An electric strike and a magnetic lock solve the same basic problem — releasing a door remotely, on a signal, instead of requiring a mechanical key — but they do it in ways different enough that choosing between them isn't a matter of preference. One replaces a standard strike plate with an electrified version that releases its keeper on command while the door's regular lock keeps functioning normally. The other holds the door shut entirely through magnetic force between an armature plate and an electromagnet, with no mechanical latch involved at all. That difference in mechanism drives almost every other decision that follows, starting with the one that matters most.
Call (407) 792-1378None of this hardware gets installed on instinct. What happens to the door when power fails is a specific, deliberate choice with life-safety consequences, and it's made before a single wire gets run.
Fail-safe means the door unlocks the instant power is lost, for any reason — outage, fire alarm activation, a cut wire. Fail-secure means the opposite: the door stays locked through a power loss and only releases when power is present and a valid signal is sent. These are not marketing terms and they are not interchangeable based on which one sounds more secure. On any door that serves as a required means of egress, code requires fail-safe operation, because a locked exit during a power failure — often the exact moment a fire alarm has also triggered — is a life-safety violation, not a debatable design choice. On an interior door that isn't an egress path, protecting something like a server room or a cash office, fail-secure is frequently the correct call, since staying locked through an outage is the entire point of putting it there.
An electric strike replaces the fixed keeper in a standard strike plate with a pivoting or retracting one, released by a solenoid on signal. The door's actual lock — a mortise or cylindrical lockset — still functions mechanically the entire time; the strike only controls whether its keeper holds the latch or lets it swing free. That means an electric strike can be paired with hardware that already satisfies panic-hardware or fire-rated requirements, since the mechanical release path for someone exiting never depends on the electric component at all.
A magnetic lock has no latch, no bolt, no moving parts to wear — just an electromagnet mounted to the frame holding an armature plate on the door with several hundred to over a thousand pounds of holding force, depending on the unit. That strength is also exactly why maglocks carry additional code requirements on egress doors that electric strikes don't: because there's no mechanical latch a panic bar or lever can override, a maglock on an egress door has to release through a request-to-exit device or a fire alarm interconnect, and typically needs a clearly marked, independently powered emergency release button within reach of the door. Skipping any of that turns a maglock into exactly the kind of locked exit fail-safe hardware is supposed to prevent.
A request-to-exit device — a motion sensor above the door, or a mechanical switch built into a panic bar — signals the access control system that someone inside is leaving, releasing the maglock or strike without ever requiring a card, code, or key. It's the piece that lets a magnetically locked door satisfy code-free egress at all, and it has to trigger reliably before someone reaches the door, not after they've already walked into it expecting it to open.
A door position switch tells the system whether the door is actually closed, which matters because a maglock or strike can't securely hold what isn't fully shut against it — a door left ajar an inch reports as unsecured even if the access system thinks it locked. Behind all of it sits the power supply, sized to the current draw of the lock hardware and, on fail-safe egress applications, typically backed by a battery so the door still behaves correctly through a brief outage rather than being at the mercy of the exact moment utility power drops.
Fail-safe or fail-secure isn't a setting you adjust later — it's decided by what the door protects and whether it's part of the exit path, before installation ever starts. Call (407) 792-1378 to work through which configuration applies to a specific door.
← All Security & Access Hardware servicesYes, but only with a request-to-exit device, fire alarm interconnect, and typically an independently powered emergency release button — a maglock installed without those on an egress door doesn't meet code.
If it's part of the building's required egress path, code determines fail-safe for you. Interior, non-egress doors are decided based on what's being protected and whether staying locked through an outage is actually the goal.
No — because the mechanical lock and latch still function independently of the electric strike, egress through a panic bar or lever generally doesn't depend on the electric release path at all.
Searching locksmith near me in Orlando for a house lockout? We are mobile across metro Orlando and quote the price before we come out. Call (407) 792-1378.
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