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If you want to add an extra layer of security to your home, you might consider purchasing a home safe. Doing so will help protect your most precious possessions from theft, loss and even – with the right safe – fire damage.
Buying a safe may not feel essential on a normal day where nothing goes wrong, but when a dark day comes around and your possessions are put into danger, you certainly won’t regret it. In fact, if owning a safe stopped you from losing your most cherished items, you’d thank your lucky stars that you’d gone out of your way.
If you have come to the decision that buying a safe is something that you want to do, you shouldn’t jump straight in and pick up the first one that you see. Instead, make a careful decision based on your personal requirements, which we’re here to help you figure out.
How to pick the best home safe to buy
People buy a home safe for different reasons, and understanding your own motivations can help you choose the best home safe to suit your needs and budget. Take a minute to think about your answers to the following questions, before continuing to our top six options.
How large are your valuables?
Are you buying a safe to simply store some cash and jewellery, or will bigger valuables need to fit in as well? If you’re intending to squeeze in larger items, such as laptops, cameras and – oh, I don’t know - Fabergé eggs, you’ll want to check out some of the more spacious options on the market. The last thing you want is to get your safe delivered before realising that it doesn’t actually fit what you need it to fit.
How much are your valuables worth?
Once you’ve decided what you’ll be storing in your safe, you’ll want to work the sum total of their combined cash worth. This is so you can work out where the contents of your safe rank on the Eurograde rating scale, which is used by insurance companies to determine what they will insure while it’s locked in a safe:
• Eurograde 0 - Cash rating: £6,000 & Valuables: £60,000
• Eurograde 1 - Cash rating: £10,000 & Valuables: £100,000
• Eurograde 2 - Cash rating: £17,500 & Valuables: £175,000
• Eurograde 3 - Cash rating: £35,000 & Valuables: £350,000
• Eurograde 4 - Cash rating: £60,000 & Valuables: £600,000
• Eurograde 5 - Cash rating: £100,000 & Valuables: £1,000,000
• Eurograde 6 - Cash rating: £150,000 & Valuables: £1,500,000
• Eurograde 7 - Cash rating: £250,000 & Valuables: £2,500,000
You’ll want to make sure that you buy a safe with the right Eurograde rating to match the valuables you’re putting in there. That way, if you are ever robbed, your insurance company will have to cover the cost.
What is your budget?
Home safes are available on the internet in all shapes and sizes, and with that vast range of options comes an even vaster range of prices. If you’re able to spend a bit more on a safe, you will probably get more space, more security features and a higher Eurograde rating. But if you’re looking to spend a fairly small amount to protect just a few small items, you should still be able to find a high quality safe to suit your needs.
What type of lock do you need, and how many keys?
Safes either work with a key or with a mechanical or electronic combination lock. With the former, you get the peace of mind that nobody can open the safe without the key, which you keep on your person or in a secure place. With the latter, anyone who knows or can guess the combination can get inside, but that still makes for pretty good security. Of course, keys can get lost and combinations forgotten. In the latter case, you might want to keep a note in a secure place (not a post-it on the fridge) or see if the manufacturer has an override key.
If you’re the kind of person who’s likely to lose a key, you won’t want to lock up your most valuable and important belongings in an impenetrable safe which only comes with one impossible-to-replace key. If you have a proven track record of misplacing things, get a safe with a spare key and leave said spare with someone that your trust. Alternatively, choose a safe provider that is willing to provide replacements if you ever need them. If you have absolute trust in yourself and have never lost a single thing in your life, ignore this paragraph completely.
The best home safes to buy in 2018
1. Burton Safes Eurovault Aver: The best home safe for the average home
Price: £990 l Buy now from Amazon
The perfect home safe for most people is arguably the Burton Safes Eurovault Aver: a high-security keypad safe with a grade 0 rating on the Eurograde rating scale. This means that insurance companies will cover the contents of your safe up to a cash total of £6,000 along with valuables that have a combined worth of up to £60,000.
The door is solid steel, boasting laser-cut metal that is 10mm thick. The lock and bolt-work also have special drill protection, and there is a relocking device that will secure the door in case of attack. Additionally, the unit’s seven shelves are highly adaptable: the bottom two can be removed if necessary, and the top five can be adjusted to suit your needs.
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Burton Safes Eurovault Aver Grade 0, Size 3 Electronic Keypad High Security Safe £6000 Cash Rating/£60,000 Jewellery Rating
Key specs – Dimensions: 67 x 44 x 38.5cm; Volume: 71L; Cash rating:£6,000 / valuables £60,000; Eurograde Rating: 0; Fire resistant: No; Lock: Three-way bolts, electronic combination lock
2. Dudley Europa Grade 4 Size 2: The best medium value safe
Price:£4,115 l Buy now from Amazon
If the option above doesn’t quite cover your home safe requirements, you’ll want to consider a safe with a higher Eurograde rating. This Dudley safe, which is in the grade 4 category, will allow you to safely secure cash up to a value of £60,000 and valuables with a worth of £600,000. Naturally, for a safe that insurers recognise as suitable for items of this value, you’re looking at a significantly higher price when it comes to purchasing the safe itself.
For your money, you get a safe that has double-skinned body construction with high resistance barrier material. It also has 75 minutes of fire resistance, numerous 'Anti Explosive' re-locking devices and two high-security double-bitted key locks, so it’s going to take a pretty well-equipped gang to break into it. It also has two removable and adjustable shelves.
Key specs – Dimensions: 98.8 x 65.7x 67.2cm; Volume: 160L; Cash rating:£6,000 / valuables £60,000; Eurograde Rating: 4; Fire resistant: 75 minutes; Locks: Three-way bolts, key lock
3. Securikey Mini Vault Silver Safe: The best small home safe
Price:£293 l Buy now from Amazon
If your home safe needs are on the smaller side, you might want to consider a mini vault such as this Securikey offering, with a cash rating of £4,000 or £40,000 in valuables. It has a combination lock powered by AA batteries, which come included in the price. The code is changeable to suit you, and the safe will give you low power warnings if the battery is getting close to flat.
Ths safe is secured with an 8mm anti-bludgeon flush fit door, which has 25mm hardened steel locking bolts. There is even an internal light that will switch on when the door is open, allowing you to see the contents with ease. This safe is totally wall-mountable, too, adding an extra layer of security.
Key specs – Dimensions: 25 x 37 x 27cm; Volume: 18L; Cash rating:£4,000 / valuables £40,000; Eurograde Rating: Less than 0; Fire resistant: No; Locks: 25mm hardened steel bolts, electronic combination lock
4. Burg-Wächter PointSafe: The best biometric home safe
Price: £182 l Buy now from Amazon
If you covet that cool spy movie feeling of opening a safe with your fingerprint, you could do a lot worse than invest in one of Burg-Wächter’s PointSafe units. Made in Germany and laboratory tested, these safes boast a solid, single-walled body and a sturdy double-walled door, providing a safe and secure space in which to store your stuff.
As well as being able to recognise a fingerprint, this safe can also be set up with a pin number, while a key is also provided, giving you three different ways to access your stored belongings. This safe is fully wall-mountable, and it is ideal for storing cash (up to a value of £1,000) and smaller valuables (up to £10,000).
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BURG-WÄCHTER, Home Safe, Electronic Combination Lock with Finger Print Scanner, Wall and Floor Mounting, PointSafe P 2 E FS
Key specs – Dimensions: 25.55 x 35 x 30cm; Volume: 20.5L; Eurograde Rating: Less than 0; Cash rating:£1,000 / valuables £10,000; Fire resistant: No
5. Yale Locks YSB250EB1: The best affordable home safe
Price: From £103.45 l Buy now from Amazon
If you’re looking for a home safe on a budget – a little something that can hold your valuables, without breaking the bank – look no further than this beauty from Yale. It has an insurance approval rating that covers cash up to £1,000 and valuables up to £10,000, and it can easily be fixed to the wall or floor.
You can set a 3-to-8-digit code using the snazzy LCD screen, and there are also spare keys included if you happen to forget that code. The electric bolt mechanism is 22mm thick, the door is laser cut for minimum gap, and the reinforced hinges really mean business. It may not have all the bells and whistles of the more expensive safes on the market, but this Yale safe will do the trick for most households where there are only a few valuables to protect.
Key specs – Dimensions: 20 x 32 x 20cm; Volume: 20L; Eurograde Rating: Less than 0; Cash rating:£1,000 / valuables £10,000; Fire resistant: No
6. Cathedral DSBA4 A4 Fire and Waterproof Deed Box: The best fire resistant safe box
Price:£51.94 l Buy now from Amazon
Although it’s not technically a safe, this deed box from Cathedral ticks a lot of boxes at a very reasonable price. It’s fire resistant, to the point that it can handle 30 minutes at temperatures of 840 degrees centigrade. It’s also waterproof, even when fully submerged. It can fit A4 documents and most sorts of laptops, and it comes with two keys.
It also has an easy carry handle, meaning that you could use this box as a travel case as well as a security device. It’s an ideal way to store important documents, without having to fork out on a safe. Just bear in mind that, because it’s not a safe, this item isn’t covered by the Eurograde rating system recognised by insurance companies.
Key specs – Dimensions: 41.4 x 34.6 x 17.8 cm; Volume: 7.24L; Eurograde Rating: N/A; Cash rating: N/A; Fire resistant: 30 minutes