Buying
A key safe solves a real problem and creates a smaller one: the key to the house is now outside it. Two things decide whether that is sound — where it is fixed, and how often the code changes. The box itself matters least.
The box is the least important part of this purchase.
Out of sight of the pavement, on a different elevation from the door it opens, at a height that is not obvious. The ten seconds somebody spends looking for a key safe is time nobody spends if it is round the side.
Through-bolted into solid masonry. A key safe on render, on a timber frame or on a fence post leaves with what it is attached to, and the code becomes irrelevant.
Four digits, changed twice a year and whenever the list of people changes. Scramble the dials after every closing: a box left on the right code opens without knowing it.
Measure the key first. Most small boxes take a key up to 7 cm (2.8 in) — which excludes long security keys and anything on a fob.
A safe. It resists a hand and a screwdriver, not tools.
The main reason. Multiple carers needing access without carrying keys.
Where emergency services or family may need to get in quickly.
Where the same convenience applies and the same risks do too.
A different use with different security considerations, since the code circulates widely.
| Your situation | What matters | The note |
|---|---|---|
| Regular carers | An approved key safe | Providers often specify one |
| Any installation | Mounting into solid masonry | The fixing is the weak point |
| Placement | Out of obvious view | A visible safe advertises a key |
| Ongoing | Changing the code | Old carers keep old codes |
Key safes live outdoors and seize, and a key safe that will not open is a carer standing outside. Mechanisms corrode, buttons stick and the fixings loosen in freeze-thaw cycles, all of which develop slowly and unnoticed.
A key outside the house is a considered risk.
Wall-mounted · zinc die-cast · 4-digit code · internal hook · keys to 7 cm (2.8 in) · auto-stop
A wall-mounted key safe in zinc die-cast with an internal hook for keys up to 7 cm (2.8 in), a four-digit resettable code and an auto-stop feature, from a German safe manufacturer.
Best for: A permanent installation on masonry, where the maker's other business is actually safes.
≈ $46
Wall-mounted · 4-digit code, 10,000 combinations · zinc alloy, 227 g (8 oz) · weather and frost resistant
A small wall-mounted key safe in zinc alloy with a four-digit code. GRIFEMA states 10,000 combinations, weather and frost resistance, and a body designed to resist hammering and sawing.
Best for: A single spare key for a carer, a cleaner or a household that locks itself out.
≈ $44
Wall-mounted · holds 20 keys or 14 cards · steel housing, zinc dial flap · 689 g (24.3 oz) · sliding cover
With its white version, the largest key box in this hub: ABUS states room for twenty keys or fourteen plastic cards, in a steel housing with a zinc die-cast dial flap, a sliding protective cover and a removable rack. 689 grams.
Best for: A building with several keys and several people — a vacation rental, a small business, a shared house.
≈ $38
Shackle-mounted · holds 5 keys and a card · 4-digit code · zinc alloy, 558 g (19.7 oz) · removable key rack
The hanging version of GRIFEMA's key safe: a shackle rather than a wall plate, room for five keys and a card, and a removable key rack. 558 grams of zinc alloy with a four-digit code.
Best for: A rental property, a temporary arrangement, or a door handle where nothing may be drilled.
≈ $45
Out of sight of the street, not beside the door it opens, and bolted through into solid masonry. A key safe next to the front door tells a passer-by exactly what it contains and which door it serves.
Twice a year, and whenever somebody stops needing access. On a dial box, like the GRIFEMA GA1003 or the ABUS, scramble the dials after every closing: a box left on the right code opens without knowing it.
They resist a hand and a screwdriver, not tools. None of the four in this guide states an independent test: fixing into solid masonry and code discipline matter more than the model.
Policies differ and some have specific wording about keys kept outside. Ask before fitting rather than at claim time.
People do, but the code circulates far more widely, and that changes the risk considerably compared with a care arrangement.
It happens, and it leaves a carer outside. Periodic operation and lubrication with a suitable product is what prevents it.
Only the people who currently need access. Every former carer, cleaner and contractor who has ever used it is a reason to change it.
Designed for: A permanent installation on masonry, where the maker's other business is actually safes.
Its main asset: From a manufacturer whose main business is safes rather than accessories
Its main gap: 7 cm (2.8 in) is a real limit — long keys and fobs will not fit
Designed for: A single spare key for a carer, a cleaner or a household that locks itself out.
Its main asset: Four digits rather than three — ten thousand combinations instead of a thousand
Its main gap: 227 g (8 oz) of zinc alloy is not a safe — it resists opportunists, not tools
Designed for: A building with several keys and several people — a vacation rental, a small business, a shared house.
Its main asset: Twenty keys or fourteen cards — only its white version holds as many here
Its main gap: 689 g (24.3 oz) and 84 × 120 × 44 mm (3.31 × 4.72 × 1.73 in) — it is not discreet
Designed for: A rental property, a temporary arrangement, or a door handle where nothing may be drilled.
Its main asset: Hangs on a handle, railing or gate — no drilling at all
Its main gap: A hanging box can be carried away and opened elsewhere, at leisure
Device against device, already covered, inside this guide or this aisle.
The devices listed are drawn from the catalog of this site. Specifications are those the maker and the Amazon listing publish; prices are what Keepa recorded on the date shown, and both move. The order follows declared specifications, the balance between stated strengths and stated limits, and price. No device here has been installed or tested by us, and no page claims it was.
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Prices quoted in these summaries are dated readings. The live price is shown next to each product.
Cameras, alarm kits and safes swing by thirty dollars or more across the year, and the biggest "discounts" often land at prices the same model sold for six weeks earlier. UniverTrack tracks the real price history across retailers, spots fake reductions, and alerts you when it is genuinely the moment to buy.
