How Much Fire Rating Do You Need in a Safe?

Buy Fire Rated Safes Online from at ACME Locksmith:

Are you buying a fire rated safe? How much fire rating do you need in a safe. What is the best fire rated safe for home use?

The best fire rating for a safe is a UL fire rated safe. After that, look for a fire rated safe that has any official fire rating certification.

But how long should the fire rating be? 30 Minutes? 1-hr? 2-hr? What is a good fire rating for a safe? How much fire rating should a safe have? Is there a best fire rated safe, one whose fire rating is above them all?

We break down the best fire ratings for your safe based on your needs.

00:00 Intro
00:43 What Is The Best Fire Rated Safe?
02:00 Are Any Safes Fireproof?
03:01 How Much Fire Rating Do You Need in a Safe?
04:10 When Do You Need a Longer Fire Rating?

[LawrenceHanson-bs]

I am a locksmith you’re the first person that actually touch base on fire rating in that area for residentials. I’ve I’ve looked at probably 10 videos today and not one of them have mentioned anything you have had said to say you make a very good salesperson.

[superdutyohv]

Even though the gold and silver don’t melt until very high temperatures, the heat, smoke, and water from firefighters can significantly damage them. I recommend a firebox like the Honeywell Fire and Water security chest for housing cash, metals, passports…that lives inside a solid gun safe or TL rated safe. That will ensure no matter what happens that those contents are safe. Those Honeywell chests actually have concrete on them so they’re heavy!

[johnmcneal]

I have a small safe, around 3sq ft. and it is strictly for paper work. I believe it has a 90 minute fire rating. It is hidden in the corner of the basement with 8ft tall poured concrete foundation walls on two sides; My thinking is that heat rises as do flames and the concrete will reduce the heat load on at least two sides of the safe. When fighting a fire a lot of the water sprayed on the house will drain down into the basement cooling the temps around the safe. Inside I wrapped the contents in 1.5 inches of ceramic insulation. I built a kiln a few years back with 2.5 inches of the ceramic insulation and at 2000 degrees you can touch the outside of the kiln with no problem. Its amazing stuff. Inside of the safe I stacked around 90 lbs of weights which puts the total weight at around120 lbs. Good luck on hauling this out of my tight spaced basement. I have a sheet of plate steel I would like to bolt to the safe and then attach that to the studs for my next upgrade. I have two large gun safes upstairs that I want to move down to the basement also. I am concerned that in catastrophic fire the floors would burn and collapse dropping the safes 9.5 feet to the concrete floor in the basement? I think the fall and the heat could compromise the fire safety? Sorry this is so long. I am pondering building a small concrete block enclosure in the corner of the basement that would be a few inches larger then the gun safes. Fill the blocks with enough concrete and rebar to help increase the outside fire resistance on the sides, back, bottom and top a bit. I think if I took some heavy duty flat bar and bolted it and attached it across the front above the door and a piece below the door at floor level, it would be nearly impossible to tip out or removed . Am I paranoid? Maybe just a bit, I was a cop for 23 years and responded to a ton of burglaries over the years? haha I call it being prepared!

[southernexposure]

I'm 3 miles from the nearest 2 truck fire department. Before the first truck came the house was engulfed in flames. It took 15 minutes for the first truck to show upafter the F D was called. Eventually 5 trucks came and pumped water full force. The house burned to the ground. Coins in a metal box didn't melt, but the sandwich quarters blistered and separated.

[mark-ddoq]

Good talk, I like your perspective of actual response times. I was hoping you talked more about electronics i.e. hard drives, thumb drives etc. Electronics generally can't handle temperatures greater than 125F they fail or degraded which is why data safes are available. Most of the talk was those that couldn't go above 350F i.e. paper, guns. I did find some YouTube videos that showed that most safes 1-2 hr rated 350F safes get above 125 F in less than 10 mins. More and more business and individuals are storing hard drives in safes as backup so I think its a good additional topic.

[sombojoe]

Do fire resistant pouches/bags inside the safe help?

[memesoo_kang]

So kindly and professionally explained :)

[BipolarAyatollah]

Excellent video! Lots of great information and thought provoking advice for prospective safe buyers such as myself. Thank you!

[rhsking]

Nice! Very practical talking points. Not trying to over exaggerate how house fires are to try and upsell potential customers into thinking they need more than what they need. I respect that. Explained the truths about most house fires and the differences in house fires with several variables

[kenmartin]

I live in a small town in the Sierra Nevada Mountians (CA). Fire Dept is 3 blocks away manned 24/7.
I still don’t depend on house fire being put out right away because entire towns are being lost to fire where I live.

[sergegalipeau]

Thanks for this very informative video!

[jonnybike]

I think you pretty much need to put fireproof safes into a 5 inch around concrete safe and special concrete door. Concrete is really the only that is pretty impervious to fire.

[mangosmakemesmilee]

What would be a good recommendation for condos?
They are typically built like small houses, connected with fire resistant walls between each condo.

[andre-le-bone-aparte]

Question: What effect would putting a Safe... inside another Safe? - If the goal was to extend the "30 minutes" rating of fire protection?

[viperracing]

I use a Robur RVS 285. It's 4, 630 lbs and is rated for 90 minutes. 😊

[justahair]

Is a good idea to put cash in a fireproof bag inside a smaller fire rated box inside a larger fire rated safe. Plus the uk changed to polymer type money has anyone tesred for this to see if the money melts

[MarkMD.]

Best and clear explained. Very well made video comparing to others talking much

[BillN-vw]

please explain the difference between a safe and a residenctal security container

[mikef]

You didn't mention even after the fire is put out the inside of that steel box the temp will still rise and hold and cool slower. and assuming the water will cool it false hope. Fire even if they knew still not going to try to cool it. They want to cool the embers and flammables.

[Peaches]

but what if the house catches fire and nobody is at home ... everyone is at work for a 12 hour shift so nobody can phone the emergency services :' (