Hi, Dye the Safe Guy here, Dye Hawley manager of SafeandVaultStore.com. Today we are going to be talking about Burglar Fire Safes. First the construction, the fire rating, the burglar ratings and finally the locks.
Burglar Fire Safes have different ratings. A standard B-Rated safe doesn't have a tag on it; it's just an industry standard that says there is a ½ steel in the door, ¼ steel in the body. The next rating up is an Underwriters Laboratory rating called Residential Security Container. Look for the U.L. tag which states RSC or Residential Security Container rating. A B-Rated safe simply means that the door is about 2 ½ thick, there is a ½ of solid steel in the door, and the body contains a combined metal thickness of around a ¼ of an inch. The bolts should be at least ¾ in diameter, and if you note here, all burglar fire safes up to TL-30 have an anchor hole so you can securely anchor the safe into concrete or wood floor. The next level of burglar rating is a U.L. RSC.
Look for the label on the safe either on the top of the door or inside, it will state very clearly U.L. RSC or Residential Security Container. You notice this door is a lot thicker, its somewhere around 3 3 ½ of thickness. The bolts are a little bit larger, say ¾ sometimes a 1 you'll find and the body is much thicker, somewhere between 3 and 4 inches of thickness. The Residential Security Container rating means that this safe has been tested by the best safecrackers in the world, Underwriters Laboratory. The next category of burglar fire safes is a high-security burglar fire safe. These safes are on our website under high-security burglar fire safes, where the previous are just located under just burglar fire safes. Notice the doors are 5 ½ thick, the bolts are 1 ½ in diameter, there is at least 1 ½ 2 of solid steel in this door and the total combined steel inside this safe can reach upwards of a ½ sometimes more.
The other thing you want to look for on the door is that Underwriters Laboratory rating that says TL-15. TL-15 means that the safe has been tested at the very highest level. There are also higher levels called TL-30, TL-30 x 6, and TRTL. A high-security burglar fire safe is really a jewelry class safe. What does that mean? It means that these safes are purchased by jewelry stores, banks and credit unions, and they get the largest insurance rating for the contents. A TL-15 typically you can insure the contents for upwards of $250,000, a TL-30 $400,000, and a TL-30 x 6 $500,000. The TRTL safes can be insured for content value up to in the millions of dollars. So, there is a huge difference between a high-security burglar fire safe with a TL-15 or higher rating and the other safes that we looked at previously. The last thing to look for when finding a burglar fire safe is your fire rating.
You want to make sure that you have at least a 1-hour fire rating to protect your valuable contents in the safe. Typically a B or C rated safe is going to have an hour to an hour and a half rating. Look for a label on the inside of the door as it is on this Mutual Rhino safe. On your higher-end RSC rated safes; you will see a one-hour fire label listed by Underwriters Laboratory. This is done as an Independent Lab. Finally, on the high-security burglar fire safes, most of them will be a 2 hour factory laboratory test. What this means simply is that the factory has a laboratory that certified the time of the fire test. Finally, consider the amount of size that you need for the contents. So when you're looking for a burglar fire safe, these are smaller safes here with about 1 cubic foot of room on the inside which is 12 x 12 x 12. On our website there are sizes from the very smallest here to very very large.
The last thing I want to say about burglar fire safes is, put a lot of thought into the total maximum value of what you're putting into it. Whether you go with a B or C rated safe as you see here. Keep it under about $20,000 in value or you go with the Residential Security safe here that is UL tested for burglar and fire. Keep that under $50,000 in value. Or, if you go over here to the high-security burglar fire safes which start at $250,000 and go up into the millions. Keep in mind what you're putting into it and how long you're going to keep it there. And by all means anchor every safe you install in your home or business. That's it for today, thanks again from Dye the Safe Guy.
