How do I recognize a quality safe?

Look for safes that are UL Listed. Underwriters’ Laboratories (UL) tests safes using a variety of methods, and safes must pass the tests to receive UL Listing. Be careful, though, safes can be “UL Tested” without being “UL Listed.”

 

UL subjects fire safes to a 1700-degree fire (the average fire is eight hundred degrees and lasts twenty minutes) for increasing lengths of time. A UL Class 125—1 hour listing means that a given safe maintained an internal temperature below 125 degrees for one hour. Data storage fire safes are class 125 and document storage safes should be class 350.

 

In contrast, UL tests burglar safes by allowing technicians to play the role of burglars. Using different tools, technicians attempt to break into the safe, and UL then classifies the safe based on how long it resisted the burglar’s efforts and on the tools the burglar needed to use to break into the safe. A class TL-15 safe resisted entry against hand tools and some electric tools for fifteen minutes, for example, while a class TXTL-60 safe resisted entry against everything from common tools to high explosives and welding torches for at least sixty minutes.

 

A data storage fire safe easily costs thousands of dollars, but a document storage safe is often less than one hundred dollars because it requires less protection. Most fire safes are empty boxes, but if you want to, you can add shelves, drawers, or any other number of features. In addition, if you plan to store the safe on an upper level of your home or office, purchase an impact-resistant fire safe. UL drops safes from thirty feet, and only those that remain secure receive UL listing as impact-resistant. 

 

The price (and presumably the quality) of a burglar safe is determined by its size, resistance level, and type of lock. A basic burglar safe can cost less than one hundred dollars, but as you consider a larger safe, or a safe with features such as an electronic or digital lock, X-ray proof device, time control opening, internal steel bar, and concealed hinges, the price will quickly rise. Concealed hinges in particular can be an especially advantageous feature because they keep burglars from opening the door by removing the safe’s hinges.