OKLAHOMA CITY, OK (TNN) - One Oklahoma City company is trying to change storm shelters forever with a new safe room that fits under your bed and raises up into the air when you need it.
You may have seen the company on the popular ABC show Shark Tank earlier this year. The safe room from Life Lift Systems, was created by Levi Wilson simply because he couldn't find a storm shelter that fit the needs of his family.
"I had this idea, there’s a lot of empty space under the bed, there’s something we can do here to make a shelter that goes right under the bed,” Wilson said.
Wilson partnered with Tim Todd and before they knew it, they had a product they believe will change the future of storm shelters.
"You’re getting three or four products in one, two it doesn’t take up any additional floor space and it’s in the comfort of your own home,” Todd said.
Working the safe room is simple, you just push a button.
"We’ve got a key shut off switch so you can lock the children out. The switch is a momentary switch, so you press the up button and it goes until you let off and if you hit the down button it stops immediately for safety. If it gets all the way into the up position or the down position it stops automatically to keep the bed level in both positions,” Wilson said.
The whole process only takes one minute.
"It raises in about sixty seconds from 19 inches up to 57 inches. It’s powered by a 12 volt battery or a 110 outlet in the wall,” Wilson said.
Once the shelter is up, it’s time to climb in.
"You’ve got USB ports in here, so you can plug in phones, lights, fans, whatever the case is,” Todd said.
There’s also a backup battery inside the shelter to ensure if the power goes out, the shelter still operates. The shelter is FEMA certified. It was tested at Texas Tech University.
"They do a lot of testing on the week points of this safe room so at 250 miles per hour they’re shooting two by fours and all that kind of stuff at it,” Todd said.
Passing that test is all that is required for the safe room to be certified, but it wasn't enough for this safe room.
"We actually dropped a five-thousand-pound car on this thing and it bounced off like a coin,” Todd said.
Well we know it’s safe, but what will it cost us?
"We want to offer all of the Oklahoma customers our best price. We’re from Oklahoma so we want to give them the best price. We’re selling direct here in Oklahoma,” Wilson said.
“In Oklahoma, you’ve got to look at anywhere between $6,600 and $7,100. When you go outside of Oklahoma, there’s going to be additional freight," Todd said.
In Oklahoma, that price also includes the installation.
"It’s all quarter inch steel plates, they weigh anywhere from 50 pounds to 110 pounds. We carry these in a piece at a time and build the unit right inside your bedroom,” Wilson said.
Once the shelter is installed, you can expect it to work for years. They anticipate the electronics inside the shelter won’t need to be replaced for 10 years. But as for the shelter itself?
"The lifespan of the steel shelter is well longer than any lifespan of a home,” Wilson said. The shelter was on Shark Tank and it was successful, with billionaire Mark Cuban investing in the company.
You can learn more about the product and how to get one in your home by going here.