Buying a safe to use at home to keep your valuables is a decision you cannot take lightly. This is because home safes are typically for life. They hardly spoil or give you reason to replace them unless they are broken into. Home safes are important because they help store sensitive properties in a secure location that is completely isolated from your existing security system and safe from prying eyes most times.
Home safes vary in function, size and complexity so choosing the right safe for your home can be a complicated decision. When buying a safe, there are many things to consider which we will try to look through along with you to make the process easy for you.
Buying a safe depends on what you plan on keeping safe. This will determine whether you are buying a secure containment unit or you need one that is flame retardant. Safes have different fire ratings according to how long it will protect its contents from burning measured against a standard. If you are storing more of paper like documents, cash and other related content, you do not need a highly rated safe. A regular one should do. However, if you will be storing expensive content like large amounts of cash, bonds and title deeds, documents that are worth a lot of money, you are better of investing in a safe that has the capacity to survive several hours of fire.
Safes are also rated for Insurance. The “Insurance rating” of a safe is the recommended value of the content, usually cash that it is designed to hold. For as much as you need to store, invest in an appropriately rated safe for yourself because all safes are not equal.
Think about the biggest thing you want to store in there over the next ten years and buy a safe that will not outgrow your requirements. You don’t want to have a safe that you will have to replace in a few years because it is full. If it also gets cramped, it could make you pose an organizational problem for you and you begin to leave things out of the safe. Consider the available space also where you will be putting the safe to be sure that it would fit before investing in a home safe.
The last thing you want is for your home safe to become a mobile storage unit that can be carted away by robbers. Consider the surface that you want to install your safe on. It has to be as solid as possible. We recommend using “Hilti” anchors to secure the safe either to a concrete floor or a chipboard floor. In the event you do not have a concrete surface to install your safe on, you can have a locksmith in Orlando prepare a steel plate where you can secure your safe to. Do not use a lag screw to hold your safe down as this can easily be destroyed by a crowbar. Also make sure that the location of your safe is easy to reach but away from the eyes of visitors to your home. Most people prefer the bedrooms as they are typically out of bounds to visitors.
The type of locking mechanism that your safe has should be determined by the type of people that will be accessing it. Home safes nowadays can be quite complicated with digital combination locks, a time delay lock or a combination of several mechanism that it may even make the setup difficult such that you require a locksmith in Orlando to walk you through the process. If you have an elderly person having access to the safe, a simple digital combination lock is recommended so that a simple and easy-to-remember code is all that is required to open the safe. You can also choose a home safe with a mechanical combination lock because most elderly people are familiar with these and typically do not have any problems remembering the turning combinations to open them. They are also very secure so you are not losing anything in terms of safety. Another option is having a key lock but this is a bit risky in case you lose the key. Whatever you choose, make sure it is properly setup by a reliable locksmith in Orlando.
If you are using your safe for business purposes, it is ideal to sometimes have a safe that keeps a log of the times when it is opened every day. You can also get a time delay mechanism lock that will prevent the doors from being opened too frequently. This also helps to decide where to place the safe. If you will be opening the safe every day, it would be unwise to locate it somewhere hard to reach. However, if you know you’d likely be seeing it once a month, then you can install your safe somewhere inaccessible and obscure. This makes it difficult for people to get to it and ensures it is harder to compromise.
No matter how secured your safe it, the manner in which it is installed, setup and located can compromise it. You should always have a locksmith in Orlando assist you choose and correctly install your home safe. In the event you are unable to open your safe due to a mechanical issue, do not try to force it open as most of these efforts will only worsen the condition and make it harder to open. Call a locksmith who will assist you regain access to your safe and replace a faulty lock if need be. This also prevents you from voiding the manufacturer’s warranty. Opening a safe with a faulty lock is a job for a locksmith in Orlando, not your garage tools.
