Key Cabinet Guide – How to Choose the Right One

Key Cabinets is a brilliant way to help improve your home security and business to help keep your keys safe.

Keeping those keys out of the wrong hands is one thing; keeping them organised and making life easy for you and your employees is another.

With that in mind, we’ve created a fast and simple Key Cabinet Guide featuring advice on the best key safes & security cabinets for various business types

Security Key Cabinets for Car & Vehicle Keys

Key Cabinet with combination lock & key drop box

Vehicle Rentals, Car Showrooms & Fleet Management

If your business revolves around a large number of car keys which change hands frequently, you’ll want to choose a key cabinet with wider hooks and a deeper body. This will make it easier to store larger keys or bunches of keys, which can then be accessed quickly and distributed to the right people.

The best type of key cabinet for storing vehicle keys

If you manage a fleet of vehicles the recommended option for a cabinet to store automotive keys are:

1. Key cabinet with a key deposit slot – that way, any number of people can deposit keys without having access to the rest of the keys inside.
2. Electronic keypad locking – be secure so only certain people can access the keys

Key Cabinets for Hotels, Offices and Estate Agents

Why use a key cabinet?

Keep keys safe in a combination lock cabinet

Often, a key cabinet needs to serve as a key organiser for any spare keys as well as a security solution.

Who uses key cabinets?

Hoteliers, estate agents and landlords are all key examples of people who could benefit from this kind of key cabinet. Essentially, however, any office or retail outlet which has a lot of keys to deal with could use one too.

Where are key cabinets mostly used?

Key cabinets are used pretty much anywhere; from showrooms to schools, hotels to hospitals or pubs to police stations.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a small business or a multi-national corporation with several work sites, a wide range of key cabinets are available designed to store anything from 20 to 2000 keys.

What types of key cabinets are available?

• Key operated
• Combination lock operated
• Electronic keypad locking
• Various colours and numbered key tags
• Different sized hooks for different sized keys

Key Safes ( Keyguards )

Commonly used for Holiday Homes/Apartments & Single Buildings

wall safeguard/key safe

Not every business needs to look after 200 keys and sometimes just 1 important key will do.

If you run a holiday home or have another property at which you need to retain a key, don’t simply stick it under a flower pot, it’s the first place a burglar will look – this when you will need to use a keyguard ( or key safe as they are commonly known )

Key Safes are usually:

• wall mounted
• can store from 1 – 5 keys

Recommendations for choosing a key box/keyguard 

1. A key box or keyguard can store 1-5 keys instead of using a large key cabinet.  The safe key will keep your keys safe within a small, combination-guarded box or cache.
2. Keyguards ( key safes ) are typically installed on exterior property walls ( outdoor key safes ) they allow landlords to let their holiday homes or apartments for short-term leases without constantly having to be present.
3. The fitting of these key safes is important – they ideally need to be professionally fitted to a sturdy wall, and out of site.
4. 4. Where possible look for 3rd party approval of your Key Safe such as Sold Secure, LPS or Secured by Design

Lost the code to a key safe? If you ever forget the code to your key safe a locksmith will able to open a key safe.

Install and Fit a Key Safe – A locksmith approved by the MLA will be able to specify the type of key safe you need and safely install one.

Find a Safe Installer Near You

A Few Important Questions…

If you think a key cabinet could help you to secure your business or property, but you’re unsure which to choose, just ask yourself the following questions:

• How many keys do I need to store?
• Do I need to organise my keys?
• Are all of my keys the same size?
• Do I need to store large keys or bunches of keys?
• Who needs to access my key cabinet?
• If a large number of people need access, do I need a keypad/combination lock?
• Do key holders need to deposit keys into my key cabinet?
• Where will I store my key cabinet?
• How much do I have to spend?

Expert advice provided by Paul Young – Marketing Manager of eSafes. eSafes are an online safe retailer selling home & office safes in the UK. eSafes is part of NLS Security Ltd, an MLA Approved Company which has been part of the security industry for over 35 years.