You must have important documents, valuable collections and keepsakes with sentimental value that you want to be protected from fire or theft, or both. Home safes provide obvious deterrent value against burglars, and fire or any other natural disaster. Before you go shop online, or go to home improvement centers or department stores to buy home safes, you must determine the level of protection that you need and the strengths and weaknesses of the different types of home safes.

Types of Home Safes

Fire or record home safes, and burglary or money home safes are the two basic types of home safes. As the names imply, fire home safes are constructed so as to protect things from fire, and burglary home safes are meant to keep contents safe from burglaries. If you are looking for low-priced models of home safes that offer both protection against fire and burglary, there may not be that many in the market; these things cost money.

Know that the materials used to ensure that home safes are fire-resistant make them susceptible to forcible attacks by burglars. This is because thin metal walls with insulating material sandwiched in between are the construction utilized in fire home safes. On the other hand, burglary home safes are also vulnerable to fire because the thick steel walls that provide strong resistance to attacks can cause the interior of burglar home safes to become very hot quickly in the midst of a fire.

You can also find fire/burglary home safes that have two safes combined. Burglary home safes placed inside fire home safes comprise fire/burglary home safes. Home safes of this kind can be very expensive, and you may be able to save hundreds of dollars if you will just purchase one unit of each type.

Styles of Home Safes

There are three basic styles of fire and burglary home safes: wall, floor, and in-floor. These types are designed to fit the locations where the safes will be installed. Wall home safes offer convenient storage space, and are uncomplicated to install in your home. But these types of home safes should not be installed in a drywall cutout if you want them to provide more protection against burglars. Otherwise, thefts would simply pull these home safes from the wall and bring them out of your house where they have all the time they need to open and take away all the contents. To maximize its thick steel doors and other security features, it is best to install wall home safes in a block wall or solid concrete.

Floor home safes are designed to be installed on top of a floor. Burglary home safes should be bolted in place or, if not, should be impossible to lift manually (at least 750 pounds). It becomes next to impossible to get into your floor home safes if you locate them in a corner and bolt them three ways: to the floor, and to two walls. If you buy the larger models of home safes, make sure to remove the wheels from the home safes during installation.

In-floor home safes must be below the floor surface. If you choose in-floor home safes that have not earned the UL fire rating, you can still maximize the protections offered by these home safes if you properly install them in your house. Since it is the nature of fire to rise, in-floor home safes installed below a basement floor do not heat up as quickly inside. In-floor home safes in a corner of your basement floor would also make it uncomfortable for burglars to attack them, thus, making them secure against aggressive attacks.

The costs of home safes are typically based on their sizes and fire temperature rating. It is wise to talk to an expert before you should make a choice on what home safes are best for your protection needs.