Before you come to a final decision about which safe you want to purchase you should spend a few moments considering where you are going to place the safe and how the safe will be mounted. First, you need to decide if you need a wall safe, an in-floor safe, free-standing safe, or even an under the bed safe?

For the most part, free-standing safes can be simply carried out of the house by a burglar, however this can be an obscure concept as the weight and location of the safe can make this extremely difficult. For the most part you should use an in-floor or wall-mounted safe.

If you select a wall-mounted safe you should choose the location in your home very carefully. Some wall-safes are large enough to extend through the back side of the wall. All the fire rated wall safes are this way because they are especially large to accommodate insulation. While choosing the location of your wall safe, check that the area of wall does not contain electrical, plumbing, or heating duct work.

If the safe size requirements are such that you have chosen a safe that will protrude through the back side of the wall, remember to choose a location say in a bed room, where the safe could protrude through into an adjoining closet wall (to allow concealment) of the protruding portion. Some choose a wall that might protrude over a utility room. Next look up your homeowner’s weight specifications/building plans to figure out if the spot will bear the weight of the safe.

Now that you know the specifications of your new safe and where you are going to position the safe, you can go on-line and find dozens of installation tutorials.

Here is a really good on-line tutorial: http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/how-to/intro/0,,20177939,00.html

If you have decided to purchase and install an in-floor safe your installation procedures and requirements are very different. An in-floor safe is typically mounted in existing concrete, wood floors, or new concrete floors. For a wood floor installation you can cut a hole in the floor, add joist reinforcements as needed, and create a wood form to encase the new safe. Installation of an in-floor safe in existing concrete floors requires jackhammers to create the hole and then new concrete poured around the safe.

I recommend that you come in to a local safe and security store and talk to an expert about your requirements. An expert can also advise you on the best and most economical contractors in your area to help your with your installation.

Most safes built for fire protection come with a UL (Underwriters Laboratories) fire rated labeling. Before purchasing a safe it is important to understand the basics of fire protection standards. To start with you need to define what objects (materials) you are going to place in the safe. UL uses three basic types of materials for testing: paper, computer media, microfilm. Each material has a different degree of tolerance to temperature, humidity and length of time exposed to harmful elements. To allow for these differences, UL tests cover three different temperatures and five different time durations.

The temperature noted on the UL label is the maximum temperature allowed inside the fire protective product during the test. For example, if the temperature inside a safe or file exceeds 350°F, it will fail the UL test for paper rated products. For tapes, cartridges, microfiche, and microfilm, the limit is 150°F (with an 85% humidity restriction); for diskettes, the temperature cannot exceed 125°F (with an 80% humidity restriction).

The next part of fire rating is the amount of time and temperature applied to the safe during its testing period. Example: 60 minutes at 1700 degrees Fahrenheit. Depending upon the classification time being tested, the furnace heat rises at a carefully monitored rate until the specified temperature is reached. One the time and temperature are reached the oven is allowed to cool down. Finally, the product is opened and examined to determine whether the contents are still in usable condition. The interior walls and components are checked for any evidence of heat or humidity damage.

Fire and Impact Test: After a product has passed the Fire Endurance Test, another sample of the same product may be tested for fire and impact. The sample is prepared in the same manner as the Fire Endurance Test. Then it is heated to a specific time and temperature (see chart below). After the product has been exposed for the correct time period, it is immediately removed form the furnace and hoisted 30 feet off the ground. UL then drops the product within two minutes into a pile of broken brick on a concrete base. This is equivalent to a fall form a third story.

Finally a label is certified for the product being tested.
Example:
Record Protection Equipment
Classified By Underwriters Laboratories, Inc
As To Fire Resistance Rating: Class_______-____Hr

The normal test classes and times are as follows:
Class: 350°, 150°, 125°
Hour: ½, 1, 2, 3, or 4

Now when you are examining fire rated safes you can simply ask, “What is the fire rating class and time period?”

If you manage a home office, then most likely you have asked yourself  “Would I lose my priceless business data in a fire?”   Then some late night when you can’t sleep you ask the next question “If I buy a media safe will it actually protect my data?”    To find the answers to these questions you need to take an evening or two and dig into Underwriters Laboratories Inc.   Here is a synopsis of research that the UL.com website provided for these questions.

Products may undergo four different fire resistance tests: 1) fire endurance test, 2) fire and impact test, 3) explosion hazard test, 4) combined explosion and impact test.   Primary records consist of many types of documents – paper records, microfilm, computer media, etc. Each has a different degree of tolerance to temperature, humidity and length of time exposed to harmful elements. To allow for these differences, UL tests cover three different temperatures and five different time durations.

The temperature noted on the UL label is the maximum temperature allowed inside the fire protective product during the test. For example, if the temperature inside a safe or file exceeds 350°F, it will fail the UL test for paper rated products. For tapes, cartridges, microfiche, and microfilm, the limit is 150°F (with an 85% humidity restriction); for diskettes, the temperature cannot exceed 125°F (with an 80% humidity restriction).

The time noted on the UL label indicates how long the fire resistant product was tested to withstand exposure to extreme temperature and still maintain a safe temperature/humidity level inside. The time lengths are ½ hour, 1 hour, 2 hours, 3 hours, and 4 hours. Theses times do NOT represent the total time of the tests, for are they totally indicative of the amount of protection offered. One hour rated products offer more than “one hour’s” worth of protection.

Note on Computer Media:

Some articles have stated that computer media should be stored at a temperature of 70°F and a humidity level between 35% and 60%. These are the requirements for long term or normal day-in day-out storage. The UL requirements are designed to protect tapes and diskettes form intense heat and humidity for a critical period of time in the event of a fire. UL does not recommend that you store your diskettes and tapes at a 125°F, 80% humidity level on a regular basis.