Think about the valuable items you keep in your home: jewelry, passports, the deed to your house, tax files, computer disks, silverware, etc.
You might think your valuables are protected–tucked in the lingerie drawer, hidden between mattresses, stashed in the freezer. But even if you do remember to put that diamond watch securely away every time you bring it out, these are hiding places where experienced burglars look.
According to the Chicago Police Department, there were 38,619 burglaries in the city last year. That’s 38,619 families who thought their homes and their valuables were safe.
Maybe the things you want to protect, like your insurance documents, wouldn’t even interest a burglar. But even if a crook overlooks them, a fire won’t. Nationwide, a fire strikes a home every 50 seconds. We’re talking about things you can’t afford to lose, financially or emotionally. Here’s one way to buy some peace of mind: Get a safe.
There are two basic kinds of safes: ones that protect against fire and ones that protect against burglary. They start at a couple of hundred dollars.
When you’re deciding what kind of safe to get, consider what it is that you’re protecting. If it’s paperwork or pictures–hard to replace, but really only of value to you–you probably need a fire safe. If it’s cash, jewelry or a gun–anything valuable that could be easily sold–you probably need a burglary safe.
– Fire safes. No safe is truly fireproof. The best a safe can claim to be is fire-resistant. Here’s how a good fire-resistant safe is constructed, says Robert Sallee, spokesman for American Security Products Co., a California firm that manufactures safes: Sandwiched between two layers of sheet metal is a layer of fire clay, a substance that releases steam when outside temperatures reach fire level. That moisture is what protects the contents from charring.
You can tell how fire resistant a safe is by checking its UL rating. That’s the most widely accepted industry standard, and it’s determined by Northbrook-based Underwriters Laboratories Inc., which tests and rates many products, including safes.
A typical Class 350 safe with a time rating of one hour means that the inside of this safe won’t get hotter than 350 degrees Fahrenheit if the safe burns at 1700 degrees–a typical home fire temperature–for one hour. Depending on their size–they start at about one cubic foot–these safes begin at less than $200, says Sallee.
Safes with longer time ratings cost more. But be warned that if any safe burns long enough, the contents will eventually burn, too, no matter how highly the safe is rated, says Paul Dobias, owner of Dobias Safe Services in Oak Lawn.
If a safe has an additional UL impact rating, that means it can withstand a three-story drop if the floor underneath it collapses. You’ll pay 10 percent more for this protection, says Lloyd Jones, spokesman for FireKing International Inc., a safe manufacturer in Indiana.
Delicate items like disks and film can be damaged well below 350 degrees. A safe designed to protect these items must keep inside temperatures below 125 degrees Fahrenheit and inside relative humidity below 85 percent during a fire. A data or disk safe can cost twice as much as a Class 350 safe of the same size, says Mark Koesterer, national sales manager for Gardall Safe Corp. in New York. Instead of buying a whole safe that offers this protection, you can buy a small Class 125 unit designed to be put inside a larger safe.
Most safes, however, don’t protect against water damage. If that’s a concern, wrap each item in plastic wrap and/or seal it in a plastic container before placing it in the safe.
– Burglary safes. Safes designed to protect against burglary are made steel-plated. The kind that Sallee recommends are a half-inch thick on the door and approximately 3/16-inches on the other five sides.
Burglary safes are also classified by UL rating. A typical rating is RSC–meaning it passes the test to be a residential security container. This kind of safe starts at $300 for about 20-by-15-by-20 inches, says Sallee. A more expensive safe would have UL ratings for TL (tool attack) and TR (torch attack), with specified amounts of time, for example 15 minutes, that the safe could withstand those attacks.
Most burglars don’t have tools, so any kind of burglar-rated safe will deter them, says Dobias. “They just want to get in and out in five minutes, with whatever they can grab. People who are capable of getting into complex safes are not breaking into homes. They’re breaking into commercial places that keep lots of cash in their safes.”
A safe that offers both fire and burglary protection would start around $800, says Sallee.
– Purchasing guidelines. The weight of a safe is an important factor. The heavier the safe, the harder it is for a burglar to carry it out. Something over 200 pounds would cause a problem for a burglar working alone, says Sallee. Another deterrent is having your safe bolted to the ground.
Size is also an issue. One of the biggest mistakes people make when buying a safe is getting one that’s too small, says Koesterer. Once you get a safe, you’ll keep thinking of other things you want to put in there–your camera, your will, your parents’ wedding picture.
And once your relatives find out you have a safe, guess who’ll be asked to store their valuables, too? “If you’re thinking about buying a safe that’s 1.5 cubic feet, go ahead and buy the next larger size,” says FireKing’s Jones. “It’ll fill up.”
Another mistake people make is putting the safe in such a safe place that they end up not using it. “There’s a fine line between concealing a safe and keeping it accessible,” says Koesterer. Sure, if it’s buried under the floorboards in the basement, a burglar is less likely to find it. “But if you have to go down two flights of stairs, turn on the lights and trip over the bicycle, you’ll just end up leaving your jewelry on the dresser,” he notes.
Safes come with different kinds of locking options. There are key locks, combination locks and electric locks, which allow you to punch a code into a keypad. Tip: If you’re picking your own combination, don’t pick your birthday. A burglar can rifle around your house and find out the date.
Many people shy away from buying a safe because it seems extravagant–something for the obnoxiously wealthy. Granted, safes are expensive. “But compare it to what it would cost you to replace one piece of jewelry,” says Dobias. Sadly, he adds, the only thing that will convince some people to buy a safe is being robbed themselves, or having a friend or relative who’s robbed.
Skimping on the actual purchase can be costly, too, he says: “The only time you know if you bought the right safe is after the burglary and after the fire.”
