The 10 Best Home safes  Sep 2023

The kind of home safe you want will depend on what you want to store in it and what outside elements are of the biggest concern. There are many different types of safes with varying degrees and components of protection.

• What Type of Safe Should You Choose?

  • Wall Safes: These do not support too much weight and work best for storing paperwork or important photographs and documents.

  • Floor Safes: As stated in the name, floor safes can be put into your floor for further protection from burglary. These safes are more bulky but are more flexible in regards to the weight of the valuables that you would like to store.

  • Weapons Safes: Weapons are not suitable to reside in wall and floor safes. These come with extra locks, pry-proof metal, and bolts to minimize accidents.

• Is the Safe Accredited?

  • Most types of safes will have an accreditation from a company that sets standards and requirements for safes. UL (Underwriters Laboratories) is one of these companies. It tests safes against various conditions and gives a rating based on how the safe holds up during a certain amount of time.

  • Burglary and Construction Quality: These operate on an alphabetical scale of B-G, where B would be the weakest rating.

  • Fire Resistance:  This guide is a numerical rating; the first number indicates the temperature the safe has been exposed to, while the second number reveals the length the safe was exposed to the condition in hours (ie: Class 450 – 5 Hr). 

• How Much Space Do You Need?
  • It is important to take measurements of the area you think you would want your safe to go. The height, width, and depth need to be noted to be sure it will fit properly.
• What Type of Protection Do You Want?
  • Most safes have one main protection goal such as fire, water, or burglary. Some may protect a combination of those three, but to varying degrees. Composite safes can provide a wide range of protections, but the amount of protection varies greatly. You need to decide what you think is the most likely danger that could sabotage your valuables.
• Which Kind of Lock Do You Want?
  • UL has multiple tools to use when assessing the overall components of the locks. This information can be found here and may help guide you in a certain direction. The most common types of locks used today are electronic and combination locks. Many lock systems can also have additional features to further enhance security measures.

• Construction:  Many people commented on the sturdiness and building materials that make up their safe. While it is heavy to move, solid steel is great at preventing penetration from outside forces, especially for fire safes that include extra materials consisting of fire-resistant properties.

• Weight: The overall weight of the safe is a factor worth considering.  On the one hand, if your safe is heavy, this can act as additional security because of the strength required to move it. Another thing to consider would be whether your flooring and wall units would be able to hold and stabilize the safe itself.

• Durability: If you are going to invest in an expensive safe, it is important to make sure that the product will hold up against all that it claims.

Where do I put it? This is a great question to ask, and if your main concern is burglary, avoid the master bedroom, as this is the most common place they will look. If your house is not prone to flooding, it is better to put the safe in the basement, or another out-of-sight place. Another option would be to bolt it to a secure floor or wall.

Warranties. Some companies will offer a guarantee or warranty on their products, which can be used to cover the cost of stolen valuables. In this case, it may be worth it to pay the extra money for the warranty coverage.

Bigger is better. Buy a safe bigger than what you think you need! If you are going to vault your safe, for example, it would be better to get a bigger one and have extra room for future valuables than to have to purchase another.

Materials. Wall and door thickness are the most important factors to consider when buying a safe.

First Alert: First Alert guarantees the highest quality of home safes and also offers information regarding carbon monoxide and fire safety.

Sentry: This company provides you with a “Find Your Safe” option on their website, which guides you through the steps when picking out your perfect safe.

Stack-On: Since 1972, Stack-On has been producing and selling quality safes with ample amounts of security features.