Fire damage costs homes and businesses billions of dollars every year. With the proper disaster recovery planning you can avoid losing valuable data and documentation to fire by having the right fire proof safe and what’s more, getting it at the right price.
It is essential to be informed. Product knowledge puts the power into your hands and when it comes to protecting your home or business you can never know too much.
Here is a list of vital information you need to consider before you buy a fire proof safe.
Can the floor support the weight of the safe?
If you are buying a large safe and you are planning on putting it on an elevated floor, it will be a smart idea to get an engineer to perform an inspection to make sure the floor can support the load.
What will you be storing?
You may not realize that there are actually two types or fireproof safe on the market: those that store paper documents and those that store computer media and data. Once you know what you will be storing, this will give you a better idea of the price range you will be looking at. Document storage safes carry a UL 350 rating and data storage safes carry a UL 125 or UL 72 rating.
What does the difference in UL ratings mean?
If you are storing computer media and data you will need a safe with a UL rating of 125 or 72. If you have a safe without this rating, your data will melt in the event of a fire. The Underwriter’s Laboratory (UL) rating means that the internal temperature of the safe will not go above 125 degrees Fahrenheit, which is the temperature computer media and data will melt at. Do not put your computer media into a safe fire rated for paper. It will melt.
What is the difference between UL tested and UL listed?
If you see a product that claims to have been “tested to UL standards” you should avoid it. This is a marketing trick that means the company has simply submitted the product for UL testing. It does not mean it has passed the test. When the test has been passed the product will say, “UL Listed”. This is what you want to look for with a safe. Research the safe you are considering buying and make sure that it is “UL Listed”.
Consider how many hours of fire protection you need
You can purchase 1, 2 and 3-hour safes, that guarantee to keep the same internal temperature for that period of time. The typical response time for the authorities to arrive and contain a fire is between ten and thirty minutes and typically a fire will burn at around 800 to 1200 degrees. The UL test for both the UL 125 and UL 350 is performed for one hour at a temperature of 1700 degrees. So unless you live in an area that is large distance away from the fire department, a one-hour fireproof safe should give adequate protection.
Make sure your fireproof safe has a lifetime warranty
Covering not only fire but also home repair, forced entry, rust protection, lock coverage and natural disasters. Find real peace of mind with a quality UL listed safe with a lifetime warranty.
