Same again, exposed to 1700oF and the internal temperature can’t rise above 125oF or the humidity to raise above 60% for minimum an hour. Exposure to 1700oF and the temperature inside cannot get higher than 150oF and the humidity inside has to stay below 80% for at least an hour.Ĭlass 125 – protects paper documents, tapes, photo film and other electronic computer equipment. Exposure to temperatures of over 1700oF and the internal temperature must not exceed 350oF for at least an hour.Ĭlass 150 – protects paper documents, magnetic tapes equipment and photo film. Overview of UL fire safety ratingsĬlass 350 – safe protects paper documents. Fire testing can be expensive, up to $60000 per year for a single model so having an UL fire rating is respected. Underwriters Laboratories (UL) is highly regard as the best organization that hand out fire ratings as they use the most rigorous testing and when asked by a manufacturer to ensure their products are up to standard perform multiple quality tests throughout the year. The very best tests are performed by independent labs that have defined standards and test methods. Both what tests are used and who performed the test impact how reliable a certain rating is to a consumer.

There is a large variety of fire safety ratings being used in the gun safe industry today. What are the different fireproof ratings? Paper documents start burning (or autoigniting) at around 450 Degrees FahrenheitĪmmunition can explode whenever it gets too hot causing shrapnel to fly everywhere and damage other property stored with it.Ī sealed safe can actually explode open itself as the air inside will increase the pressure as it heats up due to having more energy and can burst the door open resulting in complete exposure to external temperatures. High temperatures inside a safe can cause all kinds of damage to the property held within, some common examples include: What type of damage can fire cause inside a safe? Most gun safes are only certified fire proof for around 30 minutes to 1 hour so even though they’ll protect your goods for 30 minutes the temperature can stay incredibly hot for longer and then your property will be damaged anyway. I’ll be addressing the different ratings and which ratings are definitely to be relied on, as well as what protection you can expect from a product that has gone through rigorous tests.ĭuring a home fire the temperature can reach up to around 1300 OF and even after being put out the structure and surrounding areas can remain at very high temperatures for up to 8 hours depending on the severity of the flames. To make things more complicated the amount of protection a fireproof safe gives you can be difficult to discern based on how and who tested the safe. So the trade-off between costs of securing against just theft and securing against fire damage need to be deliberated based on your personal circumstances. Important documents are generally replaceable at less cost than would a fully fireproofed safe cost. What makes a fireproof safe necessary is whether what you are going to be storing in it is worth more to you than the amount it would cost to get a genuinely fireproof safe. Whereas in the event of theft of an item then that item is usually completely lost, especially if the offender moves the item on quickly. The problem with generalizing the amount of damage a fire can do is that not all fires will result in the complete destruction of property. Fire damage each year in the US is far more costly than burglary so you are right to be concerned about what would happen to your possessions in the event of a fire. The first thing that needs to be addressed in this article is whether a fireproof safe is necessary.

Fireproof biometric gun safe