Safe Christmas: Protect Valuables from Burglary and Fire

Many modern homes are filled with items of value that the homeowner would not want to lose to a burglary or house fire. A decent safe goes a long way to ensuring protection from these two dangers. A safe could even make a great Christmas present for someone who keeps their passport in their sock draw.

Protection from Burglary

The good news is that the number of domestic burglaries recorded by the Crime Survey for England and Wales has fallen dramatically since its peak of 2.5 million in 1992. In the survey year that ended in March 2017 (the most recent for which the data has been released), there were around 650,000 incidents of domestic burglary – that’s still roughly 2% of households. Keeping valuables in a safe means that even if a burglar gains access to your property, they cannot make off with your most treasured possessions.

Protection from Fire

A safe will offer some protection for documents in the event of a house fire. Safes that have been manufactured to the European standard EN 15659 have been heated to 170°C for 60 minutes and the paper they contain has survived. To pass the test EN 1047-1, a safe must be heated to 170°C for 2 hours and then dropped 9 metres! This is the most stringent level of testing a safe can undergo.

How to Choose a Safe

There are four factors that you need to consider when choosing a safe:

• Size. Calculate the combined volume of your valuables – these might include documents, jewellery, and items that store data digitally.
  
• Space. Ensure that you have enough space for the safe that you choose and that it can be installed to the manufacturer’s specifications.
  
• Value. Work out the insurance value of the items that you will be storing in your safe.
  
• Fire Standards. If you are storing paper documents or digital media, make sure that the safe that you are buying has fire safety certification on the inside of the door.

If you are thinking about buying and installing a safe, we are happy to offer advice. We have a dedicated safe-moving van which we use for transporting large safes that may be too heavy for a conventional vehicle. For more information, give us a call on 01603 812613 or email admin@ptlockandsafe.co.uk.

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