Things to Know Before Buying a Safe for Your Home

If you are considering purchasing a safe for your Atlanta home, you probably want to protect things that are valuable to you from theft, fire, water, or other misfortunes. Although it can be simple to go online and select the most popular safe at a reasonable price, you may want to pause and consider exactly why you want a safe, what you want to protect, and what features you really need.

Talk with our team at Downs Security Solutions for professional advice. We have a great deal of knowledge about a wide variety of safes and can help you select the one that will best meet your needs. Below are some initial things to get you started to think about.

Use Security Ratings As a Guide

According to the National Council for Home Safety and Security, roughly $14 billion of property losses are reported each year in the United States. The right kind of safe can help protect you from becoming one of these statistics.

Although security ratings are used mostly for insurance purposes, you can use them as a basic guide to gauge the level of protection offered by your safe. Before you purchase a safe for your Georgia home, understand what the security ratings tell you. Here’s a primer:

• RSC—protects up to $5,000 in content, passes a five-minute attack test, equivalent of a TL-5 rating.

• B-Rated—protects up to $10,000 in content, has ½-inch door and ¼-inch body.

• C-Rated—protects up to $30,000 in content, has 1-inch door and ¼-inch body.

• UL TL-15—protects up to $200,000 in content, passes 15-minute attack test with typical picking tools and equipment used on door.

• UL TL-30—protects up to $375,000 in content, passes 30-minute attack test with typical picking tools and equipment used on door.

• UL TL-30X6—protects up to $500,000 to $1 million in content, passes 30-minute attack test on all six sides of safe.

• UL TLTL-30X6—protects more than $1 million in content, passes 30-minute torch and tool attack test on all six sides of safe.

Don’t Forget About Fire Threat

Many people are trying to protect their valuables from theft when they consider purchasing a safe. However, an equally dangerous threat is fire. It’s wise to purchase a safe with a minimum one-hour certified fire rating and a fire-sealed door.

The seal on the door is made of an expandable material and will keep most moisture out of your safe with regular usage. In the case of a fire, it will seal the safe from water used to put out the fire as well.

Understand Damaging Temperature and Humidity Levels

Again, before purchasing a home safe, be sure you understand what you want to protect and then the requirements for those specific items. For example, paper documents and paper money burn at 451 degrees Fahrenheit, so a fire-resistant safe rated to stay below 350 degrees would be adequate.

However, if you are storing sensitive computer disks, old tapes, CDs, flash drives, and other such media, you will need to keep all of that material below 135 degrees Fahrenheit and 85 percent humidity to keep it safe.

Wall and Floor Safes Have Limitations

Everyone is curious about the safe that is hidden behind the centerpiece picture in the living room in the movies, but in reality, wall safes are not great options. From a security standpoint, they can simply be cut out of the wall and stolen.

Many wall safes are not particularly protected from fire damage either. They can be used to store things temporarily or keep them out of the hands of children, but you are better off investing in a free-standing safe for true protection.

Floor safes, on the other hand, can protect valuables very well if they are surrounded by a concrete foundation. The problem is that the contents will easily get destroyed in a fire, because the heat has nowhere to escape around a floor safe.

Call Us With All Your Safe Needs

If you want to learn more about safes and how to select the right one for protecting your belongings, call our professionals at Downs Security Solutions in Atlanta, GA. We can be reached by phone at 404-873-2515 or request service online.