Have you ever gone to empty the bins, only for an unexpected breeze to blow the front door shut behind you? Then you pay your pockets down and your keys aren’t there. Realisation hits you – you’ve been locked out!
You really don’t want to call a locksmith. Maybe you don’t have the time to deal with it, can’t afford it, or aren’t allowed to call one thanks to a rental contract. Or maybe you have a baby or elderly relative in the house, and you need to get inside again quickly to keep them safe. What do you do?
Simple – go back in time and have a key safe installed.
What Is A Key Safe?
In simple terms, a key safe is a little safe for your keys. They’re strong mechanical boxes that are firmly affixed to the outside of your property, and inside you store a spare set of keys. They’re typically set into the brick or concrete, and can only be opened using a combination code. That code is only known to you, and anyone you choose to share it with, so that you can control who has access to your property. It also means you (or someone else) can have quick access to the property in an emergency. They’re a fantastic tool, but only secure when fitted by a professional.
Where Not To Put A Key Safe
Of course, these are the keys to your house we’re talking about, so you want to make sure your key safe is discreet and well hidden. While they are very secure when fitted properly, you don’t want to advertise its presence, which means you need to choose where you put it quite carefully. A few things to think about when choosing a location for your key safe include:
- Can it be seen from the road?
- Is it at eye level?
- Is it easily identifiable as a key safe?
- Is it near the door?
If the answer to any of these is yes, you need to choose somewhere else. Ideally your key safe should be:
- Somewhere it can’t be seen by passers-by.
- Somewhere that will make an intruder tampering with it very obvious.
Not Just For Homeowners
One of the big misconceptions about key safes is that they are only for residential, owner-occupied properties. But to be honest, we don’t fit key safes to these properties very often. Instead, some of the most common places we install key safes include:
HMOs: Also known as ‘houses of multiple occupancy’. These are often shared by groups of students or younger adults looking to save money. A key safe provides everyone with a universal ‘spare key’ for emergencies, so that one person forgetting or losing their keys won’t cause havoc for everyone. It also allows easier access for the property owner or an tradesmen in an emergency.
Air BnBs: If you rent out a property through Air BnB or a similar service, you’ll know that you need to provide access to the property for the people who ret it. But the last thing you want is to be there at every hand over, especially if you don’t live nearby! A key safe is the perfect way to give short term paying guests access to the property during their stay, and they can simply leave the keys in the safe when they are ready to leave. All you need to do is change the code every now and then.
People With Carers: If you or someone you live with requires in-home care visits, answering the door for them all the time is at best disruptive, or in many cases physically impossible. In this case a key safe gives carers a way to access the property and perform their tasks whenever they need to, without requiring you to get to and answer the door. It also means you don’t need to worry about yet another person having (and possibly losing) the keys to your home, as they will be put back into the key safe when they leave.
Plant Rooms: If you run a business that needs a plan room, you’ll know that if something goes wrong, you need access fast. There’s often not time to wait for a keyholder to show up, or search through a ring of 50 keys to find the right one. A key safe near your plant room door means you can always access the room right away, day or night.
And that’s just a few examples! At My Locks we are fully trained and qualified to supply and install key safes to all residential and business premises, so you always know your installation is by the book. We are also always happy to provide advice and support for key safes, so you can be confident before you have anything installed. If you would like to know more, just get in touch with us today.