Vaults and Safes

Good safes are key to an overall security strategy for your home or business.  A good safe can protect your valuable items from burglars and from damage due to fire.  Be sure to check when looking for a safe to make sure that it carries a burglary and fireproof rating.  Example burglary ratings are UL TL15 and TL 30 ratings, and example fireproof ratings are 1 hour and 2 hour fireproof rated.

Safes that carry these ratings have actually been tested to resist burglars and also tested under actual fire conditions to make certain that the contents of the safe were not damaged.  Also, if you decide on a free-standing safe, make certain that it is bolted down.  Good freestanding safes have bolt-holes in the bottom of the safe for this purpose.  This keeps a would-be thief from carrying the safe to some other place where they will have plenty of time to open it.

A bolted down safe can save your valuables from the devastating effects of a home burglary.  Here are a few statistics to keep in mind if you’re thinking about purchasing a safe:

-A burglary occurs approximately every 15 seconds in America
-Nearly 66 percent of all burglaries are residential, and of those, 62 percent occur during the daytime
-Most burglaries occur between 9am and 3pm - when most people are away at work
-Only 13% of burglaries are solved by police
-Only about 15% of property stolen in burglaries is recovered by police
-Nearly 85% of burglaries occur in large metropolitan areas

These are just a few reasons that you should use a good bolted down safe in your home.  Also, be sure to check the burglary and fireproof rating of the safe for an even more secure setup.

Here are a few things you can look for to make certain that the office safes you’re considering purchasing are up to the task.  Look for a 1 or 2-hour fireproof rating.  This means that the safe has undergone certain tests to make sure that your documents and cash would be safe in an actual fire.  For example, a 1-hour fireproof rating means that the safe has been subjected to an actual 1700 degree F fire for a period of 1-hour, and that the temperature inside the safe did not rise above 350 degrees F.  This is a low enough temperature to prevent permanent damage to cash, documents and other valuables.

In addition, the humidity was measured during the test to make certain that it did not rise above 85% - this is to protect the contents of the safe from damage due to the water used to put out the fire.  Another rating to check is the burglary rating of the safe.  Some example burglary ratings are TL-15 and TL-30.  A TL-15 minute rating means that a professional locksmith spent 15 minutes trying to open the safe, using common locksmithing tools, and was unsuccessful.  This will ensure that your valuables are safe from burglars as well.

If you want to make sure that your valuable business documents and any petty cash that you use remains safe, you might want to consider getting an office safe.  Office safes come in a variety of sizes, shapes and styles.  Some of the things to look for are a burglary rating, a fireproof rating, and the type of locking mechanism used on the safe.  Burglary ratings are usually specified in minutes, with TL-15 and TL-30 being common ratings.  Fireproof ratings are usually expressed in hours, with a typical rating for an office safe being a 2 hour fireproof rating.

There are several different types of locking mechanisms available.  The most common are the keylock, the combination dial lock and the electronic keypad lock.  The electronic keypad locking mechanism is the most convenient.  With this type of locking mechanism, you simply enter a pin number on an electronic keypad similar to the ones found on ATM machines.  The correct pin number opens the safe, and you can assign multiple pin numbers to different people.  This allows you to see who accessed the safe and when.  For more information on the office safe.

Designed for use in jewelry stores, coin shops, and pawn shops, jewelry safes provide a very high level of security against burglars.  A jewelry safe carries a burglary rating, meaning it has been tested to withstand attempts to open it.  An example rating would be a TL 30 rating, which is a very secure safe.  The TL 30 rating means that a professional locksmith, using common locksmith tools, was unable to open the safe in a period of 30 mintues.

Jewelry safes usually have a 5″ thick door and a 2″ thick body.  They have a hardened steel drill-resistant plate surrounding the locking mechanism and use 1-1/2″ thick steel locking bolts.  Most jewelry safes also have a fireproof rating of about 1-1/2 hours.  So if you need the maximum in security for your valuables, consider buying a jewelry safe.  For more information on jewelry safes.

If you’re looking for a safe to protect valuables at your home or business, don’t forget to check and make sure that the safe carries a fireproof rating.  Most people think about burglary when shopping for a safe, but fireproof safes can be an important line of defense against a fire.  They also provide protection from the water used to put out the fire.  Look for a rating such as “1 hour fireproof rating” on the safe.  This means that it has been tested under actual fire conditions and the temperature and humidity inside the safe did not rise above certain levels.

If you need to protect valuable computer backup media, you’ll need a special fireproof media safe.  These safes are tested to keep the temperature and humidity at an even lower level to keep from harming fragile backup media.  Fireproof safes are designed with special insulating materials and special heat-activated door seals.  So if you’re looking for a safe, be sure to check and make sure it carries a fireproof rating.  For more information on fireproof safes.

If you’re considering purchasing a fireproof safe, there are a number of factors to consider.  First and foremost,  you should make sure the safe carries a fireproof rating.  These ratings are usually expressed as a number of hours, such as a 1 hour fireproof rating.  This means that the safe has been tested to withstand a 1700 degree F fire for a period of one hour, and the temperature inside the safe did not rise above 350 degrees F.  Safes with a fireproof rating having special layers of insulation and door seals to keep the temperature on the inside low during a fire.

Another thing to consider is what you are going to store in the safe.  Do you need shelves, or just a large opening?  How large are the items you are going to store?   Where is the safe going to be located?  These things will determine the size, shape and interior arrangement of the safe.   Also you will need to consider the type of locking mechanism you want.  Fireproof safes are available with keylocks, combination locks, and convenient electronic locks.  Now that you know what to look for, don’t put off buying a fireproof safe any longer - one could save your valuable documents and other valuables from being destroyed in a fire.

Chances are, if you lost your home or business computer backup media (tapes, CDs, DVDs, floppies) in a fire, it would cost you a lot of time and money to replace the data.  In fact some of your data might be impossible to replace.  So investing in a good quality fireproof media safe is a good idea.  Fireproof media safes are designed to endure a fire and leave the computer backup media in a state where it can still be accessed.  These safes carry a fireproof rating, usually expressed in hours.  An example would be a 1 hour fireproof media rating.

This means that the safe has been subjected to a 1700 degree F fire (the typical temperature of a home or business fire)  for a period of one hour, and the temperature in the safe did not rise above 80 degrees F.  Also, they are tested to ensure that the humidity does not rise above 80% when flooded with water.  This is to protect the media from the harmful effects of the water used to put out the fire.  Fireproof media safes are constructed with special insulating materials in the walls, and have special heat and water  seals around the door that expand as the temperature rises.   Now would be a good time to make sure that your valuable comuter backup data is safe from a fire.   For more information on fireproof media safes.

Chances are you have some documents stored away in your home that would be difficult, if not impossible, to replace if they were destroyed in a fire.  You can kill two birds with one stone by getting a fireproof home safe - your documents will be safe from fire and also from burglars.  A fireproof home safe is surprisingly affordable, and it could be the best investment you ever make.  When looking for a fireproof home safe, check the fire rating that it carries.  Fire ratings are usually expressed as a number of hours.

For example, a fireproof home safe that carries a fireproof rating of 1 hour has been tested to withstand a 1700 degree F fire for a period of 1 hour,  and the temperature inside the safe did not rise above 350 degrees F.  In addition, to ensure that the safe protects against water damage, the humidity did not rise above 80%.  This will ensure that there is no permanent damage to your documents and other valuables.  For more information on the fireproof home safe.

 In general, most safes are built with fire-resistant features. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean that they are actually fireproof. The two words are totally different. Fire-resistant safes refer to the ability of the safes to withstand the blazing heat of the fire to certain level. Fireproof safes on the other hand provide more protection than what fire-resistant safes can do. Moreover, fireproof safes can protect even the most delicate data stored in your CD’s or floppy diskettes. Fireproof safes are more dependable when it comes to securing media files.Obtaining fireproof safes are in fact a good investment. Your most valuable possessions are kept safe even if tragedies like a fire happen. Besides, the cost that you will be spending now is actually smaller than the cost of your priced possessions that will only be lost in the fire.