A home safe can be your treasure box; buying one is therefore not as effortless as it may sound. You do not simply head to the safe shop and ask about the most recent safes. You have to research thoroughly about the safe model you will purchase. Therefore, you must have an open mind and be intentional about using your home safe. Keep in mind that a safe is an investment, so make it count. Planning to buy a home safe? Here are some tips:
The 10% Rule Might Help
The 10% safe general rule requires that you spend at least ten percent of the cost of the valuables you want to protect to purchase the safe. For example, if you’re protecting valuables worth one million, you should buy your safe worth one hundred thousand. This rule can help you be honest with yourself about how much you are willing to spend to secure what you value most. Therefore, if you intend to store gold worth millions of dollars, you can choose the companies that offer the best vault.
The Safe Weight Matters
A heavy quality home safe is better. It’s challenging to move physically or reposition and is difficult to steal or alter. You want to store your valuables, so you must make it difficult for anyone to move your safe. Furthermore, you can tell the quality of a safe by the heft. Should you buy a lighter safe, you can be sure the manufacturers used very little metal to build it. It might therefore be easy to break.
Take note of the differences between the lockboxes and safes. The thickness of the safe metal determines the safety of the safe. Based on the expert advice given by safe manufacturers at USA Safe & Vault, you must choose a suitable safe for your intended purpose. Safety is paramount, and a thicker safe is more worthy. After all, the wider the safe metal, the more difficult it is to pry and cut the metal. More metal strength translates to better security.
What’s the Gap Between the Door and the Lock?
Criminals are intelligent people. They can leverage the distance between your safe lock and door to open the safe. Criminals can also use the space under the bolts on your door and ultimately break in. The length should therefore be reasonable to prevent any malicious activities. You must choose a safe whose door is tighter to the safe’s body when locked. This can lower the chances of anyone entering the safe using force.
Furthermore, if the distance between the lock and the door is more significant, then your home safe might not be optimally fire-resistant. Remember that ash and soot accumulation on your safe can also tamper with the valuables inside. A considerable gap can also allow some water to enter your safe in case there are floods.
Therefore, you must choose a safe whose door and lock gap cannot allow any particulates to pass through; otherwise, you can risk damaging your valuables. As you research different safe types for your home, purposely focus on the tightness of the door seals against the safe’s body.
The Safe’s Anchorage Is Critical
Your safe should be so comfortable that you can bolt it against the floor. You should also comfortably and confidently put your safe inside a wall or on the floor. You should easily anchor your safe at the time of installation. The home safe anchor system should allow you to mount the safe on holes or cement a specific area to mount the safe. You must not move your safe to anchor it. Instead, you should comfortably anchor your safe wherever you want to station it.
Your Safe Must have a Humidity Shield
The manufacturers of safes use metals to build them. Depending on where you want to install your safe, you may have humidity concerns. Furthermore, every home safe has some moisture concerns as the metals can easily rust. Choose a safe that has some shield against moisture to prevent the safe from rusting. For example, your safe should support a dehumidifier that uses power to clear any humidity. The dehumidifier must, however, be replaceable because it’s likely to wear out.
With these simple tips, you can be sure to purchase a high-quality safe. Your safe manufacturer must give you several unique locks for equipping your safe door. You should also willfully choose between a manual dial or an electronic lock. Choose a heavy safe that’s difficult to move. The gap between the lock and door can be a safety threat.
You should also be confident that wherever you shall anchor your home safe, the safe shall be secure from everything, including moisture. Your manufacturer should give you more than three options for opening your safe if you want to insure your valuables against theft. You can also consider the ten percent rule if it appeals to you.