Which is the Best key safe to get

[kellybonnie]

Hi,
We are looking into getting Grandma a Care call pendant system so she can always get help if she has another stoke or falls etc. it seems the one authorities Care Call system is the cheapest compared to Age Uk etc.

With a system such as this a key safe is needed into order for access to be gained in an emergency. They are however wanting to charge £95 to provide and fit a Keysafe.

This seems like a lot when we could fit it ourselves. Has anyone bought and fitted their own ? Which Keysafe would people recommend us to buy ?

 

[meme]

I looked on amazon and chose one that cost under £20..my mothers next door neighbours husband fitted it on the wall out side her front door and it is v good

 

[zigandzag]

I had mine done by Social Services and it was free so it may be worth getting in touch with your Social Worker.

 

[chris53]

Hello Kelly, as zig has suggested, social services can organise this for grandma, also they can sort out a call care system - (there is a small monthly charge for this) please do have an in depth chat with social services in how to keep grandma safe at home, also her doctor or memory nurse will be able to point you in the right direction or even organise a call care system on your behalf.
Good luck and do please keep posting
Take care
Chris

 

[rajahh]

Our key safe has numbers which have to be clicked into place, and can be hard to work. I think if you can get one which has numbers which you punch in like keying in a pin would be easier. especially in the dark.

Sometimes I really struggle to do mine. I test it every month to make sure all is ok.

Jeannette

 

[nitram]

Agree that the rotary ones can be fiddly but:-

"...I think if you can get one which has numbers which you punch in like keying in a pin..."

Unless you get an expensive electronic one the order of keying the digits in doesn't matter ie 1324 is the same as 1234 or 4213 or....

With use the buttons begin to show wear and an intruder can easily gain entry, just hit the worn buttons in any order.

You should change the code or clean buttons on a regular basis.

 

[PeggySmith]

GE Supra C500 is recommended by the police. It costs about £50 but is very strong.

 

[kellybonnie]

Hello Kelly, as zig has suggested, social services can organise this for grandma, also they can sort out a call care system - (there is a small monthly charge for this) please do have an in depth chat with social services in how to keep grandma safe at home, also her doctor or memory nurse will be able to point you in the right direction or even organise a call care system on your behalf.
Good luck and do please keep posting
Take care
Chris

Hi,
It was social service that sent us the information about the CARE Call but in the broucher it states it is £95 for the Keysafe with free installation. This just seemed like an awful lot to us.

 

[Jessbow]

http://www.screwfix.com/p/master-lo...tracking url&gclid=CLKq3afwuLkCFfLHtAodVhYAmw

Anyone with a drill can affix this to a solid surface with appropriate screws and plugs.
Mums is obscured from the road by a drainpipe.

Even if someone wrenched it off a wall, they would still have to find the combination to get in, its a solid metal construction. The combination can also be changed easily and quickly if needs be.

Prior to my mother requiring one, I delivered meals on wheels for a living- have come across all sorts and can assure you I'd choose the one above .

This sort http://www.shoplet.co.uk/Phoenix-Co...ack/795395/spvv?ci_src=18615224&ci_sku=795395 are rubbish. You select 4 digits as your code and can be entered in any order ( as has been mentioned above) The the keys soon show signs of wear...big giveaway. I have also seen the police simply pop the front off with a screw driver.

 

[rajahh]

That made me smile as it is the one we have at the moment, and I hate it!!

It is so hard to move the numbers, it very often sticks and wont open even if you have the numbers in and I find it very frustrating.

Jeannette

 

[kellybonnie]

GE Supra C500 is recommended by the police. It costs about £50 but is very strong.

Thanks I will look around for one of these as I would like to get the safest one around for security reasons.

 

[rajahh]

I read the reviews on the one recommended by police it isone of those that accepts 4 numbers in any order. as someone else posted on here so if your code was 4231 if you put in the numbers 1234 it would still accept it. Don't see how that is secure.

 

[PeggySmith]

I read the reviews on the one recommended by police it isone of those that accepts 4 numbers in any order. as someone else posted on here so if your code was 4231 if you put in the numbers 1234 it would still accept it. Don't see how that is secure.

We eventually bought one of these for MIL (having used a cheapie one from Argos for a while) and it wants 6 numbers and they have to be entered in the correct sequence so I think the review might be incorrect.

We bought the more expensive one after I'd been to a meeting arranged by the Care Agency and had a talk about home security from the police. It's also to do with how hard it is to get one off the wall

 

[nitram]

Have you actually checked that the digits used in the code are order dependent?

The code can be set to be 5,6, or 7 digits long out of a choice of 12, giving more security than the 4 out of 10 allowed on other makes.

To lessen the wear marks the buttons are conical and fitted in a countersunk hole.

The attachment to the wall is no better or worse than any other safe, it depends on the type of screws used.

The advantage of the Supra C500 is it material strength and construction, also the knob to open the safe has a clutch with a torque setting which allows the safe to be opened but slips on excessive force preventing damage that could make the safe unopenable even with the correct code.

The safe should be fitted where it cannot be seen from the street, unlocked porch, back of pillar or gatepost,... you don't want to signal 'vulnerable person lives here'

 

[Varandas]

Although I am in another country (not another planet) through the years I found that talking the same thing to different people I always get additional information. Maybe the social services, Age UK, Police, EBay, etc... Search around. At the beginning when we got one of those, if pressed by mistake we had to pay for the call...
Good luck, it gives you (some) peace of mind
Best wishes and courage

 

[Fed Up]

We had the LA Careline call system with bracelet and key safe. Best £30 a quarter spent excellent call service, Mum fell twice still on the line chatting with her reassuaring etc. Once they called the police ( the moaning and groaning on the tv and she'd accidentally pushed the bracelet when pulling up her nickers and had the tv on load so did not hear the responder. We were at the races and aunt was in her garden. Even the police laughed and had a cup of tea. A suitably sheepish mum! I think its worth going for the renting option as mums key safe could be stiff and she had an electronic key but it was changed straight away.
Highly recommend Lifeline.

 

[kellybonnie]

Can I ask where people we advise to locate their key safe ?

Around the back where it can't be seen from the road or by the front door where everyone passing can see it.

 

[nitram]

Not a direct answer but food for thought.

A properly fitted approved key safe http://www.keysafe.co.uk/ should not present any danger of physical tampering, as an extreme precaution you could argue that it would be best to be easily visable to lessen the chance of somebody detaching it by extreme force and then taking it away to attack with an angle grinder.

The main danger of a obvious key safe is therefore that it signals 'vunerable person lives here,lets try a door knocking scam'

A hidden safe does not matter if the only users are family,neighbours,and friends.

If,however,ever changing SS carers are going to use it does the LA store the safe location as well as the code? A similar argment applies to the emergency services, if they see a key safe they will normally contact the LA for the code, if they don't see a key safe they may well force entry.

My LA fit then just beside the door in a obvious position, where does your LA fit them?

 

[kellybonnie]

Not a direct answer but food for thought.

A properly fitted approved key safe http://www.keysafe.co.uk/ should not present any danger of physical tampering, as an extreme precaution you could argue that it would be best to be easily visable to lessen the chance of somebody detaching it by extreme force and then taking it away to attack with an angle grinder.

The main danger of a obvious key safe is therefore that it signals 'vunerable person lives here,lets try a door knocking scam'

A hidden safe does not matter if the only users are family,neighbours,and friends.

If,however,ever changing SS carers are going to use it does the LA store the safe location as well as the code? A similar argment applies to the emergency services, if they see a key safe they will normally contact the LA for the code, if they don't see a key safe they may well force entry.

My LA fit then just beside the door in a obvious position, where does your LA fit them?

The guy for the LA care alarm system who fits them said he fits them where ever the person wants them. He was the one who mentioned if you put in on the front people can't stand there trying to tamper with it.....it seemed like he had a point.

But as you say having it visible does identify the a vulnerable person is living in e house. Well be registering the Keysafe with the call alarm people along with the code so they should pass it on if emergency services need to be called.

I have just been looking in the C500 website and they say "out of site out of mind".

" In accordance with our fitting instructions, whenever possible the the Supra KeySafe™ should be fitted covertly - out of sight is out of mind. Remember, for somebody to potentially break into the box, they need to know it's fitted. Assuming an opportunist finds the Supra KeySafe™ and decides to try to get into it, there are basically two ways of opening the box. The first way is by entering the code. As the opportunist won't know the code, before he or she can set about trying to crack the code there is one vital piece of information regarding the code needed before starting

- How many digits are there in the code? Without this information, there is no starting point and because most codes we use during our normal daily activities have 4 digits, i.e. Cash Point Cards, Sky TV PIN numbers, etc. SUPRA UK recommend a 5 or 6 digit code is used for the Supra KeySafe™ - if the opportunist entered every possible 4 digit code into a Supra KeySafe™ that has more than 4 digits programmed, the box would never be accessed."

There seems a case for both side really lol

 

[kellybonnie]

Update:

The Key Safe has arrived and I have to say it does seem to be a substantial piece of kit...quite heavy and well built. I have not installed it as yet but it comes with full instructions and there is even a video you can watch first.

From doing some more reading it seems it is rated as the same security as a front door.

I did some looking around to get the best price and found on ebay more often than not in auctions the price was coming to about what the manufacture was charging. However some people were selling then at a lot more I think the highest one I saw was £120.

It is currently £59.94 (£9.99 is VAT) with free delivery. I have to say that I couldn't praise the delivery more it arrived the next day and there is a tracking system for it as well.