9 Types of Safes for Your Home or Business
Do you have precious documents, heirlooms, and photos at home that might be destroyed in a fire? Losing your valuables and important documents can be devastating, but many people don’t prepare for the worst-case scenario until it’s too late.
Using a safe to store your cherished items can prevent a fire or theft from taking them away from you, but choosing the best one is challenging with so many different types of safes.
Our team of locksmiths at Action Lock Doc in Richardson, TX, has compiled a list of the most common safes for homes and commercial businesses to protect valuables like jewelry, cash, photographs, guns, documents, and data. If you have particular concerns about securing your property, one of our expert locksmiths can help you find the best type of safe for your needs.
Home Safes
Home safes will withstand fire and burglary by design, but the level of security varies depending on the contents and your specific safety concerns.
1. Wall Safes
A wall safe allows you to hide your valuables in an inconspicuous location inside your house. It attaches to the studs inside your wall with only the door visible from the outside, making it possible to hide the safe behind hanging decor. If you’re looking for the best home safe for preventing theft, a wall safe might be your answer.
2. Floor Safes
Floor safes sit under your floor embedded in concrete, making them almost impossible for even the most ambitious burglars to remove. You can also hide this type of safe with rugs and carpeting so that it’s difficult to find for someone who doesn’t know it’s there.
Floor safes are susceptible to rust, requiring special coating and materials to preserve their integrity. Because of this, you should store valuables in airtight containers to protect them from moisture that builds up in the interior.
3. Jewelry Safes
If you have expensive or sentimental pieces of jewelry that you need to keep secure, you can get a safe explicitly made for that purpose. Jewelry safes have specially-crafted interiors lined in velvet or other soft materials to avoid damage to your trinkets. They typically have drawers and shelves for organizing necklaces, watches, earrings, and more.
Though they tend to be more expensive than other types of safes, the cost is generally worth the peace of mind that comes when your irreplaceable jewelry is completely secure.
5. Gun Safes
Gun owners have an obligation to ensure that their firearms are secure to avoid accidental firing or misuse. Gun safes are the best home safes for keeping your firearm locked up but easily accessible in an emergency. They come in many different sizes to accommodate your collection, such as smaller gun safes that can fit in drawers or under the bed and large cabinet safes for hunting rifles.
If you have a valuable gun collection, gun safes with higher levels of security are available to protect your firearms from fire and theft.
6. Fire-Resistant Safes
Fire is a genuine concern for homeowners who have sentimental possessions and essential documents stored in their houses. You can find a wide range of fire-resistant safes with varying levels of fire protection. Generally, you’ll want a safe with thick walls that can withstand flames long enough for firefighters to arrive and put out the fire before it damages your valuables.
UL fire-resistance ratings will be helpful when choosing the best safe for you. We’ll give examples of the UL ratings at the end of this article.
Commercial Safes
Commercial establishments need to worry about theft more than the typical homeowner: They often store cash, private documents, and data that are essential for their business if stolen. Additionally, many different people need to have regular access to those items. For that reason, commercial safes are usually specialized and extra secure.
7. Data Safes
Paper is slowly becoming less prevalent in business data storage as you can store more information in tiny digital devices that take up little space. Digital media such as computer hardware, discs, hard drives, film, and so on, are incredibly fragile and cannot withstand high temperatures. Data safes, therefore, must be especially fire-resistant.
8. Depository Safes
Depository safes, or drop safes, are heavy-duty lock boxes for businesses or organizations. These include safes at banks, post offices, or other facilities that have to store cash or other valuables efficiently. They might have a built-in slot or chute where someone can deposit money or documents, but the opening will be small enough that no one can reach inside the safe.
9. Hotel Safes
If you’ve stayed in a hotel, you’ve probably seen the small safes secured with a combination lock where you can store your belongings like your laptop, wallet, or jewelry. Hotel safes are small and inexpensive, with fewer security features than other strongboxes, giving you an extra level of security when you’re away from your hotel room.
UL Certification for Safes
The Underwriters Laboratories (UL) is a safety certification company that thoroughly tests the security features of various products, including safes. UL ratings for safes pertain to security from burglary and fire.
The following are examples of UL certifications for security safes:
- Class B: inexpensive, adequate for storing small valuables.
- Class C: heavier than Class B, capable of holding small and large items.
- Residential Security Container: withstands hand tools like hammers and pry bars, standard for documents and small possessions like jewelry.
- Class TL: withstands power tools like drills. TL-15 endures assault from power tools for 15 minutes, TL-30 persists for 30 minutes, and so on.
- Class 150: resists external temperatures of 1,700 degrees Fahrenheit with the internal temperature remaining at 150 degrees.
Call Our Professional Locksmiths in Richardson, Texas
At Action Lock Doc, we have been servicing the DFW area in Texas for over 40 years. We are an expert locksmith company providing convenient commercial, residential, and automotive locksmithing services 24 hours a day.
Our highly-skilled security professionals can help you with all your safety needs, including safes for your home or commercial business.
If you need recommendations for protecting your valuables or would like to purchase a safe from us, call us at Action Lock Doc in Richardson, TX, at (972) 690-4431.
Joe, a former CIO and tech industry professional, has made it his mission to secure Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) through the Action Lock Doc, Dallas Safe and Vault, and Summa Security brands. When he’s not running the show at the office, you’ll find him writing about commercial and residential locksmithing, access control, and safes.