Fire & Burglary Home Safe Ranking Factors: Security, Reliability, Fire Rating, Price
Overview
When you move into the Fire & Burglary category of safe shopping, the ridiculous amounts of cheap crap on the internet starts to really thin out. It becomes increasingly more difficult to bullshit this category and I’ve sifted through what remains to bring you the 3 best fire and burglary safe series. You still can find cheaper options from companies like Mesa, but as I’ve always said you get what you pay for. I guarantee the electronic lock will fail within 3 years and you will have quality issues one way or another with no real warranty to back it up. I highly suggest you stay away from Mesa and check out these 3 significantly better options below.
#1 Best Fire & Burglary Home Safe – American Security BF Series
Review
Modeled after their famous Gun Safe line, the BF Home Safe series is built to the same quality and specifications. In terms of security, the BF Home Safes earned the UL RSC burglary label due to it’s 1/2″ thick steel plate door, 3 large 1″ diameter solid steel locking bolts, spring-loaded relocker, 1/4″ heavy duty carburized hardplate and full length dead bar. The total door thickness comes out to 3-1/2″ and the total body thickness comes out to just over 2-1/2″, now that’s a lot of thickness to drill through during a break in.
The body starts with a 1/8″ outer and inner steel shells filled with an internal fire clay material that provides fire resistance. Right there is the magic and major difference between all other cheaper burglary and fire safes– it’s the 1/8” outer and inner steel shells filled with a unique proprietary fire-resistant clay material. It’s basically a blend of fire clay and steel nuggets where nearly all other companies use a fireboard composite material, which, after grinding through the outer shell on nearly all home safes, you’d simply remove the fireboard and have access to the entire safes contents.
The BF series uses a proprietary fire clay which means you would have to drill through an 1/8″ of steel, all of the fire clay, then hit the second 1/8 steel layer. If the thief chooses to go through the door, they have way more steel to go through, making this safe one royal pain in the ass to get into.
The BF series is touted as one of the most reliable safes in the industry with a high quality locking mechanism, boltwork and it’s Made in USA. Where Amsec has one of its only weaknesses is it’s ESL5 electronic lock. I highly recommend using a combination dial lock or upgrading to the ESL10XL and this will be the most reliable safe you’ve ever owned.
What also makes this burglary and fire the top choice in the category is its UL 1 hour fire label. Ask any safe expert and they will tell you this rating is near impossible to achieve. The way they test it is by heating a furnace, placing the safe inside for 1 hour and finally dropping it 28 feet. The safe must stay intact after the 28 foot drop test and maintain an internal temperature of less than 350 degrees throughout the entire test. AMSEC’s unique proprietary body fill is the secret ingredient to passing this test making this the ideal safe for offices in multi-level buildings.
When it comes to price, the AMSEC BF Home Safe series is definitely the most expensive series in this list, but there is a reason for that. The quality and construction is significantly better, it’s much more difficult to break into and the fire rating is unmatched. I personally own a BF home safe for my paperwork and small valuables and I would highly recommend it to anyone who is storing less than $50,000. Above $50,000 and we enter the TL Rated Category which I will be reviewing in a later article. Here is a list of the available AMSEC BF series home safes:
- American Security AMSEC BF1512 – Check Current Price
- American Security AMSEC BF1716 – Check Current Price
- American Security AMSEC BF2116 – Check Current Price
- American Security AMSEC BF3416 – Check Current Price
#2 Best Fire & Burglary Home Safe – American Security CSC Series
Review
A very close second, and I mean very close is the AMSEC CSC series. The CSC series also has the UL RSC Burglary rating but achieves it in a different way. Where the BF uses a ½” thick steel door and 1/8” layers in the body, the CSC series uses two 12 gauge steel layers to encase concrete in both the door and they body. It also uses slightly thicker locking bolts and a tempered glass relocker creating a total door thickness of 4-5/8” thick. Just imagine trying to drill through 4-5/8” of steel, concrete and then more steel all while trying to avoid hitting the glass relocker that if fired, would really fuck you over. So where the CSC thins out the steel, it makes up for it in the concrete fill and tempered glass relocker.
The major difference in the fire rating is that the CSC is not UL approved. It does however add an additional hour to the rating giving it 2 hours of total fire resistance at 1700 degrees. If your safe is only on the first floor, the CSC series would be a better option than the BF, but on the second story and up, there is no comparison to the BF series.
Standard on the CSC series is AMSEC’s combination dial lock. This lock has been around since the 1940’s and is considered one of the most reliable locks ever made. If you want to upgrade to Electronic, I would recommend AMSEC’s ESL10XL Electronic Lock.
The CSC is imported from China and an extremely affordable safe at the 1413. For that fire rating and quality, you won’t find a more affordable safe and if you are looking for a safe on the first floor, this would be my top pick in this category.
- American Security AMSEC CSC1413 – Check Current Price
- American Security AMSEC CSC1913 – Check Current Price
- American Security AMSEC CSC3018 – Check Current Price
- American Security AMSEC CSC4520 – Check Current Price
#3 Best Fire & Burglary Home Safe – Stealth UL Home Safes
Review
While I absolutely love the AMSEC product lines, they have just one issue: price. With long chains of distribution price increases at every step and this is where Stealth steps in and provides a lower cost, still great quality alternative to the higher end Made in USA BF series in their UL Home Safe series.
In terms of security, the Stealth UL Home Safe Line is UL Approved as a Residential Security Container, which is the same burglary rating as both the AMSEC BF and CSC lines. Stealth has less steel in the safe at 12 gauge door and body, hence the lower price. It also comes with 1 hour fire rating and all the burglary features consistent with an RSC, such as a hardplate, internal relocker, UL approved lock and at least 3 locking bolts.
What I love most about Stealth is their lock selection. The NL UR-2020 comes standard on this safe and I’ve read nothing but good reviews and have had an excellent experience with this lock. It just flat out works whereas the AMSEC ESL5 has been plagued with problems. If you are going to go with the AMSEC BF or CSC units, I strongly recommend using a Mechanical lock, or ESL10 and up. You’ll thank me later.
Additional included features in the Stealth UL Home safes include a power outlet, door organizer and flat black paint job. Stealth’s paint jobs are the best in the industry for non-gloss by far. It has double the warranty of the AMSEC products with a 2 year parts and labor as well as lifetime warranty against house fires, burglary and attempted burglary. It’s an excellent, low cost option in this category.
- Stealth HS4 – Check Current Price
- Stealth HS8 – Check Current Price
- Stealth HS14 – Check Current Price
Comparison Chart
| Security | Fire Rating | Reliability | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AMSEC BF Series | #1 | #1 | #2 | #2 |
| AMSEC CSC Series | #2 | #3 | #2 | #1 |
| Stealth HS Series | #3 | #3 | #1 | #1 |
