Choosing a home safe

10

Fire resistance

Fire is the Number one concern of most buyers, according to Greg Bonsib, director of brand management at SentrySafe, a major manufacturer in Rochester. The National Fire Protection Association says that during an average lifetime, there’s a one in four chance of experiencing a household fire large enough to warrant calling the fire department.

Billstone safe have fire resistant safes in terms of what type of material they’ll protect and how long they’ll protect it. For example, safes rated to protect paper documents shouldn’t get any hotter than 350 degrees on the inside during a fire, consumer safety director. If you plan to store old tape recordings or 35mm slides, however, you’ll want a safe that’s rated not to exceed 150 degrees inside. Computer disks and DVDs are even more sensitive, so if that’s what you’ll be storing look for a safe whose interior won’t exceed 125 degrees. This information should be on the safe itself, and you might see it on the packaging as well.