There are pros and cons to buying a cheap fireproof safe. The biggest advantage is the price, naturally. These days, value for money is important and there are many great deals to be had when purchasing a safe. Choose wisely and you could easily save yourself a lot of money.

However, a more expensive safe is likely to offer better protection against fire. Building a good fireproof safe is an expensive process, from design to construction to testing. Many safes are built to meet the stringent requirements of national or international fire testing standards, which also increases their cost.

Standards testing and certification provides an assurance that the safe you’re buying will protect its contents against fire for the time specified by its certificate. Since information on such testing procedures is freely available, you can also find out what sort of temperatures the safe can withstand and whether it can reliably protect documents, valuables, media and more.

More expensive safes may also have additional features. Some might offer burglar resistance, keeping your valuables safe from thieves as well as fire. Others might feature electronic locking for increased security or convenient extras such as interior lights, shelving or drawers.