7 Priceless Tips for First Time Safe Buyers
Safes are relatively straightforward. You open them, store your valuables, lock them, and you’re good to go!
On the other hand, the process of buying a safe is ridiculously complicated.
There are many factors your need to carefully analyze or you run the risk of compromising the safety of your valuables!
This complicates things for first-time safe buyers as they have no point of reference to go by, and often end up buying the most expensive one in the market.
We at New York Locksmiths Network want to make things easier for first time safe buyers, which is why today we’re offering 7 priceless tips when it comes to buying a safe!
1. Let the 10% Rule Dictate Your Budget
When it comes to buying safes, most people overspend and get the most expensive option available. Turns out, you don’t have to break the bank to keep your valuables safe. All you need to do is follow the simple yet effective 10% rule!
The 10% rule states that you should buy a safe for 10% of the worth of valuables you intend to store in it. In other words, if you wanted to stash valuables worth 10,000 USD, you should buy a safe for no more than a thousand bucks! This rule can prevent you from overspending by helping you choose a more economical option.
2. Choose Heavy Materials
It goes without saying that when it comes to buying a safe, you should opt for one that’s made of heavy, durable materials. There are two reasons why should get a heavy safe:
- A heavier safe is harder to move so crooks and thieves won’t have an easy time, should they try to steal your safe.
- A heavier safe is also more difficult to penetrate. If the steel door of your safe is thick, thieves will have a harder time making their way through it, giving security ample time to get on the scene and apprehend them!
3. Know What You’re Storing in the Safe
Before you invest in a safe, you should know what you intend to keep in it. If you want to store important documents like visas and deeds, you can opt for any option on the market.
However, if you intend to store valuables or documents that need to be accessed multiple times a day like a secret phone or your credit card, you’ll need to get a safe with a simple lock so that you’re guaranteed easy access to the items.
4. Does Size Matter?
Another surprisingly common mistake that people make is buying the biggest safe in the market. You’re not the Federal Reserve so a ridiculously big safe is of no importance to you.
This is why tip #3 is so important. After all, what good is a 10 ft. tall safe to you if you only intend to keep a few documents in it? Therefore, before you buy the safe, you need to know what you plan to store in it as it will determine the safe’s size.
5. Pay Close Attention to the Fire Rating
Fire ratings are directly proportional to the price of the safe. The more you pay, the safer your valuables will be in the event of a fire.
To anyone new to the world fire ratings, here’s a quick crash course. The standard fire safety rating is done on a 30-minute basis. This means that the valuables inside your safe will be safe from harm if they’re exposed to a fire that lasts less than half an hour.
However, if the fire lasts for even a minute longer, your valuables and the safe itself will begin to deteriorate!
Therefore, it’s important to analyze the safety options of your building when it comes to buying a safe.
If the room you plan to keep your safe in has a fire extinguisher, you can save hundreds of dollars by buying a safe with a lower fire rating.
However, if the fire extinguisher isn’t a luxury that the room of your choice houses, you should only by a U.L rated safe. It ensures the safe will keep the items stashed away in it safe from fires for longer periods of time!
6. Keeping the Safe SAFE
Believe it or not, you need to take special care of your safe. Above all else, you should NEVER advertise the fact that you have a safe!
This is why bolting your safe to the floor or hiding it a secret compartment in the wall or behind your bookcase is a good idea.
Moreover, you also need to closely monitor the humidity of your safe. There are many products on the market that have significant humidity concerns as their interior gets more humid than the exterior. This accelerates rusting and can significantly depreciate the value of your safe! To protect yourself from these problems, it’s best to put a dehumidifier inside the safe so that valuables and the safe itself don’t deteriorate with time!
7. Under Lock and Key
If you’ve invested in a safe that has a combination lock on it, it’s always a good idea to note down the combination to the safe on a piece of paper and stashing the paper away.
Ideally, you should never keep this paper in the same room as the safe; that’s the first place thieves will look for it.
A good approach would be to keep the paper with combination on it in your house, if the safe is at your office; and vice versa. This beefs up security and gives you peace of mind!
However, if you’ve bought a safe that has a lock on it, you need to keep the key to it away from harm. NEVER keep it close to the safe itself as it negates the point of getting a safe in the first place! If possible, keep the key with you at all times and never let it out of sight.
Are you experiencing problems with your safe? Perhaps you forgot the combination to the lock or can’t find the key to the safe no matter where you look? Don’t get the blowtorch to destroy the lock. We at New York Locksmith Networks have a much more elegant solution.
We offer emergency locksmith in Brooklyn and would love to help you out with your safe! We can help replace the lock so that you don’t have to demolish the safe door!
We offer 24 hour locksmith in Queens ; pick up the phone and give us a call; we would love to help!