Fireproof Safe Buying Guide
A fireproof safe can end up being one of the best investments you can make to protect your valuable possessions and irreplaceable documents. Fires occur nearly every 50 seconds in the United States, and critical papers, files, and mementos can be some of the items in your home most susceptible items to fire damage. A well-designed fire safe will often protect items for up to four hours in temperatures as high as 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
A fire safe is ideal for documents that often end up under the bed in a shoe box. Birth certificates, photos, bank account information, medical records, diplomas, transcripts, deeds, passports, and investment papers are all critical documents that must be adequately protected.
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The What and Where of Fireproof Safes
Both businesses and homes are excellent locations for fireproof safes. Businesses that have valuable documents or valuables on hand can provide additional protection from both fire and thieves while a fire safe in the home is a great way to store important papers and personal mementos. Years ago owning a safe meant making a pretty serious purchase, but these days a fire safe is a common and affordable security feature for a home or business that can cost as little as $50. Models that are larger or contain enhanced features can cost into the thousands and are typically more common for businesses. |
How Much to Spend on a Fireproof Safe?
In recent years, home safes have become affordable while providing an advanced form of protection from thieves, fire, water, and other disaster related events. Safes designed for the home can be found for as little as $50, or go into the thousands for larger versions with enhanced features and safety ratings.
For example, a professional-grade fireproof safe that is also rated for data and a 30 foot drop and is about 30 cubic inches might cost you around 3,200 dollars. Going upward in size to about 6 cubic feet of data storage could cost as much as 2,000 dollars more on top of that. However, a simple fireproof safe for basic needs at home that stores about 0.8 cubic feet of stuff is only going to cost around 180 dollars. Choosing a larger home safe with more perks is still not going to cost you more than about 600 dollars. Generally, it’s when you break into data protection and actual file cabinet-style fire safes that you get into four-figure prices.
Potential Needs for Fireproof Safekeeping
While protecting your valuables is critical, home safes are also ideal for protecting your critical records and documents. In the event of a disaster, having access to these important papers will make recovery easier. Papers can accumulate quickly, so here's a quick guide to typical documents that would be stored in a home safe and for how long they should be stored:
- Adoption Papers: ongoing
- Bank Records: for seven years
- Birth and Death Certificates: ongoing
- Citizenship Papers: ongoing
- Contracts: for seven years after the term
- Child Custody Papers: ongoing
- Deeds: ongoing
- Divorce and Separation Papers: ongoing
- Medical Records: ongoing and update as needed
- Property Inventory: ongoing and update as needed
- Insurance Policies: for four years after they have expired
- Loan Papers: for three years after the loan is cleared
- Marriage Certificate: ongoing
- Mortgage: for three years after the home is paid off
- Passport: until replaced
- Stock & Bond Certificates: for four years after they have been sold
- Tax Records: for six years and update as needed
- Warranties: as long as you own the item or the warranty remains in effect
- Will: as long as it is in effect