Thread: Is a fridge fireproof?

in a word NO but you'd end up with cold hard cash

Well the rubber seals wouldn't take long to melt/burn.

Fireproof safes are usually twin thick steel outer, with concrete in between. Shouldn't be too hard to make, but you would need a good fireproof seal for the door.

Having seen a house fire, the answer is NO.

umm mate ......seriously ...the thieves look in fridges ..FIRST...and fireproof .....not even with them running do they stand a chance .....a safe however might ....
bunnies have some reasonable ones ...you can bolt to the wall / floor ...they are "fire resistant"....but you have to ask yourself this ...are the contents fireproof ??...a safe may handle high temps without warpiing etc ....but something like a cd inside, could possably melt ....its a bit like an oven ....you can feel the heat on the outside ...but on the inside its really hot ....well reverse that ......same thing applies .....if what you have is that important and for peace of mind ...go and talk to your bank manager ....about a safety deposit box ...you'll sleep better

as far as I know a "fire proof safe" is designed to protect paper records.
This means that the temp inside the safe after the "standard fire exposure" (whatever the duration and temp is) doesn't get hot enough to char paper documents
so after a fire you can wander down to the bank and still use your crispy dry bank notes.

the same will not be true for plastice CD or magnetic media which will warp or loose their magnetism at a temperature less than what you need to char paper.

so if you're serious you'll need to go with off-site storage


ian

There is fire proof and there is fire proof my mate purchased a fire proof safe at bunnings with a digital lock, his office caught fire the first thing that happened was, the safe door poped open. He put the question to bunnings, answer, "they're not rated for a fire that hot"

Originally Posted by ian

.....at a temperature less than what you need to char paper.

ian

That's about Fahrenheit 451 isn't it?

Originally Posted by China

There is fire proof and there is fire proof my mate purchased a fire proof safe at bunnings with a digital lock, his office caught fire the first thing that happened was, the safe door poped open. He put the question to bunnings, answer, "they're not rated for a fire that hot"

Digital locks are the worst for fire. They sit in a plastic frame.

Get a fire proof safe with manual rotary lock

Originally Posted by Stuart

That's about Fahrenheit 451 isn't it?

Lol...That was a trivial pursuit question as well...

Originally Posted by Stuart

That's about Fahrenheit 451 isn't it?

Showing off your education

f451 by Ray Bradbury. One of the few decent books other than Day of the Triffids they made me read at school.

Paper burns at about 230ºC
House fires can reach temperatures of 600 to 700 ºC .
Even a top of the range fridge that stays physically intact is only designed to maintain a temperature differential of ~70 ºC .
Anyway, as AV Elec says, freezer won't stay intact, seals will melt and it will be all over.

And fireproof safes are NOT burglar resistant, as my parents & I discovered - they can be forced with a large screwdriver. In the generic safes you can get basically fireproof or burglar 'proof', getting one that is both will cost a few thousand.

If you want a good safe & have room for a fridge, get in touch with Australia Post properties branch - they have a surplus equipment unit that sells the old safes from de-commissioned Post Offices - 900wx1800hx600d is common IIRC, and internal division with key locked doors. And a fraction the price of buying from a retailer - if you have the room & access.

I have installed a few safes over the years, while building new homes for clients. The most secure units are cast into the slab while pouring IMO. I did one many years ago in ACT on a foreign government job. The safe was cast in slab, with 200mm thickness of reinforced concrete to five sides. The safe was only a 300mm cube. I set the face down to a level about 50mm below finished floor level. This allowed for a piece of 3/4" thick compressed fibro, backed with rockwool to resist heat. I don't know too much about pyro stuff, but in my wildest dreams, I cannot imagine the contents of that safe suffering too much in a fire. Bloody hard to break in to as well. The safe in question was opened by a simple schlage lock key.

I wouldn't have thought it would have needed all that insulation to make it fireproof. Would the heat travel downwards in the event of a fire and if so how far would it penetrate and how hot I wonder