Auchlossen Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 I plan to have an exterior built in cupboard by the front door for secure delivery of parcels. This is the age of e-commerce and white vans. Suggestions for security are: Yale type night lock, with instruction to delivery person to release the latch once the parcel is delivered; works ok for one parcel delivery. number code lock, with number code issued to delivery person number code lock, with latch released once parcel is delivered Any other ideas from you lateral thinkers? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tennentslager Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 £160 and it looks...okayish http://www.parcel-drop-box.co.uk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jack Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 I've been looking at this recently. I was originally thinking along the lines you discuss, but I'm concerned about complexity etc. Ideally you could provide an original number for each order, but that's a bit of a pain, and I don't doubt that a lot of delivery people will ignore it. Another approach I'm considering is buying something like this or this and building it into a cupboard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamiehamy Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 I want to put a Yale lock on the phone box and have it by the drive for the same thing - but other half wants it as a mini bar at the back terrace... Might need to find another phone box! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdinand Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 (edited) I am not convinced it needs a lock unless you are in a city and the thing can be reached from the roadside. Once the parcel is inside it is invisible, so the thief has to be present on delivery or following the van. Unless there is something in there every day. Edited January 13, 2017 by Ferdinand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe90 Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 We are going to have a front porch primarily to act as an air lock when entering or leaving to stop heat loss but it will not be locked so perfect for post or parcels, we are out in the sticks tho. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dudda Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 Some of them parcel boxes have pretty small max parcel sizes even if the units themself are quite large. This one which @jack linked to has a max height of 155mm. Thinking about the deliveries I get I'd say only a third, probably less, would fit into it. My latest delivery was an outside light which was about the size of a can of coke yet the box it came with all the packaging and foam was huge and wouldn't fit in most of those parcel boxes. I think the size really needs to be considered and then what happens the ones that don't fit into the parcel box. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferdinand Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 (edited) Were I to want a box of that sort, I would go for something large e.g. lid on top, size of a tea chest to full size door, size of a closet, and with an auto lock door or lid. I think that a porch with an outer door that can be left open is a good idea, and something to hide it behind. An autolock or latch on a porch is a neverrrrr !!!, unless you solve the 'granny stuck between locked doors' issue. Difficult one to balance. F Edited January 13, 2017 by Ferdinand Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerryE Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 A simple unlocked box will be adequate for most uses since the risk of theft really involves someone coming into your property and actually deciding to "open the box" . If this isn't secure enough for you then you need a simple one-way mechanism, i.e. one which makes it easy for a casual caller to leave a parcel but difficult for a second caller to retrieve it. Our neighbour asks delivery drivers to drop any package over her side-gate -- which pretty much achieves this, but might be a problem with fragiles If you do have a side access or gate, then why not make up a short chute at say 1m at 45° into a box so that the parcel drops the last 10cm. This would make it easy for callers to slip a parcel into this and the parcel would slide down the chute into the box, but that it would be extremely difficult to retrieve it. Another option is a 135° swing lid, the sort of things that you see on garbage chutes. But then again, I'm a "make it yourself" sort of guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
readiescards Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 While I've been considering doing something similar the other side of this problem is that I'd say a third of my deliveries need signing for. My proposals: We need some sort of barcode on each house that the delivery man can scan as proof he made the drop. Probably a barcode that changes daily for better security. Or a copy of your finger print. Or every morning before you leave the house you deposit a bit of DNA that the delivery man can take. Or you get your house robot to open the door and sign for the delivery. Or a notice saying the neighbours will sign for it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProDave Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 If I am expecting a signed for parcel when I am out, I leave a note on the door telling the delivery man where to leave it (currently the unlocked pedestrian door into the garage) and they take that note as a "signature" and leave the parcel. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stones Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 We just have a box outside our front door (rented house) for post and parcels. If we are home the postman opens our door and drops the mail on the mat, if out in the box. If we are here we sign, but if not parcels etc are left, it's just that sort of place. All I'm planning for the new house is a wire basket or similar fixed just inside the garage for parcel delivery, as the garage will be left unlocked. I am however planning a metal post box for letters, although I'll perhaps speak to the postie first and see which he would prefer / find easier. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Punter Posted January 14, 2017 Share Posted January 14, 2017 We go for underneath an upturned black recycle box. Fine for clothes and cheaper items. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auchlossen Posted January 20, 2017 Author Share Posted January 20, 2017 Thanks. I did not realise there was already a vibrant range of off-the-peg products on the market, with a [new-to-me] name of parcel drop box. I am impressed by the systems for posting and allowing the parcel to fall gently. I wonder how a box of wine would fare? Maybe not relevant since nobody has offered to send me one since my mother died last year At present I share the view of many that an open place is adequate, and the standing instruction to various delivery companies is to leave in the log shed at my present abode, tho' one 3 letter company usually declines to comply and leaves in the jcb parked at the cattle barns 1 km from home. However my new home is in the village, has no obvious alternative place to leave parcels, and I should like to make a provision whilst I am building the 'perfect' house. I don't really want a 'secure' metal box outside for aesthetic reasons. There is an ideal built in cupboard opportunity adjacent to the front door, wide and deep enough to contain a wine box should my fortune change. I shall just put a yale-type lock on, with instruction on the door for parcel deliverer to release the latch before closing. If it is a huge success, and I feel the need for more sophisticated control via I-phone from the poolside in the south of France, I can always upgrade the lock to something else. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steptoe Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 you could always use one of those cctv doorbells and make a remote locking system on the cupboard using a RPi or arduino or similar, shouldnt be hard to do using a solenoid or similar, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tennentslager Posted January 20, 2017 Share Posted January 20, 2017 5 hours ago, Auchlossen said: Thanks. I did not realise there was already a vibrant range of off-the-peg products on the market, with a [new-to-me] name of parcel drop box. I am impressed by the systems for posting and allowing the parcel to fall gently. I wonder how a box of wine would fare? Maybe not relevant since nobody has offered to send me one since my mother died last year At present I share the view of many that an open place is adequate, and the standing instruction to various delivery companies is to leave in the log shed at my present abode, tho' one 3 letter company usually declines to comply and leaves in the jcb parked at the cattle barns 1 km from home. However my new home is in the village, has no obvious alternative place to leave parcels, and I should like to make a provision whilst I am building the 'perfect' house. I don't really want a 'secure' metal box outside for aesthetic reasons. There is an ideal built in cupboard opportunity adjacent to the front door, wide and deep enough to contain a wine box should my fortune change. I shall just put a yale-type lock on, with instruction on the door for parcel deliverer to release the latch before closing. If it is a huge success, and I feel the need for more sophisticated control via I-phone from the poolside in the south of France, I can always upgrade the lock to something else. Just leave a key in the Yale and tell him to pop it through the post box once he has deposited the parcel and hey presto, you know you have a parcel...simple is best. I have an app for DPD where you post a pic of the alternative deliver place. For me it's the wheel bin for cardboard, up here that's the blue one?simples! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pocster Posted February 20, 2017 Share Posted February 20, 2017 here you go! http://www.pinpod.com 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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