There are several factors to consider before you purchase a safe. You’ll need to consider size, protection, lock style, budget and portability before you make your decision. Safe sizes vary and there are many to choose from for your Seattle home or office. Big safes are better for important documents while smaller safes are portable so that you’ll be able to take it with you anywhere. If you travel a lot, a small safe may be ideal for you. A small safe will also cost you less compared to a big safe.

What Size Safe Do I Need?

That question depends on what you plan on putting in the safe. Before you purchase a safe, it’s best to collect everything that you want to put in it to determine the size you need. Remember, you’ll likely need to add important things to your safe after a few years.

Common Items Put In a Safe

People usually place birth certificates, death certificates, estate planning documents, life insurance policies, savings bonds, stock certificates, money and tax returns in a safe. You’ll need to keep birth certificates, death certificates, and estate planning documents forever. If you plan on placing estate planning documents in your safe, be sure that your lawyer and executor have copies. You’ll need to keep your life insurance policies until the term of coverage ends. You’ll need to keep savings bonds until you cash them in at maturity. Maturity usually takes place in 30 years. Stock certificates will need to be kept until you sell the stock or have it converted to direct name registration. It’s recommended that you keep your tax returns for seven years before you dispose of them.

Protection

When you purchase a safe, you want to protect the items inside of it from theft and water and fire damage. Some safes offer protection from these things, and some safes don’t. Safes that are less expensive in price may not offer protection. It’s important to get a safe that has theft, water, and fire protection, however.

Mechanical or Electric Lock?

When you start shopping for a safe, you’ll notice that some safes have mechanical locks and some safes have electric locks. The disadvantage with mechanical locks is that they require maintenance. Electric locks don’t require any maintenance. To get the best protection, it’s best to choose a safe that has two locks.

Portability

There are various types of safes available. You can get a safe that’s portable, but it’ll more likely to get stolen, or you can get a safe that’s screwed to your floor or wall. In some cases, you can even purchase a hidden safe that nobody can steal. Remember, hidden safes will take up more space and so will safes that are screwed to your floor or wall.

Budget

When you purchase your safe, it’s best to get as much protection as you can afford. If you can afford it, you should try to get a safe that offers theft protection and prevents water and fire damage. Remember, some of your most valuable items will be stored in it. You want to make sure that your valuables are kept safe.

Weight

The heavier a safe is means that it’ll less likely for it to be stolen if your home ever gets burglarized. The disadvantage with heavy safes is that you likely won’t be able to take them with you if you travel out of town. Smaller safes are portable, but they’re likely to get stolen if someone sees it.

Digital and Data and Media Safes

Many offices have special concerns when it comes to storing sensitive information or anything stored on an electronic database. A company dedicating to providing confidentiality needs to consider maintaining the highest level of security with a digital safe. Temperature is a crucial factor when storing data and media. A locksmith can help you select the proper safe for your office.

Sensitive data can get erased if the temperature plummets. A data and media safe protect items from extreme cold and can keep data from being erased in a fire. They are made to protect flash drives, hard drives, CDs, DVDs, zip discs, and more. Digital safes can be freestanding or bolted to the ground. Consider how the items you need to put in the safe should be stored. The goal is to create a completely secure environment that cannot be easily compromised. This protects sensitive items as well as the reputation of your company.

We offer locksmith and garage door services for our customers in the Seattle area. Our locksmith services include residential, commercial, automotive, access control and safe and vault services. Discuss your security concerns with our dedicated professionals who can help you choose the right size safe and more.

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