Archive for the ‘Safes’ Category
Sunday, January 24th, 2010
A fireproof safe is a locked safe designed to keep the contents inside, safe from fire or extremely high heat. Fireproof safes are one of the best ways to store your important documents and your valuables. Fireproof safes come in many different sizes and are designed for different purposes.
What Does Fireproof Mean?
While fireproof safes come in all shapes and sizes, they are all resistant to damage by fire. Fireproof safes are usually made from metal, typically steel, in the shape of a hollow cube. There is a hinged door on the front of the fireproof safe and some sort of locking mechanism is located on the door. Fireproof safes are rated by their ability to withstand high temperatures. The fireproof safe is tested to determine the length of time it can maintain an internal temperature of less than 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Fireproof safes are rated in increments typically ranging from .5 hours to 4 hours.
Fireproof safes can also receive an impact rating, telling of their ability to withstand being dropped from a substantial height.
Types of Fireproof Safes
Small, personal fireproof safes are designed to hold your important documents such a birth certificates and passports. These can range in size from a document-sized box to a larger fireproof safe designed to fit in a closet or a home office. The exterior of these fireproof safes tends to try to be appealing, as most people want their fireproof safes to be accessible, but not to stand out and be noticeable in a room.
Fireproof Safe for Home
An example of an economical and practical fireproof safe is the Phoenix 502 Fire Fighter Fire Resistant Record Safe 1 HR. This fireproof safe is rated 350-1.0 Hour, meaning it can maintain an internal temperature of 350 degrees for one hour. This fireproof safe is designed to resist water damage that can occur when a fire is being fought with hoses or sprinklers. It includes a keypad lock. Featuring two deadbolt locks on the hinge side of the door, this fireproof safe impedes a thief’s ability to gain access to the valuables inside.
Fireproof Safe for Office
Larger fireproof safes were created to house the valuables of a business. Irreplaceable documents, valuable computer backups, and vital records for your company should be stored in a fireproof safe. Fireproof safes can come in sizes that are as large as a room. Often, a larger fireproof safe is a more economical solution to storage issues than many small ones. Fireproof safes designed for this type of business storage should be able to maintain an internal temperature of 125 degrees. This internal temperature will ensure that storage media will remain intact during a fire for a certain period of time. A FireKing DM1413-3 Three Hour Fire, Impact Rated Data Safe is an example of a fireproof safe designed to keep your documents and your data safe.
Fireproof safes are an investment in the safety of your most precious possessions. Carefully choose the fireproof safe that meets your security needs.
For more information about fireproof safes, please visit iShopit.com
Tags: before, Birth Certificates, Degrees Fahrenheit, Everything, Fire Fighter, Fireproof, Fireproof Safe, Fireproof Safes, High Heat, High Temperatures, Hoses, Increments, Internal Temperature, Keypad Lock, Know, Length Of Time, Need, Passports, People, Phoenix, purchase, Safes, Shape, Shapes And Sizes, Sprinklers, Valuables, Water Damage
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Wednesday, January 20th, 2010
Liberty safes are just one brand of many great safes on the market to protect your guns, valuables, collectibles, important documents, family heirlooms or whatever you might have that you want to protect from fire or theft. But one thing that Liberty offers to make them stand a part from the rest is their Lifetime Warranty. Liberty protects against both fire or attempted break-in. A few of the highlighted points of their warranty include:
Guaranteed for Life Free Safe Replacement Free Delivery (of replacement) Transferable Warranty
There are some great stories about Liberty safes that have survived fires and natural disasters. No one expects these types of things to happen to them, but it does happen and those who get through with the most hope are those who are prepared.
One tragic incident in recent history were the wild fires of 2007 in Southern California. The winds were blowing with gusts up to 80 mile per hour and the fire reached temperatures up to 2000?F. The fire was so bad that fire fighters described it as a “horizontal blow torch”. Many people, including Kim Crossler, faced mandatory evacuation. Kim and his wife placed many personal items in their Liberty safe before fleeing the area. After the fire burned its course and they were allowed to return, they found nothing left of their home except their charred safe. They contacted Liberty about opening the safe. Once opened, they were happy to discover that all of the contents inside the safe was intact, the only indication of the fire and extreme heat was the curling on the corners of a few family photos. The Crosslers were much more fortunate than most people, they had items that survived the devastation, items protected in their safe. Other people had safes, but not all made it through such extreme wild fires, but the Liberty safes did.
Not only are Liberty safes built to withstand extreme fires and attempted break-ins, but Shane Woodson’s Liberty withstood an F4 tornado in Jackson, Tennessee in February 2005. Tornado’s are rated on the Fujita scale from F0 to F5, with F5 being the worst type, total destruction, tornado. Only about 1% of all tornados earn a rating of F4. This magnitude of a tornado has winds ranging from 207 – 260 mph, and has a damage path ranging from 400 – 900 meters across. This type of tornado is devastating, even well constructed houses are leveled and weak structures are blown away, cars are thrown and large missiles generated. Shane’s Liberty safe was picked up and thrown 200 feet and was still connected to part of the floor when he found it. The safe was beat up a bit, but everything inside survived.
One key feature in all Liberty safes is that they have fully penetrated wells in both the body and the one piece composite doors. Experience has shown that this type of construction gives a strong and rigid safe door and body which is key to maintaining a safes structure during a fire, break in or even an F4 tornado. As Shane Woodson said, “You guys make one tough safe.”
Like the fire, many people experienced total loss and devastation, but for at least one Liberty safe owner, important items were preserved giving him a strong basis for starting over. All safes offer a degree of protection, but Liberty safes have proven in real life situations to withstand extreme circumstances. And not only were their items preserved, but under warranty, they did not have to purchase a new safe! These are just a few of the stories of real people who were glad they had the protection of a great home safe.
Tags: Devastation, Examples, Extreme Heat, F4 Tornado, Family Heirlooms, Family Photos, Fire Fighters, Free Delivery, Gusts, Ins, Liberty, Liberty Safes, Life, Lifetime Warranty, Mandatory Evacuation, Natural Disasters, Real, Recent History, Safes, Shane, Southern California, Toughness, Tragic Incident, Transferable Warranty, Wild Fires
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Friday, January 15th, 2010
Keeping valuables safe is a pressing issue for most families and businesses. Families have documents, jewelry, and heirlooms that are often irreplaceable. Keeping those valuables secure in an electronic safe, like a Sentry Safe, can bring peace of mind. Researching electronic safes and finding an electronic safe that matches your needs often offers reassurance to a small business owner as well. Defining your electronic safe needs is a helpful way to start your search for an electronic safe.
There are different options for safe entry available, whether they are keyed or electronic digital keypad or combination locks. There are varying degrees of cash ratings, which affect the security levels and locking mechanisms of the safes, such as dual locking, maybe with key and electronic, key and combination, or combination and electronic digital access locks. Time rating is the time delay required to compromise the safe door by picking locks or by tampering with tools or experimenting with combinations. It also measures the time to get through a certain thickness of door.
In a business, with employee turnover, it is reassuring to know that digital electronic or combination entry can be easily and immediately reprogrammed, when you have terminated an employee. If terminated employees are aware of this ability, they will automatically assume that is the first thing you did when they left. Keys can be “lost”, making it necessary to have the lock changed or the lock drilled and re-keyed to protect against a terminated employee or “lost” keys and this is often dependent on a locksmith coming out. With combination and electronic access safe locks, you can change the door-lock combination, or digital electronic safe combination, without telling anyone, anytime you desire. Some business owners make a habit of changing their combinations on a regular basis for security purposes.
At home, with a personal safe, the same is true, it is possible for you to lose a key and if you hide it in the house, a thief could possibly find it. If you lose a set of keys, not only are your car and home compromised if the thief knows where you live, but your safe key may be on there as well, giving access to a safe with your cash, valuables, jewelry and maybe even important identification documents. With a digital electronic safe lock, you can immediately change the combination, if you think it has been compromised or at random, so you are not dependent on noticing whether a key has been lost or having a locksmith appointment to change the lock.
In business and personal safes, multiple degrees of security can be found in way of time-delayed entry to waylay tampering or that have safe door destruction in case of theft or burglary. Safes are also rated by the amount of currency they hold and increasing security and safety measures built to increase as currency levels increase. All safe cash rating is based on the amount of insurance cover for overnight storage they contain, and ten times the amount for jewelry and valuable storage. Since many of these are protected by both electronic digital and key locks, it could be argued that electronic digital locks are the safest, but the combination of the two together provides a higher level found on most of the higher cash rating safes.
Safes can be installed into concrete floors, which offers added insulation from fire and a keyed lock may survive a fire, where a digital electronic lock may not. By consulting with your safe security expert, you will be able to find a solution to keep your hard-earned personal and business valuables protected, no matter what type of locking mechanism you desire.
Electronic safes are a good investment and enable you to secure your valuables in your home or business. Explore the various electronic safe options available and match an electronic safe with your needs.
For further information on electronic safes and information on Phoenix or Sentry Safes, check out http://www.ishopit.com/.
Tags: Combination Locks, Cons, Digital Keypad, Electronic, Electronic Access, Electronic Key, Electronic Safe, Electronic Safes, Employee Turnover, Heirlooms, Key Safes, Locksmith, Peace Of Mind, Picking Locks, Pros, Pros And Cons, Reassurance, Safe Locks, Safes, Security Levels, Security Purposes, Sentry Safe, Small Business Owner, Time Rating
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Monday, January 11th, 2010
Steel safes are designed to be nearly indestructible. Steel safes are heavy and difficult to move. Many steel safes are designed to be fireproof and flood proof. Because you want to safeguard the things that are valuable to your home or office, you will want to choose a steel safe that is high quality and that meets your security needs.
The Phoenix 1222 Olympian Steel Office/Home Fire Proof Safe includes many of the features you would be looking for in a steel safe. This steel safe is sized to fit under a desk or in a cabinet. The body of this steel safe is formed from galvanized steel plate. This steel safe has a recessed door, protecting the contents of the steel safe from smoke or water damage during a fire. This includes protecting the contents of the steel safe from water from sprinklers or fire hoses. This steel safe has a UL (Underwriters Laboratory) rating of 350 for one hour. This means that this steel safe will maintain an internal temperature of less than 350 degrees Fahrenheit for one hour when exposed to excessive heat or fire. This UL rating makes this steel safe a great choice for documents and other paper valuables. The ability to be bolted to the floor is an important feature of this steel safe. This steel safe can be bolted down using intumescent plugs. In the event of a fire, these plugs on this steel safe will expand when exposed to heat and will seal the safe to the floor. If theft of the steel safe is a concern, this is an especially appealing feature. On the hinge side of this steel safe are two dead bolts. If the hinges on this steel safe are ever removed, the dead bolts remain in place, keeping the door securely fastened. The myriad of safety features on this Phoenix safe make it a solid choice for your security needs.
The Phoenix 1233 Olympian Steel Office/Home Fire Proof Safe is another quality safe to look at when searching for a steel safe for your home or office. This steel safe has a 1.30 cubic foot capacity and has a UL rating of 350 for 1 hour. This rating and capacity make this steel safe ideal for storing documents in your home or office. This steel safe has a modern, compact design created to augment the décor of your home or office. This steel safe only comes in the color white. This steel safe has a recommended cash risk of $2,200 and a valuables risk of $22,000. It is not recommended you keep more than this stored in this steel safe. This steel safe has both a key and combination lock. A bolt down kit comes with this steel safe.
There are a variety of steel safes available to meet your home or office needs. Take some time to identify your needs and to find a steel safe to match those needs.
Please visit www.ishopit.com for further information on steel safes.
Tags: Dead Bolts, Desk, Excessive Heat, Exposed, Fahrenheit, Fire Hoses, Fire Proof Safe, Flood Proof, Galvanized Steel, Galvanized Steel Plate, Hinge, Hinges, Home Fire, Internal Temperature, Myriad, Phoenix Fire, Safes, Safety Features, Sprinklers, Steel, Ul Rating, Underwriters Laboratory, Water Damage
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Tuesday, December 29th, 2009
Steel safes from companies such as Phoenix or Sentry are designed to be nearly indestructible, and difficult to move/steal. Most steel safes are also designed to be fireproof and flood proof. Some safes are even data fire proofed meaning the temperature inside will not be any more than 125 degrees, even with at 1200+ degree fire burning all around the safe. If you have things of value, placing them in a steel safe with the right features would be a smart decision.
The Phoenix 1231 Olympian Steel Office/Home Fire Proof Safe includes many of the features you would be looking for in a steel safe. This steel safe is sized to fit under a desk or in a cabinet. The body of this safe is made of galvanized steel. This steel safe has a recessed door, protecting the contents of the steel safe from smoke, heat or water damage during a fire, or any other natural disaster. This steel safe has a UL (Underwriters Laboratory) rating of 350 for one hour. This means that this steel safe will maintain an internal temperature of less than 350 degrees Fahrenheit for one hour when exposed to excessive heat or fire. This rating makes this steel safe a great choice for any papers of value. The ability to be bolted to the floor is an important feature of this steel safe. This steel safe can be bolted down into the floor. In the event of a fire, these plugs on this steel safe will expand when exposed to heat and will seal the safe in to the floor. On the hinge side of this steel safe are two dead bolts. If the hinges on this steel safe are ever removed, the dead bolts remain in place, keeping the door securely fastened. The myriad of safety features on this Phoenix safe make it a solid choice for your security needs.
The Phoenix 1233 Olympian Steel Office/Home Fire Proof Safe is another quality safe to look at if your in the market for one. This steel safe has a 1.30 cubic foot capacity and has a UL rating of 350 for 1 hour. This rating and capacity make this steel safe ideal for storing documents in your home or office. This steel safe has a modern, compact design created to augment the décor of your home or office. This steel safe comes in a white. This steel safe has a recommended cash risk of $2,200 and a valuables risk of $22,000. It is not recommended you keep more than this stored in this steel safe. This steel safe has both a combination and key lock. A bolt kit comes with this steel safe so that you can permantly anchor it into the floor.
There are many companies that manufacture Steel Safes, however Phoenix and Sentry Safes seem to have the reputation for being durable reliable companies when it comes to Steel Safes. Take some time to identify your needs and to find a steel safe to match those needs.
If you’re looking for a container to safeguard such products, look for one that carries a Class 125 rating from Underwriters Laboratories for one-half hour or longer, up to a maximum of four hours. That means it will maintain an interior temperature below 125 degrees Fahrenheit and humidity below 80 percent when subjected to exterior temperatures ranging from 1,550 degrees (for the one half-hour rating) to 2,000 degrees (for the four-hour rating). Most products sold for use in the home carry the half-hour or one-hour rating.
For protection of valuable or hard-to-replace paper documents, look for a UL 350 classification. That means the chest, safe or filing cabinet will maintain an interior temperature below 350 degrees when exposed to temperatures ranging from 1,550 degrees (for the half-hour rating) to 2,000 degrees (for the r four-hour rating).
These UL ratings also signify that the product has survived UL’s combined explosion hazard/impact test. In this test, the product is subjected to 2,000-degree heat for 30 minutes, dropped 30 feet onto a riprap of broken bricks and concrete, then reheated to 1,550 degrees for 30 more minutes. If it doesn’t explode, it passes the test.
Some proven quality manufacturers of fireproof safes are Fire King, Sentry, and Phoenix.
Tags: Data Fire, Dead Bolts, Degree Fire, Excessive Heat, Fire Proof Safe, Flood Proof, Galvanized Steel, Hinge, Hinges, Home Fire, Internal Temperature, Natural Disaster, Safes, Safety Features, Secure, Sentry, Smart Decision, Stee, Steel, Steel Safes, Ul Rating, Underwriters Laboratory, Water Damage
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Wednesday, December 16th, 2009
Keeping valuables safe is a pressing issue for most families and businesses. Families have documents, jewelry, and heirlooms that are often irreplaceable. Keeping those valuables secure in an electronic safe, like a Sentry Safes, can bring peace of mind. Researching electronic safes and finding an electronic safe that matches your needs often offers reassurance to a small business owner as well. Defining your electronic safe needs is a helpful way to start your search for an electronic safe.
An Electronic safe is essentially a metal box designed to be a stronghold against unwanted tampering. An electronic safe is often designed to withstand natural disasters, such as fire or flood. Safes can have different types of locking mechanisms, but electronic safes have locking mechanisms that use electric current to work. The most common form of this type of electronic lock is a keypad. Electronic safes with keypads are now fairly commonly used in hotel security. Hotel rooms often have electronic safes in the closets or cabinets. You can program these electronic locks by resetting the numbers on the keypad. These electronic safes usually use four to six digit codes that can be easily reset by the next guest. The ease of resetting an electronic safe is one of its assets.
Underwriters Laboratories (UL) rates electronic safes on their fireproof abilities. An electronic safe should have a rating of at least UL Class 125 1 Hour. This means that the interior temperature of the safe must not be raised above 125 degrees Fahrenheit for thirty minutes when exposed to fire and extremely high temperatures. The electronic safe must maintain an interior humidity of 80% to receive this rating. Electronic safes must also be explosion and impact tested. You’ll want an electronic safe with this rating to ensure that the electronic safe can withstand exposure to fire and that if it is stolen, the electronic safe will be very difficult to break into.
Some electronic safes offer the option of being able to be bolted to the floor. Bolting an electronic safe to the floor inhibits the ability of the electronic safe to be stolen. If this option is important to you, look for an electronic safe that has the ability to be bolted to the floor. Choose the proper size of electronic safe that meets your needs. Many electronic safes offer interior shelves that can be positioned at many different levels. Some electronic safes offer interior compartments designed to meet your storage needs. Depository electronic safes offer the ability for money or other items to be “dropped” into the safe. These electronic safes are a good investment for a business involving a great deal of cash. Often, the employees of the store do not know the code for the electronic safe and while they are able to put money in, they cannot take anything out of the electronic safe.
Electronic safes are a good investment and enable you to secure your valuables in your home or business. Explore the various electronic safe options available and match an electronic safe with your needs.
For further information on electronic safes and information on Phoenix or Sentry Safes, check out iShopit.com
Tags: Benefits, Closets, Electronic, Electronic Lock, Electronic Locks, Electronic Safe, Electronic Safes, Fahrenheit, haveing, Heirlooms, High Temperatures, Hotel Rooms, Hotel Security, Interior Temperature, Natural Disasters, Peace Of Mind, Reassurance, Safes, Sentry Safes, Small Business Owner, Stronghold, Tampering, That Matches Your Needs, Underwriters Laboratories
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Saturday, December 12th, 2009
There are two basic types of safes, fire and burglary. Obviously, a fire safe is to protect against fire and the other against theft. Today, all safes will protects to some degree against both, but few offer strong fire and theft protection. This is because of the type of construction used in a fire or burglary safe is different, and what makes a safe protect against fire can make it vulnerable to theft. A fire safe typically has thin metal walls with insulating material (often called fire board) sandwiched between them. This makes the safe vulnerable to a forcible attack. But a safe built to safeguard against burglary needs to have thick steel walls, and this can cause the safe’s interior to heat up too quickly during a fire to offer the type of protection needed to survive a hot blaze.
A really strong safe that is designed to protect against burglary and extreme fire is usually two safes combined into one: a burglary safe inside a fire safe. A top notch safe that protects against both extremes can be really expensive, but most safes offer a degree of both fire and theft protection. Only you know what you need based upon where you live and what you have to protect.
One thing that makes it easy to judge the fire capacity of a safe is that all major brand safes use the independent testing of Underwriters Laboratories (UL) which uses standard fire ratings. This allows you to easily compare different brands. There are a few different ratings, but include ratings such as 350-1, 350-2 and 350-4. The important thing to recognize in these numbers is that the first number indicates the temperature inside the safe, and the second number indicates the length of time in hours. So a 350-1 means that the internal temperature shouldn’t exceed 350?F during the first hour of a typical home fire. Fire safes with a 350 class rating is good for storing paper documents because paper chars at 405?F, but may not be good enough for digital media. The external fire temperatures that these safes undergo during testing to receive a rating ranges from 1700?F to 1850?F. Be aware, that sometimes companies express their safe’s rating according to the outside temperature that the safe can withstand and is helpful, but the inside temperature is what you need to know for protection.
Offering good fire safes is a priority to most major safe manufacturers. In a current survey by Sentry Safe, fire protection, at 69%, is the most important type of protection that people are looking for in a safe. Second comes security, then water protection and finally media protection.
According to Liberty Safe, there are three areas for optimal fire protection.
The amount of fire board in a safe, the more layers, the more protection. The overall construction of the safe, not just what materials are used but how they are used. Along with this idea, Browning mentions the importance of a high temperature fire seal surrounding the perimeter of the door. The steel content of the safe which provides the rigidity needed for the fire board.
Just remember when purchasing a fire safe, none of them are “fire proof”. Due to the limitations of available material, all safe’s are susceptible to fire and heat damage at extreme temperatures for extended lengths of time. But a top quality safe that uses the best material and is correctly assembled can be “fire resistant” at high temperatures for long lengths of time. It is important to take into consideration your personal needs when deciding what amount of protection you need in a fire safe.
Tags: Blaze, Burglary Safe, Chars, External Fire, Extremes, Fire, Fire And Theft, Fire Board, Fire Fire, Fire Ratings, Fire Safe, Home Fire, Important, Information, Insulating Material, Internal Temperature, Length Of Time, Metal Walls, Paper Documents, Purchasing, Safes, Thick Steel Walls, Thin Metal, Top Notch, Underwriters Laboratories
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Thursday, December 3rd, 2009
Most people purchase a safe to protect personal valuables from fire or theft. Your circumstances, as well as personal preferences, determines your needs in what type of safe you need. There are a lot of safes out there, especially if you take into account all the small and portable safes. But when it comes to the larger home and gun safes, there are three main styles based upon where the safe is placed. Those three styles are floor, in-floor and wall safes.
When I think of wall safes, I think of TV or movies and safecracking. Such as Jennifer Garner in Alias having to steal the priceless Rambaldi artifact from the bad guy’s office safe. In movies, the safe seems to usually be hidden behind a picture, like in the Thomas Crown Affair, so that may not be the best way to disguise wall safe since that would be the first place any movie goer would look.
Wall safes are usually smaller than floor safes, are not very difficult to install, and provide convenient storage for important items. Of course, if installed in dry wall, it is not very secure from burglars since they could just remove the entire safe and carry it off to open else where. If you need security and not just fire protection (which you probably want, or why would you conceal your safe in a wall? Just because its cool?) then you need to install the safe with concrete in a concrete, block or brick wall.
Floor safes are the style seen a lot in local sports and general stores. These are safes that, as you can probably guess, are designed to sit on the floor. They are normally quite heavy and are bolted down, usually to the floor but often to a wall also, or two walls if the safe is placed in a corner. Both the weight and the bolts are huge deterrents to burglars. If you are not placing your floor safe on a ground floor, you will want to make sure that the floor can support the weight of the safe. The last thing you want is your safe to break through the floor and fall to the basement or apartment bellow you!
In its own weird way, an in-floor safe is a combination of floor and wall safes. You use the floor instead of the wall, and you place the safe inside of it. These types of safes often do not meet UL construction guidelines to earn a UL fire rating, but still are fairly safe against fire and burglary if installed wisely. The best place to put an in-floor safe is in the corner of your concrete basement floor. The basement because it is the lowest floor in your house. Fire rises, so the safe won’t get as hot as quickly as a safe higher up in your house. This gives the extra fire protection desired and compensates for the lack of in-floor safes not meeting UL standards. The concrete is best for the same reasons wall safes are more secure in concrete – harder to carry off. And finally, in the corner because if someone does try to break into your safe, it makes it a lot more uncomfortable for the thief, it is harder to access from all sides and therefore takes longer to break into.
Any of these three styles of safes is great for protecting your valuables, you just have to decide what works best for you. If you are building a home, then it is an opportune time for installing in-floor or wall safes, but these can be installed in any home at any time as long as you meet the manufactures guidelines. So don’t be deterred and rule out these options. Check out all options before choosing your safe.
Tags: Alias, Artifact, Best, Bolts, Brick Wall, Burglars, Circumstances, Concrete Block, Deterrents, Fire Protection, Floor, Floor Safes, Gun Safes, InFloor, Jennifer Garner, Local Sports, Movie Goer, Personal Preferences, Personal Valuables, Safes, Style, Thomas Crown Affair, Two Walls, Wall, Wall Safe, Wall Safes
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Sunday, November 29th, 2009
Having a fireproof safe means Security Many people have important records etc. they want to protect in case of a fire, others want a fireproof safe for photos, some cash, and maybe journals or other keepsakes. Some want a fireproof safe for items like home videos, and old love letters; while still others keep it simply for financial records, birth certificates, social security cards, etc. No matter why you want a fireproof safe, or need one, there are some things you need to do when buying one. For example, you need to determine the amount of fire protection needed, and how big a safe you want, what lock type, and how much you can spend on a safe. So, let’s take a look at these factors:
Safes that are deemed fireproof have been given a rating. Not every fireproof safe is created equal. For most residential fireproof safes, you can pick between fire ratings of 1,2, or 3 hours, and the rating looks something like this 350-2. So, lets look at what this means exactly:
The first number, i.e., 350, represents the maximum internal temperature the safe will reach. Paper burns at 350 degrees, so the maximum temperature inside of a record safe is 350 degrees. Media is damaged at 125 degrees, so the maximum temperature inside of a media safe is 125 degrees. The second number is the most misunderstood. It is not how long your safe will survive in a fire, rather it is how long the safe was TESTED. A 350-2 hour safe and a 125-2 hour safe were TESTED for 2 hours. The test on these safes is 2 to 3 times hotter than an average fire.
The average fire burns at 800 degrees, burns everything up in 20 minutes, and then moves on. These safes are tested at a constant 1700-2000 degrees, which is dramatically worse than any fire you will ever have in your home.
What does all this mean? It means that a 350-1 hour rating does not protect your records for a mere one hour in a fire. “A fire lasts longer than that,” everyone says, and they are right. Based on the information above you can see that a 350-1 hour safe will last much, much longer than one hour in a fire.
350 – ½ hr Requires safe to be heated to 1700ºF for ½ hour. During this time, the internal temperature of the safe cannot exceed 350ºF (the temperature at which paper will burn).
350 – 1 hr Requires safe to be heated to 1700ºF for 1 hour. During this time, the internal temperature of the safe cannot exceed 350ºF (the temperature at which paper will burn).
350 – 1½ hr Requires safe to be heated to 1700ºF for 1½ hours. During this time, the internal temperature of the safe cannot exceed 350ºF (the temperature at which paper will burn).
Basically, what are you going to store, and how much room will that take, and thus what size safe is required to fill that need. Determining the appropriate fireproof protection and size is just the beginning of your security needs. There are many options and configurations available for every fireproof security safe.
When choosing locks, choosing the proper locks, whether electronic or combination, it is important that it is something you are comfortable with and can use.
There are advantages and disadvantages to the mechanical locks, key locks and electronic locks. If the cost of your fireproof safe is an issue, then the mechanical lock or key lock will be a more suitable choice for you as it is less expensive, but still effective. Both of these options provide ample protection and deterrence from theft and are much easier on the bank account.
For those consumers that money is not an issue, and those who desire extra protection beyond a mechanical or key lock, then a more sophisticated or technical lock design that safeguards against lock picking, manipulation, drilling, pulling, and other forms of attack is for you. You can get features such as restricted key duplication which protects against unauthorized key access.
A combination lock serves as dual security whereby a three-digit combination lock won’t operate until the key lock is opened. Additional customized locking options are also available.
The electronic digital lock gives the benefits of multiple combinations and ease of combination change. An easy to see digit pad allows the user to open the lock in about seven seconds, or change the combination within a few minutes.
Now that you know a little more about fireproof safes, you can make an informed decision about what you want for your safe.
With bank collapses, mortgage takeovers, and fluctuating stock prices, it never hurts to keep some savings locked away at home and every day more people are doing it. As people lose confidence in government and banks they tend to take matters into their own hands.
For more information on buying a safe for your home or to compare home safes: visit www.ishopit.com
Tags: Bank, Birth Certificates, Fire Burns, Fire Protection, Fire Ratings, Fire Safe, Fireproof Safe, Fireproof Safes, Home Videos, Important Records, Internal Temperature, Journals, Keep, Keepsakes, Leave, Maximum Temperature, Money, Old Love Letters, Paper Burns, Photos, Safes, Social Security, Social Security Cards
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