Overview of furniture safes, design features and installation options
The presence of a safe in the house is already a modern reality. The issues of preserving values, information and other important things are relevant today for many people. And such a design as a furniture safe has become one of the ways to solve these problems.
Content
Purpose and features
The main task of a furniture safe is reliable protection and preservation of those things that are valuable, and sometimes dangerous. Usually it is money, jewelry, important documents, weapons and many other items that need a special storage mode.
Structurally, the furniture safe is a welded metal box of certain sizes, which depend on the purpose and place of use. It is equipped with a monolithic door with a system of locks and locks of various difficulty levels. For strong fixing in certain places of the safe there are openings for installation.
The name “furniture safe” itself indicates a specific functional feature of these products. It lies in the fact that they can be decorated with furniture, imperceptibly and reliably built into the wall or floor. This allows you to create additional protection for stored things, because it makes the presence of such a cache absolutely invisible.
In addition, there are several more aspects that are pluses of these types of products:
- Significant saving of useful space in the room is provided;
- The existing interior design is not violated;
- Modernity and ergonomic appearance;
- Compactness and light weight makes installation and delivery simple;
- Low cost relative to other models;
- Reliability and usability.
We can say that a furniture safe is an ideal storage system for a country house, apartment, summer house and more. Often they can be found in offices and hotels.
Material Requirements
The material from which safes for the home are made should ensure the fulfillment of the main function - protection. Therefore, all standard factory copies are made of high-strength sheet steel. The case is coated with a polymer of a special composition. It allows you to use any cleaning products for cleaning.
But the specifics of such products (small dimensions and weight) leaves its mark on the materials used. The acquisition objective is mainly taken into account. As a rule, products are a means of protection against:
- To prying eyes - ordinary furniture safes are made of sheet steel, the thickness of which varies from 1 to 10 mm.This is enough to fulfill its main function: to protect the contents from the curious;
- Penetration - a much greater degree of protection is provided by burglar-proof furniture safes. Their base is made of double-walled steel sheets. In the spaces between them are placed special materials that provide additional structural strength. Vaults of this class will already become an obstacle to any penetration;
- Fire - when the task is to protect the contents from fire, the most relevant in this case are fireproof furniture safes. Materials for their manufacture are used similar to the previous ones: double steel sheets. But the space between them is already filled with special substances. They have a porous structure, which significantly increases the heat resistance of the entire structure. In case of fire, the safety of valuables placed in the vault can be ensured for 40-120 minutes. This time, as a rule, is enough to take care of their future fate.
Practiced options for caches made to order. Here are separately agreed: dimensions, materials used, additional means of protection and comfort.
Varieties
There are many criteria when choosing a safe. In one case, the size of the room is important, in the other - the dimensions of the values. But you should always take into account two main factors: the type of installation and the reliability of locks. It is proposed to consider these varieties.
By type of installation
- The most common form is furniture safes disguised in niches, shelves and other secluded places. They are usually small in size, easy to install and practically invisible;
- There are separate models made in the form of furniture: a cabinet, a chest of drawers and even a sofa. In addition to internal protective equipment, they provide durable fastenings to the floor surface with anchor bolts. Such measures make theft of the safe with the contents practically impossible;
- One more modification is applied: built-in safes. They are quite easy to mount into the wall, and subsequently mask with any interior item - a picture or a mirror. However, given the wall thickness of modern apartments, it is not worth counting a large-sized safe.
A convenient option is to use the repair or redevelopment period of the apartment for the cache device. Sounds of repair work will help to mask the noise produced and do not attract too much attention.
By type of lock
At present, several basic types of safe locks are offered.
- The key lock is convenient to use, because there is no need to keep a code combination in your head. The simplicity and speed of unlocking the door with this key is another plus of this type of lock. Regarding other types of locks - the cheapest. However, it has a significant drawback: if a key is lost or stolen, the risk of making a duplicate is great;
- Coded mechanical lock - such a locking device is unpretentious to environmental influences. There is also no need to take care of storing the key, due to its absence. The downside in this case is the duration of unlocking this lock. Repeatedly turning the handle makes it possible to copy the key combination. Another negative side of this design is that you can forget the digital code. The process of its restoration by the manufacturer is quite long and expensive;
- Coded electronic lock - an undoubted convenience - the lack of a key. Even if there are problems with a password, they can be solved using a special master key. Such locks open quickly, have more than one level of protection, and there is the possibility of their reprogramming. The disadvantages include a rather high price, response to environmental conditions and the presence of batteries;
- Biometric lock - the name implies that it opens with an individual fingerprint of the owner. This is the main distinguishing feature of this type of locks. The following points can also be advantages: lack of a key; no need to remember a password, it opens easily and quickly. The disadvantages are similar to the previous type of locks: very high price, constant use of batteries, dependence on environmental conditions.
The right choice of these two factors (such as installing a safe and type of lock) can already guarantee the appearance of the necessary and useful things in the house.
Dimensions and specifications
When determining the size of a safe in a house, an important guideline is the area of the space where it will be located. Structures of the "furniture" type, as a rule, are installed in residential premises. It can be an apartment, a country house, a cottage or a summer residence. Each of these rooms has its own characteristics. But the size range of products is so wide that finding the right option is not a problem. Consider the main ones:
Furniture safe for apartments
Small designs designed to store small items are appropriate here. Usually they are built into any part of the furniture - on a shelf, in a closet, in a niche. It is most convenient to first decide on the furniture inside which the cache will be installed. Based on this, its maximum dimensions will be precisely known.
When installing a safe on a shelf of a furniture item, the allowable weight load must be taken into account. The most optimal weight of a safe for a home is up to 80 kg.
In order to install a storehouse in the apartment with enhanced security characteristics (burglar-resistant or fireproof), you can use models that are attached to the floor with anchor bolts through mounting holes. In this case, the size range can be much wider.
Safe for private home
In this case, it is possible not to save on the size of the safe. In addition to the above options, you can install the storage in the form of a cabinet - it is usually used to store weapons. Disguised as a piece of furniture, such a cache will not attract too much attention.
If necessary, you can increase not only the size, but also the number of safes. If financial opportunities allow, it is logical to place not one, but several storage places on the area of the house. For example: a safe-closet is used to store weapons, a niche in the book block is used to store securities, and a beautiful dressing table can be disguised as a shelter for small expensive items.
The size of stored items also affects the size of the purchased safe. It makes no sense for jewelry or small collections to purchase a furniture safe in the form of a cabinet. In this case, it is better to limit yourself to a small instance. You should pay attention to non-standard options. Often you can find safes made in the form of a book or case. They naturally look in the interior of any room.
Selection rules
After numerous materials on this issue have been studied, the last step is to be taken - choose the right safe that meets all your requirements. To do this, you need to consider several more factors:
- Burglar resistance class - there are 12 such classes. The higher the class, the more difficult it is to crack the safe. For a regular home stash, it’s enough to choose a class 3 model. For storage of documents and banknotes, a safe of 4 classes of burglar resistance is recommended, jewelry will require a storage of 5 classes. If storage of especially valuable things is supposed, then it is necessary to use the safe of the 6th class;
- Fire resistance class - the degree of fire resistance is also classified by 12 classes. It shows the storage time of the contents on fire, usually this indicator is in the range of 60 - 120 minutes.Fire resistance class is selected depending on what degree of fire hazard is expected in the future;
- The size of the safe and the installation method are very important indicators when choosing the desired modification. It can be said briefly that the other characteristics of a furniture safe depend in many respects on their correct determination;
- Type of safe - it is advisable to know in advance what will be stored in the intended safe. The most popular types are:
- Safe for documents - in this case, it is necessary to provide for shelves for a convenient arrangement of papers;
- Safe for jewelry - a small-sized storage with small cells is suitable;
- Weapon safe - the size of the model depends on the size of the weapon. Basically, these are safes, which ensure the inaccessibility and safety provided for by the standards;
- Safe for magnetic media - relevant for those who care about information. Usually it is on disks, flash drives and other similar media. This variety has a very small size, is easily masked in any secluded corner and reliably protects materials;
- Mini-safe - used for small rooms and can be made in the form of various items (such as books). Compact and lightweight, it provides a sufficiently high safety;
- Combined safe - modifications that combine the functions of many narrowly targeted species. Often, such designs are made to order.
- Lock type - depending on the type of safe selected, the type of lock is also selected. In the “Varieties” section, in the “By castle type” subsection, the characteristics of the most used locks are described in more detail. Summarizing, we can note the following nuances:
- The key lock is recommended to be used if it is not planned to store especially valuable things;
- A mechanical combination lock is recommended for storing things without frequent access to them;
- A combination electronic lock is usually used in rooms with constant external conditions, due to its high susceptibility;
- Biometric lock - it is advisable for them to equip their safe for people who plan to store especially valuable things in it and are able to financially overpower such an acquisition.
When choosing a safe, it is important to pay attention to the availability of a product certificate, as well as the possibility of warranty and post-warranty service. Planning to get a safe, you need to comprehensively study all the information about this product, take into account all of the nuances listed.
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