DIY Security Systems
If you have confidential and important documents, keeping it in a safe would lessen your worries. A simple safe won’t work on you. There are different kinds of safe, and the best kind of safe is fireproof safe. Do you want to know how do fireproof safes work? If you are uncertain about fireproof safes, here’s the best guide for you.
4 Things to Consider in Owning a Safe
We want the best for our safety in all aspects, that is why we tend to ask for advice or recommendations from other people on what is best. I know you ask yourself, “How do fireproof safes work?”
If you know to understand how do fireproof safes work, you have to try it. If you are planning to buy a safe, there are things you must consider before buying one. Here are the top 4 things you must consider in buying a safe:
The Size of the Safe
The basic answer for that is a size that fits your needs. If you store a lot of things inside a safe, you should buy the one that is bigger than you think you need. Some customers preferred the bigger one since it is more practical. Also, they can save more money than buying multiple small safes, the bigger, the better when it comes to buying a safe.
The Best Fire Rating
Some people often overlooked the importance of fire ratings. It should be number one on your top considerations. The recommended fire rating that you should purchase should be at least 1-hour fire-rated safe.
If your safe has less than an hour of fire-rated safety, it will not provide enough protection to survive a typical business or home fire. If you invest in a safe, you should go for the best. You should not spend your earned money on a safe that eventually won’t protect your valuable things.
The Reliability of the Safe
People tend to misunderstand the term “fireproof.” Aside from it being a misleading statement, there are a lot of companies that use this statement to describe their fire safes. A fireproof means it is only resistant to fire for a specific period, and not a fireproof as what people think.
The Storing Capabilities
The word “fireproof” means “resistant to fire.” Some customers assume that when a safe is fireproof, it will automatically protect all your things and belongings. Your data, media, photos are susceptible to heat and moist areas.
Fire-resistant safes are made or developed to protect the papers and keep the internal temperature of the safe below 350 degrees. That temperature is a critical temperature where the paper will start to burn. Any sensitive data or media will be badly damaged or destroyed between 120 to 180 degrees or the area’s 85% humidity.
What Type of Fireproof Safe to Buy
“How do fireproof safes work?” is a tricky question. There would be no definite answer unless you tried it on yourself. A safe has different types. Each item has different requirements as each type of media can survive on different temperatures and levels of humidity. The following are the three main categories of a fireproof safe:
Paper
The perfect example of this category is your certificates, passports, insurance policies, legal documents, cash, and deeds.
Digital Media
The example for this category is your USB, memory sticks, CDs, DVDs, digital cameras, MP3 players, iPods, and external hard drives.
Data or Magnetic Media
The perfect example of this category is your computer diskettes, traditional internal hard drives, computer back-up tapes, videotapes, and audiotapes.
Fire Resistance of Documents
The following types of media start to degrade at a different temperature:
- The paper starts to degrade when the temperature reaches about 177 degrees Celsius or 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- The digital media starts to degrade when the temperature reaches about 120 degrees Celsius or 248 degrees Fahrenheit.
- The film starts to degrade when the temperature reaches about 66 degrees Celsius or 150 degrees Fahrenheit.
- The data starts to degrade when the temperature reaches about 52 degrees Celsius or 125 degreed Fahrenheit.
The Things You Should and Should Not Keep in a Fireproof Safe
If you are considering buying your own fireproof safe, you should know how fireproof safes work and its specific purpose. It is essential to learn what the things you keep in a fireproof safe and what are you shouldn’t. The following are some of the things that you can keep inside a fireproof safe:
Bank and Financial Account Information
If you keep your financial documents or any information related to your bank account, you should put them in your fireproof safe. You may need to access your funds quickly in emergency cases.
Identification Cards and Passports
It would be difficult once you lost your passport, identification card, and other important documents. It is best to keep your important documents at your home in your fireproof safe.
Data and Hard Drives
If you are planning to store your family memories in data form can be as simple as storing them on a hard drive. If you want to keep them, you should put them in your fireproof safe.
The Things You Should Not Keep in a Fireproof Safe
Put the items that you don’t need to have on hand at all times, such as your original birth certificate, car titles, and the deed of your home should store or keep at the bank. You can store a copy of the important documents in your fireproof safe, and the original copy is safe and sound in a safety deposit box at your local bank.
Conclusion
Everyone that has a fireproof safe should know and understand how do fireproof safes work. If you are looking for a fireproof safe in the market, you should pick the best one. A fireproof safe is the best form of investment as it is where you will store your important documents and other valuables. Here’s how to learn more about Fireproof Safes.