Keeping your safes safe
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The various ways in which you can try to protect your valuables and enhance home security.
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SECURITY MATTERS: Ensuring the safety of your valued possessions is of primary concern. - Photo: S. Siva Saravanan
Has keeping your high-value possessions and important documents safe at home become a matter of concern due to the increasing incidence of theft and burglary?' You can take heart that a number of companies have come up with various solutions and products to protect your valuables and reduce their vulnerability to theft or burglary. You will have peace of mind, whether you are at home or on a holiday, knowing your home is protected.
Safeguarding valuables
Are you worried about a thief carrying away the important documents, jewellery or cash in your safe? One of the best options is to mount your safe on the wall. Secondly, go for an electronic safe. But do using electronic safes ensure fool-proof security? Says George. C. John, Kerala Sales Manager of Godrej Security Equipment Division, "Locks cannot be stronger than the metal used for making boxes. The best way to keep a safe secure is to fix it to a cupboard or grout it in a wall and cement off the portion. This is recommended because if the safe is not fixed to a cupboard or a wall, the chance of the burglar taking it off with him is high as it is usually lightweight. If a metal box can be made, it can be broken too."
The Security Equipment Division of Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Company Limited offer different ranges of steel safes with mechanical locks ranging from Rs.5,000 to Rs.32,000 and electronic safes ranging from Rs.4,500 to Rs.9,000. The safes with mechanical locks come with the options of two-key locks or a key-combination lock with a key lock. Electronic safes are can be programmed with different passwords any number of times. For instance, in the event of a theft attempt, the Godrej products such as Taurus freeze the operation of the safe automatically in case of repeated wrong entries.
Biometric access control is gaining recognition. Biometric applications such a system using thumb impression, hand recognition and voice recognition are also used to access the doors and safes. For those who tend to forget keys inside cars etc, biometric applications and digital keypads work well. You can change passwords any number of times and configure and use multiple passwords.
Fire protection safes and fire detection and suppression systems are also available in the market. "Protection of documents from fire is very important. Documents such as degree certificates, mark sheets, land deeds, share certificates, passports etc are kept at home only. They need to be protected against fire. Fire is a big risk in high rise apartment buildings and in places where several houses are in close proximity," says Mr. John. Fire-resistant safes such as Saffire, a Godrej product, give up to one hour of fire protection. Prices range around Rs.11,390.
Dataline safes, which can be used for protecting digitised information on CDs, floppies, etc. from corruption, are also available in the market. These safes also resist exposure to fire even up to 1,000 degree Celsius for up to an hour. Prices range from Rs.24,000 to Rs.51,000, depending on their size. "Some of these smaller safes are light in weight, it would be ideal to have them fixed permanently to either cupboards or cemented into walls so that intruders cannot take them away," adds Mr. George.
Most of these gadgets show a low-battery indicator, which means that you have enough time to replace the battery.
Other options
Iron and wooden bars as extra fittings over doors, windows and cupboards are becoming common. Hidden safes - inside cupboards, furniture and walls are today's choice for some house-owners. "Some have built new furniture for the sake of concealing a safe," confides Deepthi Thomas, Thiruvananthapuram based architect.
Wired and wireless
Both wired and wireless type security systems can be used in residential complexes. In the wireless type, batteries are used. They need to be replaced and extra care is required to ensure that they are reliable. Wireless installations are faster though they are more costly. The price factor depends on the number of sensors required. In wireless systems once the control panel is set, only sensors need to be fixed at the necessary points.
Wired security systems, which involve a structured form of cabling cutting through your walls is said to be more reliable. A wireless system may be the better choice for existing buildings, as you need not tamper with your walls for installing the cables. Wired systems can be installed depending on how old the building is, the condition of the wires and if there is a provision existing to draw a cable in the existing electrical system.
RESMI JAIMON
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