Did you recently acquire an expensive piece of jewelry or have some rare (but precious) item you want to keep safe? To be honest, home safes are not the best options for items like these. An ideal place for your precious jewelry or other valuables is a bank. They offer more protection than home safes will. But if you want to keep items such as tapes, hard drives, DVDs, documents, certificates, and records that are near impossible to replace, home safes offer the type of protection you’re looking for.
To make sure you’re choosing the right safe, here are some tips to help you choose a home safe. While inexpensive compared to banks, they offer adequate protection for birth and death certificates, passports, important documents, electronic storage media, or even ammunition you’ve acquired to defend your home.
What to Look Out For
Choosing a home safe can be quite tricky, but if you know what to look out for, the process becomes easier. Here are some tips to help you choose a home safe that suits your needs. Consider factors such as size, security features, fire resistance, and ease of access when making your decision. With these tips, you can find a safe that provides both security and convenience for your valuables.
1. The Size
For starters, you need to know the size of your safe. Stacking the items you’ll put in the safe in a neat pile and measuring the size of the pile, both height and width, is an easy way to determine the size of the safe. Try adding more height to the dimension because as time progresses, chances are, you will get more valuable documents for yourself and your family. You don’t want to leave the safety of the future documents to chance. These tips to help you choose a home safe ensure you consider both your current and future needs for secure storage.
2. Protection
It’s most likely your main concern for choosing a safe is fire. Good thing most safes protect from fire and theft, and some also throw in water protection into the mix. For more guidance on making the right choice, here are some tips to help you choose a home safe that meets all your needs.
Safety from Water
Choosing an appropriate safe for your documents can depend a lot on where you live. For instance, if where you live is prone to flooding, your best option for a safe that is also water-resistant. Here are some tips to help you choose a home safe that fits your needs, ensuring your important documents stay secure, regardless of your location.
Safety from Fire
In case of fire outbreaks, paper documents have to be protected from temperatures above 350 degrees. Go for a safe whose internal temperature will not exceed this temperature during a fire accident. However, tapes, hard drives, and other electronic storage media don’t survive temperatures above 150 degrees. If tapes are among the items that will go in the safe, look for safes that won’t rise above this temperature. This is easy to look for – the information is provided in the safe. For additional guidance, check out these tips to help you choose a home safe that meets your specific needs.
Safety from Burglars
Most house safes are built to withstand burglars. Here’s what Consumer Reports says about safes: “Independent ratings for burglary resistance are less common for home safes than for ones made for commercial users, such as jewelry stores. To determine their burglary-resistance ratings, UL testers go at safes with tools, torches, and even explosives, Drengenberg says. A TL-15 rated safe, for example, can withstand an attack of at least 15 minutes using common tools. If you’re considering a home safe, there are several tips to help you choose a home safe that suits your needs, from understanding the different rating systems to factoring in the level of security you require.
Keep an eye on the kind of locks or the locking mechanism your preferred safe comes with. It’s generally good to go for safes that come with two locks. These types of safes provide the best level of protection for thieves. Here are some tips to help you choose a home safe that meets your security needs.
4. How Portable It Is
Home safes are basically of two types: the Portable and the Unmovable types. While there are portable options available, it’s better to go for safes that aren’t portable to lower the chances of theft – portable safes face a higher risk of being stolen since they are easily movable. If you’re unsure which type is best for your needs, here are some tips to help you choose a home safe that offers maximum security.
5. Let it be Within Your Budget
Protecting your valuables is an investment you are making, not just for the present but for the future. For this reason, you need to pick the best safe that falls within your budget. Opting for a low-grade safe when you could have afforded better is a bad idea.
You might say ‘with luck nothing is going to happen.’ But are you willing to depend on luck for the safety of your documents or storage media? Of course not. Murphy’s Law states that if anything can go wrong, it will go wrong. And a lot of things can go wrong. To make an informed decision, here are some tips to help you choose a home safe that offers the right protection. Invest.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What are some important tips to help you choose a home safe?
When choosing a home safe, consider factors like size, security features, fire resistance, water resistance, lock style, portability, and your budget. These tips to help you choose a home safe will ensure your valuables are properly protected.
How can size impact my decision when looking for tips to help you choose a home safe?
The size of the safe is crucial to accommodate both your current and future needs. Stack your valuables and measure their dimensions to determine the ideal safe size. This will ensure the safe offers adequate storage as your collection grows over time.
Are there any tips to help you choose a home safe based on fire protection?
Yes! Look for a safe that offers fire resistance. If you store paper documents, select one that can withstand temperatures over 350°F. For electronic media like hard drives or tapes, look for safes that maintain internal temperatures below 150°F to ensure their survival during a fire.
What are the best tips to help you choose a home safe to protect documents from water damage?
If you live in an area prone to flooding, consider a water-resistant safe. Many safes provide both fire and water protection, keeping your valuable documents safe from unexpected disasters.
How do I choose a home safe based on its security features?
Look for safes with higher burglary resistance ratings, such as a TL-15 rating, which ensures the safe can withstand a 15-minute attack from common burglary tools. Also, consider safes with dual locks for added security.
