Is a Home Safe the Right Safe for You?

• Is the content of your valuables under $1000
• Are you in a high crime area? 
• Are you mainly concerned with fire protection?

If you are in a high-crime area or the content is over $1,000 you may want to consider a business safe or a safe with a burglar rating. Inexpensive home safes are not designed for security. They are primarily designed for fire protection and to keep honest people honest (house cleaners, etc….away from your valuables.)

Now if you’re in a gated well protected community with very little crime, you could push the $1,000 limit a bit higher, but that is a personal choice based on your neighborhood.

Home safes are also a good choice for roommate or other co-inhabiting situations where you just want the peace of mind that your roommate isn't going to 'borrow' your jewelry without your knowing. 

What Makes a Good Home Safe?

Home fire safes run the gamut from extremely inexpensive, plastic-cased “safes” (think Sentry) to safes that do offer a bit of security (single seam, all metal safes).

Choose a home safe with solid steel

You'll want to choose a safe with solid steel construction, at least 14 gauge. A single seamless sheet of metal with a single weld is better than those with many visible seams that are weak points to attack.

Thicker construction means more effort is needed to break in. You'll also want to be sure to get one that can be mounted securely into the floor, wall, or sturdy shelf so it can't just be easily carried away. 

Avoid those home fire safes constructed with plastic housing instead of steel. 

Ignore water proofing claims

Home fire safes that claim to have waterproof ratings cannot be bolted down. The bolt down hole is sealed (usually in plastic) to get the waterproof rating. 

Bolting them breaks this seal and creates a space for water penetration. You can purchase waterproof content bags so that you can bolt the safe down for maximum security while maintaining water protection.

Construction items to Focus on

You'll want a home safe that has a pry-resistant door, with bolt work (either fixed or active) that protects at least 2 sides of the door. 

Avoid home safes that operate with a simple keyed lock. Keyed locks are an easy attack / bypass point. 

Opt instead for combination dials, electronic or biometric keypads (or combinations of more than one of these) and true bolt-work action, which is much stronger against attack than a cam lock tailpiece which can be easily forced open. 

Choose the right fire rating

You'll want a home safe with added fire protection. In urban single dwelling communities, this can be as little as 30 minutes. In rural areas, high rise buildings, and multi-family buildings, fire response times may be slower and you may opt for up to 2-hour fire protection.

Choose the right size

And, of course, look at the volume of the space inside the safe. Is it sufficient for your needs? 

A good rule of thumb is to take all the possessions you want to put into the safe, then get one that is 2x bigger. 

After you own a home safe, you will inevitably find or accumulate more items you wish to store there, so having some extra space available is a good idea to make the safe the only one you'll need for long into the future. 

Q&A

Are Home Safes Easy to Break Into?

All safes can be broken into given enough time, the proper tools, and enough desire to gain access.  When you buy ANY safe, you are purchasing TIME. Time to put out a fire while your valuables are still protected. Time to catch a burglar (or scare one away) before they rob you of your possessions. 

If you follow our suggestions for “What Makes a Good Home Safe” above, you will be guided to those safes that offer the best protection at the lower home-safe price point. 

They won’t be as secure as a burglary rated or high security safe, but they will offer adequate protection against a snatch-and-grab thief and protect your items in a fire. 

Where is the Best Place to Put a Home Safe?

Stay away from master bedrooms and closets. This is one of the first places a burglar would look. 

Opt instead for places a thief wouldn't look. How about on the floor or shelf behind a pantry door (if installing on a shelf, be sure the shelf is solid wood or metal as particle board construction will neither adequately support the safe and are easily ripped apart in a removal attempt.) 

A shelf in a bathroom cabinet is good, as well. The linen or coat closet can make great choices, as well. 

Home safes are often small enough that you can take a box that would be commonly found in a space and use it to hide your safe from even being seen.

Just cut out the back and bottom of the box, and slip it over the fire safe. Who would think to look inside a box with a variety of potato chips or containing an Instapot to find your valuables? Creativity can be a theft deterrent! 

What are the Best Home Fire Safes?

Our most popular lines are the Hollon Home Safe Series, and the American Security Home Safe Lines.

• The Hollon home fire safes range in sizes from a small microwave to a small mini-fridge, and feature two-hour fire ratings – one of the highest fire ratings you'll find in the home safe category.  The body is a seamless steel construction and the door is secured with bolts on two sides so that it cannot be removed if the hinges are cut off.  The door is designed to be pry resistant and the safe can be bolted down.
• The AM Series safes by AMSEC go a bit larger; from the about size of a large commercial microwave to the size of a large mini-fridge, and feature a 45-minute fire rating. It too is a seamless steal construction, bolts on two sides and has a pry resistant door frame. The design of this home safe offers more interior space than others of similar size.

When fire protection is not needed, the AMSEC's EST series safes, and the Burg Wachter P series safes are also very popular. 

These are more suitable for those 'roommate' or 'teenager in the house' situations where the concern is security. 

• The AMSEC EST Series safes is 14-gauge steel construction and can be bolted to either the wall or floor (or both!). The AMSE EST safes are available in smaller sizes, great for RVs, cabinet/shelf installations, and even service vehicles.
• The Burg Wachter Point Series offer bolting from the back of the safe (so can be bolted to the wall). Burg Watcher also makes one of these designed for laptops. 

Both series feature solid single-walled steel construction with double walled doors. Burg Wachter P series also some nice lock options like biometric locks and multiple user codes.