There is a wide variety of security safes available on the market today to protect your cash, valuables and important paperwork from theft. However with so much choice, choosing a safe to best fit your requirements can often be quite confusing.
Listed below are the different types of security safes you may come across when searching for a safe.
Free Standing Safes As the name suggests these safes are free standing and can be fitted to either the floor or wall. The most popular form of safe due to the vast array available in numerous sizes and cash ratings.
Underfloor Safes Designed to be concealed within a recess in the floor. Offers maximum protection as the safe can only be attacked at one point – through the door.
Wall Safes Designed for installation within a recess in a wall. As an underfloor safe it only has one point of attack through the door.
Deposit Safes A free standing safe with either an envelope slot or a drawer trap for people to quickly deposit cash or valuables without having access to the main safe contents.
Security Cabinets Free standing cupboards with large capacity to hold bulky items. Ideal for schools, retailers etc. Fitted to the floor.
Vehicle Safes Small portable deposit safes ideal for use in vans or lorries on delivery rounds.
All the security safes above will be tested and rated according to what is referred to as a cash rating. A cash rating indicates how much your insurance company will underwrite the contents of your safe for. If the rating is £1,000 then the safe is suitable for storing up to £1,000 in cash or ten times this sum in valuables i.e. £10,000.
When you begin looking for a safe it is important to decide on what items you wish to protect and what the monetary value is of those items. This will allow you to narrow your search to safes within that cash rating bracket. It is not unusual in some circumstances for your insurance provider to actually stipulate the cash rating they wish you to have.
The main locking options for safes are either key locking or electronic locking. Deciding which option to go for will fall down to personal preference, what you will feel more comfortable and confident in using.
Biometric (fingerprint recognition) locks are becoming more widely available and can be found as standard on the Burton Sensor or as an optional extra on ranges such as the Magnum and Eurovault.
For further information on locks please refer to Familiar Asked Questions.
Both the external and internal dimensions of a safe will need consideration to ensure that it will fit where you want it located, and also that you will have enough internal space to store your contents. It can often be helpful to measure the largest item you will place in the safe in order to get a sense of the minimum dimensions you require.
This entry was posted on Monday, May 10th, 2010 at 2:04 pm	and is filed under Articles, Buying Help, Safes for Business, Safes for Home. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.