Why Should I Get a Home Fireproof Safe?
Everybody has valuable items that they can’t afford to lose. These can include paper documents, such as birth certificates, wills, passports, deeds, insurance papers, and the priceless family photos. In today’s modern world, most people also have valuable items in digital form, such as digital documents, digital photos, email documents, and for people who work from home, all your home business data and documents. These digital documents normally reside on CD’s, DVD’s, USB drives, memory sticks or external hard drives. Jewelery, watches, digital cameras, MP3 players, and mobile phones are other valuables that most people don’t want to lose (even though most people should have household insurance).
The two main threats that you want to protect your valuables against today are theft, and fire. Storing your valuables in a home fireproof safe will give you peace of mind that your valuables are safe against both theft and fire. There are many makes and models of home fireproof safe on the market today, and they all have different fireproof ratings.
The Underwriters Laboratory (UL) is responsible for testing safes to see exactly how fireproof the different makes and models of fireproof safe actually are. You should never by a home fireproof safe unless it has an Underwriters Laboratory (UL) rating, which is normally specified within the safe’s product information. The UL rating specifies the external temperature in degrees Fahrenheit that the safe can withstand, and how long the safe can withstand that temperature. Most safes have a UL rating between 1000 to 2000 degrees Fahrenheit, and are rated to withstand these temperatures for between half an hour to an hour.
Most house fires are put out within 10 minutes, so a home fireproof safe with a UL half hour rating will normally suffice. Also, as temperatures of house fires can get up to 1500 degrees Fahrenheit, ensure that your home fireproof safe is UL rated for an external temperature of 1500 degrees Fahrenheit! A reputable, popular brand of home fireproof safe is the Sentry®Safe range of safes. Sentry®Safe have been making safes for 75 years, and their Fire-Safe® range of products are all UL rated to at least 1500 degrees. Most of the safes in their Fire-Safe® range are also rated to protect your digital media against fire.
Before buying a safe, you need to know what size of safe you need to get to be able to store all your valuables in. It’s always better to buy a safe larger than your current requirements, as you never know what items you will need to secure in the future. Also, buying a safe that can be bolted to the floor or wall is a good idea if protection against theft is important – this will prevent burglars simply carrying the safe away to break open at their convenience.
The Sentry DS0200
Tags: fireproof safe, general home security, home fireproof safe
