Home Safes Protect Your Most Cherished Possessions
Home safes offer protection for many types of items. You can store photographs, hand guns, rifles, collectibles, money, medication, and personal papers that deal with your identity inside the right home safe. But to make sure you are getting the right protection, you have to understand the type of safe you are purchasing.
Fireproof Safes - Fire safes offer protection from fire but often do not do a good job of protecting your valuables from burglars.A fire safe is usually two metal boxes, one inside the other with insulation from heat and fire in between. They normally provide one to two hours of protection during a fire. The insulation can be a wet insulation that is "blown in" between the boxes or it can be a fireboard.
Protect your records from fire | ||
One of the most popular home safes in our brick and mortar stores. |
When a safe with wet insulation is in a fire, the heat from the fire causes the wet insulation to create steam which stops the heat from penetrating into the safe and destroying the contents. These safes can be easier to penetrate by attacking the walls since they are usually made of a thin sheet metal. Home safes with fireboard which is applied to the interior of the safe are usually placed in safes that have a RSC (Residential Security Container) listing. This allows for a little better protection from burglars. The wallboard is impregnated with fire retardant and thus keeps the heat and fire out of the safe. It is a "Type X" fireboard.
Home fire safes are usually sold at stationery or big box stores. You can usually load this safe into the trunk of your car, take it home and load your valuables into it. Since you do not want to put any type of hole into this unit, you can't bolt it down, thus you make a great container with your valuables in it for a thief to just walk out with.
Today's high security TL30 safes offer a new composite fire resistant material that protects your valuables for up to two hours when the fire reaches up to 1850 degrees. The interior of the safe remains below 350 degrees. These are commercial-quality jewelry safes used by jewelry and coin stores to protect large amounts of valuables.
Burglary Safes - Home burglary safes offer protection from burglars and break-in yet do not protect your valuables from fire.
Burglary safes are constructed of metal with no real protection against fire. They have a tendency to be like little ovens when heat is applied to the outside of the unit. It magnifies the heat and your valuables tend to "cook" inside. Make sure that if you are storing paperwork such as deeds, pink slips, or other important documents that you purchase a combination fire and burglary safe.
These can range from smaller boxes to large safe units.
Burglary/Fire Safes - Home safes that offer protection from both fire and burglary.
Burglary and fire safes are tougher safes that keep your valuables safe from burglars, fire and other threats. If you are looking for a good home safe that offers this protection, look to one of the following lines to give you the protection you need:
- Cannon Safe Company
- Liberty Safe Company
- Winchester Safe Company
- American Security Safe Company
- Original Safe Company
If you need a home or office safe, these safes will offer you the protection you require. If you are in doubt of exactly what kind of protection you need, check out our page on how to decide what protection you need in home safes.
