Fireproof Wall Safes vs Fire resistant

Looking for a fireproof wall safe?

Well, first let's talk about what you really want. You want a safe that you can put your valuables in, that is installed in the wall and, if there is a fire in your house, it will protect your valuables and keep them from burning up.

In reality what you want is a "fire resistant" safe. No safe manufacturer touts their safe as being "fireproof"; that would mean that absolutely no damage would be done when fire is applied to the safe at no matter what the temperature. Safe manufacturers cannot guarantee that their safe will protect your valuables through every fire that is out there. If the fire exceeds the temperature that the safe is tested at, it will not keep your valuables from burning to a crisp. If the fire is longer then the time the safe is tested for, your valuables may burn up just the same.

Truthfully, a wall safe cannot be fire resistant. A wall safe has to fit between the studs of a wall (standard spacing is 16" from the middle of each stud to the middle of the next stud) and must fit inside the wall (the usual wall depth is about 3.5"). Since a fire resistant safe has some sort of board or insulation installed on the inside which makes it fire resistant, if you were to add that material to a wall safe, you would have no room for your valuables. Therefore most wall safes give you no fire resistance.

There are a few wall safes that do offer fire resistance, but you will need to back the safe under a staircase or where you have "dead space" behind the wall where you are putting the safe. They give you some fire resistance, but are deeper then the 3.5" of the standard wall. So if you are looking for a fire-resistant wall safe, you will need some additional space behind your wall.