That difference shapes every other choice. The right safe depends on what you are putting in it, what you are protecting it from, and where it will sit.

Start with what you are protecting

Make a list before you look at any safe. People often buy a safe first and then find it does not suit what they own. The contents decide the kind of protection you need, and each type of item needs something different:

Fire rating and burglary rating are two separate things

A fire rating tells you how long the inside of the safe stays cool enough to protect its contents. It is written as a time and a temperature, such as one hour at 1,700 degrees. Paper survives up to about 350 degrees, so a safe for documents is built to stay below that. Computer media needs the inside to stay far cooler, around 125 degrees. An ordinary fire safe can save your passport and still ruin a hard drive.

A burglary rating tells you how long the safe resists someone attacking it with tools. The common entry level is RSC, short for residential security container, which is tested against a short attack with hand tools. Higher ratings such as TL-15 and TL-30 mean the safe resisted a skilled tool attack for 15 or 30 minutes under test conditions. Many home safes and gun safes are RSC-rated, or are sold in that general category. Jewelers and businesses that hold a lot of cash use the TL grades.

Look for an independent test mark, such as UL or ETL, next to any rating. A label that only says fireproof, with no time and no test mark, tells you very little.

For most homes, a one-hour fire rating and an RSC burglary rating are enough for documents and everyday valuables. Larger amounts of cash or jewelry are the reason to look at the TL grades.

Wall safes, floor safes and freestanding safes

A freestanding safe is the most common kind, and it gives the most protection for its size as long as it is bolted down.

A wall safe fits between the studs and is easy to hide behind a picture or inside a closet. The wall limits how deep and how strong it can be, so it suits documents and small items more than high-value ones.

A floor safe is set into a concrete slab, which makes it very hard to remove and easy to hide under a rug. It protects well against theft, but ask how it handles water, because the lowest point of a floor is where water collects.

Which safe lock to choose

Safes come with four kinds of lock, and none of them suits everyone. The right one depends on how often you open the safe and who else needs to get in, so think about that before you compare brands:

Whichever you choose, keep the combination or recovery information somewhere secure outside the safe, and not in an obvious place in the house.

How big and how heavy a safe should be

Buy a safe larger than you think you need. People almost always add to what they keep in one, and the inside is much smaller than the outside because the walls are thick. Check the interior measurements, and check that your largest item fits with the door closed.

Weight matters too. If one person can lift a safe, one person can carry it out of the house and open it later. Any safe under a few hundred pounds should be bolted down.

Large safes weigh several hundred pounds or more. Before you order one, measure the doorways, think about stairs, and ask the seller whether delivery includes placing it where you want it. If it is going on an upper floor, check that the floor can carry the weight.

Where to put a safe in your home

The master bedroom closet is where most people put a safe, and it is also where a burglar looks first. A better spot is one that is out of sight, hard for a thief to work in, and on a solid floor.

A ground floor with a concrete slab is the best place in most Texas homes. The safe can be bolted straight into the concrete, and it will not fall through a floor weakened by fire. A garage has the right floor, but it is hot and humid and often visible from the street when the door is open. If you use the garage, put the safe in a corner away from the door.

Keep it out of view from windows, and avoid showing the safe’s location to people who do not need to know.

Bolt the safe down

Most safes have holes in the floor of the cabinet for this. Bolting into concrete is strongest. On a wood floor, the bolts should go into the joists and not only the floorboards. A bolted safe also cannot be tipped onto its back, which is how thieves get leverage on a door.

If a safe came with the house or you bought it used

Treat it like the locks on a new home. The previous owner, and anyone they told, still knows the combination. Have the combination or code changed before you put anything in it.

If nobody left you the code at all, the safe can usually still be opened and put back into use. The steps are the same as when you have forgotten the code to your safe.

Talk to your insurer before you buy

Ask your insurance company two things. Some policies limit what they pay for jewelry, cash or firearms unless those items are listed separately, and some ask what rating the safe has. One phone call can change which safe is worth buying.

Keep a list of what is in the safe, with serial numbers and photos, somewhere outside it. It is the first thing the police and your insurer will ask for after a burglary.

How to look after a safe

A safe needs very little attention. A few small habits prevent most lockouts and most damage to what is inside, and each one takes only a few minutes a year:

Safes for a small business

A business has two extra things to think about. The first is who can open the safe. A drop safe lets staff deposit cash through a slot without being able to take it out, so only a manager needs the combination. Some safes also have a time delay, which makes the door wait several minutes before it opens and discourages robbery.

The second is turnover. When someone who knows the combination leaves, change it that day, in the same way you would collect their keys.

Questions to ask before you buy a safe

Take these questions to the store or the website. A good seller can answer all of them plainly. If they cannot, look at a different safe:

A safe is the last layer of protection. It guards what is inside if someone does get into the building, so it works best alongside the steps that deter burglars in the first place. Texas Premier Locksmith opens locked safes for homes and businesses across Texas, including calls that come through our locksmith in Killeen.

Trouble with a safe you already own?