Fire safes are specifically designed to protect your valuables during a fire. When choosing a fire safe, there are several factors you need to consider. The fireproof rating assigned to the fire safe is one of the most important factors that must be considered. The fireproof rating provides an indication of how long these safes protect the contents from damage in case of fire.

Usually, the fireproof ratings are expressed in either minutes or hours. For example, the rating 1 hour 350 degree F means that the particular fire safe can be exposed to 1700 degree F for a period of 1 hour and the temperature inside the safe will not rise above 350 degrees F.

The 350 degree F temperature is low enough to protect the documents and other valuables from damage. If you require the protection of electronic backup media or other delicate things, there are a few fire safes that have special media ratings. A media rating is usually determined in the same way as that of the regular fireproof ratings, except the inside temperature of the fire safe should not rise above 125 degrees F.

Moreover, as the electronic backup media can be damaged due to water, the media rating specifies that the humidity inside the fire safes would not rise over 80 percent during a fire incident. Burglary rating is another factor to be considered when choosing a fire safe. The burglary rating provides a guide as to how long would it take to break into the safe.