When buying a fire / waterproof safe for cash, valuables or data there are a few things you should think about.
1. How much do you have to spend?
2. What kind of items do you need to protect and how large are they?
3. How much protection do you want the safe to provide?
To a large extent the type of safe you buy will be dictated by your budget. As a rule of thumb you should always buy the most expensive you can comfortably afford. It may seem like a large outlay but compared to losing all your valuables and data it is a definite saving.
The type of items you wish to store will also alter the type of safe you buy. If you just want to fire protect cash and valuables you may not need a top of the range safe as cash actually can resist higher temperatures than normal paper. If you are going to be driving computer data you may need to invest a bit more as computer data is very sensitive to heat damage. Storing large bulky files will mean you need to look at fire data cupboards rather than traditional fire safes. If you can not afford one large safe or space is an issue look at buying two or more smaller safes you can put in different places. This also has the added bonus of not "putting all your eggs in one basket".
The fire rating you need will be dictated by the type of materials you need to protect. If you are protecting computer media then you will need the appropriate safe. Fire Data Safes maintain an interior temperature of 52 ° C or less to protect computer data. A safe that will only be storing paper files and documents could have allowed a higher internal temperature, around 175 ° C.
Many fire safes are also waterproof but you should always check this. This gives you the added peace of mind that your documents are also protected from flood or water leak damage. It is also important because once the fire brigade does arrive at your home or business they will of course douse the building in water. Having a fireproof safe may turn out to be no good if your documents are then destroyed by water.
If your safe is not on the ground floor you should ensure your safe has been impact tested. Impact testing involves super heating your safe and then dropping it from height (usually 30ft). This simulates what would happen if the floor cave way in your building during a fire.
Most fire safes will usually come with a replacement guarantee however you should always check. This is because once a safe has been in a fire it is no longer considered fire safe anymore and should be replaced.