Buying a fireproof safe? Then read this article for some tips on getting the most out of your purchase.
First, determine the kind of fireproof safe you need. Do you just want to protect cash and other valuable papers, or will media such as CDs and computer disks need to be stored as well? Fireproof safes designed to protect the latter will need to have a UL 125 or UL72 rating. Otherwise, though the safe itself will be fine, your media will melt from the heat of a fire!
Speaking of UL, make sure that any safe you consider is UL Listed, which means that it passed Underwriters Laboratories’ stringent tests. And speaking of tests, also make sure that your floor can support the weight of your safe! In most cases things should be fine, but for heavy-duty industrial-strength models it is better safe than sorry, and you may actually need to hire a properly qualified building engineer to inspect the structural integrity of your home.
The other major consideration to make when buying fireproof safes is how long the protection should last. For the word “fireproof” is quite a misnomer: these safes are nowhere near fireproof but are instead fire-resistant for various lengths of time.
Generally speaking, three hours is about the longest most models available on the market today will withstand a fire. Luckily, statistics report that the average fire lasts only twenty minutes, so if you live in a major metropolis with its own full-time dedicated fire department, chances are you won’t need anything rated better than one hour’s worth of fire protection. The third major factor to consider in a purchase would be whether you want a safe with an impact rating, which means that it has been tested to maintain structural integrity from a fall of thirty feet, simulating the effects of a ceiling collapse in the event of fire.