Safes For Home
If you have decided to purchase a home safe to protect your valuable possessions or documents, you should be aware that all home safes are not created equally.
Home safes come in a variety of sizes and types. You will need to determine what you are going to put in your home safe and what type of protection you need.
There are basically three types main types of home safes; safes designed for fire protection, for theft protection, and a combination of both fire and theft. A fireproof safe can prove invaluable as it provides safety for items that cannot be replaced – such as family heirlooms and valuable jewelry.
Many of the home safes on the market offer double protection meaning they are both fire resistant and burglar resistant.
A good safe will have a UL (Underwriters Laboratories) classification.
Safes For Home Classifications
Fire Resistant Safes are classified by how fire-resistant they are and fall into the following three categories:
- Class C Safe – A safe with a Class C rating will protect paper documents for up to one hour at temperatures up to 1700 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Class B Safe – A safe with a Class B rating will protect paper documents for up to two hours at temperatures up to 1850 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Class A Safe – A safe with a Class A rating will protect paper documents up to four hours at temperatures up to 2000 degrees Fahrenheit.
House fires usually burn at around 1200 degrees Fahrenheit; most fire resistant safes are typically able to withstand temperatures of 1700 degrees Fahrenheit and can maintain an internal temperature of 350 degrees Fahrenheit, protecting documents or other valuable items.
Data Safes are recommended when it comes to media content such as CD’s, tapes, and diskettes as these items can be destroyed if the temperature rises above 150 degrees Fahrenheit. Data Safes are designed to maintain an internal temperature of 150 degrees Fahrenheit or less with external temperatures reaching up to 1700 degrees Fahrenheit.
Burglar Resistant Safes are rated by how difficult it is to break into the safe and the types of tools used. These safes fall into the following categories:
- TL-15 – A safe with this rating has a combination lock and resists break-ins for up to 15 minutes by a thief using hand tools, portable electric tools, picking tools, carbide drills, devices used to apply pressure, and grinding tools
- TL-30 – A safe with this rating has a combination lock and resists break-ins for up to 30 minutes by a thief using the tools stated above in for the TL-15 rated safe.
- TRTR-30 – A safe with this rating is basically the same as a TL-30 safe except it has added protection against gas cutting tools or welding torches.
- TRTL-60 – A safe with this rating provides the same protection as the TRTL-30 with an additional 30 minutes to prevent break-ins.
- TXTL-60 – A safe with this rating provides the same protection as the TRTL-60 with additional protection against explosives.
When looking at home safes it’s important to choose the right type of safe as it will mean the difference between saving your valuables and losing them.