens the door, and who has to look after it.
| Question | Keyed | Code-entry |
|---|---|---|
| Installed price | From $9,80012 compartments in mixed sizes | From $16,50018 compartments in mixed sizes |
| How residents get in | The courier locks the parcel in and drops that compartment's key through the resident's letterbox slot. The resident opens up, takes the parcel, and the key stays captive in the lock for the next delivery. | Each unit has its own PIN. The courier picks the unit number at the panel, a free compartment of the right size opens, and the resident's own PIN opens it again. The panel shows which units have something waiting. |
| Lost key or code | A replacement cut by us, with written say-so from the building manager or committee. If the lock itself has to change, $38 plus the call-out. | The building manager resets that unit's PIN at the panel in about a minute. No locksmith, no call-out. |
| Power | None. Nothing to wire, nothing to fail in a power cut. | A power point within 2 metres, run by your electrician before install day. A mechanical override key opens every door if the power is off. |
| Lead time | About 6 weeks from deposit | About 6 weeks from deposit |
| Our honest take | Simple, cheap to run, and the only thing that can break is a key. Our pick for buildings under about 40 units with a manager who doesn't mind holding spares. | Worth the extra in bigger buildings and anywhere keys keep walking off. It costs more, needs power, and gives the manager one more thing to look after. |
Plates I-IV
Configurations
Four standard sizes, every one mixing small and larger compartments, because parcels are not all shoeboxes. All 450 mm deep. Modules sit side by side when one is not enough.
-
Pl. I
6 compartments760 wide, 1,200 high, 450 deep, in mm. Typical for buildings of up to 20 apartments. -
Pl. II
12 compartments, keyed1,140 wide, 1,800 high, 450 deep, in mm. Up to 44 apartments. From $9,800 installed. -
Pl. III
18 compartments, code-entry1,520 wide, 1,800 high, 450 deep, in mm. Up to 68 apartments. From $16,500 installed. -
Pl. IV
24 compartments1,900 wide, 1,800 high, 450 deep, in mm. Up to 92 apartments. Keyed or code-entry, quoted after the survey.
Rule of Thumb
Sizing
One compartment for every four apartments, then one more for the person who orders everything. Every building has one. Some have three.
Apartments41Compartments
| Building | Divided by four | Plus one | What we would fit |
|---|---|---|---|
| 24 units | 6 | 7 | The 12-compartment keyed locker. The 6 is one short, and the person who orders everything will find that out by the second week. |
| 48 units | 12 | 13 | The 18-compartment code-entry. A keyed 12 works if the committee can live with the odd parcel waiting a day. |
| 96 units | 24 | 25 | The 24-compartment wall with a 6 beside it. Thirty doors, five of them spare for the weeks before Christmas. |
From the Other Side
What couriers need from a locker
A locker that couriers find awkward gets skipped, and the parcel ends up on the lobby floor again. Three things decide it.
A clear drop height
Large compartments low down where the heavy boxes go, small ones above, nothing a courier has to stretch or kneel on the tiles to reach.
Enough light to read a door number
At half past five in June the courier is reading numbers by torchlight. We engrave every compartment and ask the committee to keep a light over the locker.
No app
Someone with forty drops left on the run will not download anything for your building. A key or a code at the panel, and that is the whole list.
Lockers we won't fit
Subscription-app lockers
Residents should not have to sign up to anything to open a door in their own lobby. When the subscription lapses, the lobby is a warehouse again with a locked box in it.
Second-hand units bought online
We can't stand behind locks when we don't know where they've been, or who still has the keys.
Next
Ready to size one? Send your unit count to hello@safemailsys.com.
Next: Prices