Yale Fire Safe YFM/352/FG2 review
Yale Medium Fire Safe YFM/352/FG2
By Tom Calder
The fire side is credible: Yale states certification to NT Fire 017-60P with SP in Sweden as the certifying body — a real Nordtest standard and a named body, though we could not locate the certificate in a public register, so it stands as manufacturer-stated. The security side is not credible in the same way: the '£1,000 cash / £10,000 valuables' figure Yale prints is its own recommendation with no standard behind it, and the safe appears on neither the Sold Secure nor the Secured by Design register. Buy it as a fire safe that happens to have floor bolts, not as a burglary safe.
- Best for
- Households wanting an hour of paper fire protection for passports, deeds and policy documents in a cupboard-sized box.
- Skip it if
- Your concern is theft rather than fire
as of 4 Nov 2026, 19:07 GMT · Details
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon.co.uk at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.We earn a commission if you buy through the retailer links on this page. It doesn't change our verdict. How we make money →
Researched, not used. We haven't used this product. This review is built from the maker's specifications, owner reports and our own sizing.
What we like
- 60 minutes of paper protection to NT Fire 017-60P, a genuine Nordtest standard with SP in Sweden named as certifier
- Code scramble, silent entry, a one-time guest code and lockdown mode are unusual features at this price
- Ships with a pack of two floor fixing bolts, so it can be anchored from day one
Worth knowing
- No burglary certification at all — the £1,000 cash figure is Yale's own marketing, not an insurer-recognised rating
- Emergency access is via an external battery contact only; there is no key override if the electronics fail
- The Amazon listing title claims 36 litres — the real capacity is 19 litres according to Yale's own UK page
ⓘ As an Amazon Associate, PreparedBritain earns from qualifying purchases. We may earn a commission when you buy, or a fee when you request a quote, through our links. When two products are close, commission can decide which one we pick. A clearly better product always wins. Amazon prices come from Amazon's own product data and show the date and time they were retrieved. Prices at other retailers are checked by us, less often. Prices and stock can change at any time, so always check the retailer's price before you buy.
Our review
Yale's mid-sized fire safe: a 31kg, 19-litre box with a touchpad lock, rated to keep paper below the temperature at which it chars for an hour. What matters most is knowing what it is not: the fire rating is real, the security figures are Yale's own, and there is no key if the electronics fail. It suits a household that wants passports, certificates and policy documents to survive a house fire, in a cupboard.
What 60P means
Yale says the safe is approved to NT Fire 017-60P, tested by SP, the Swedish national testing institute, with the test reaching 972°C. The Nordtest method behind that label is specific: a paper-class cabinet passes if the inside warms by no more than 150°C while the furnace follows the ISO 834 curve, because ordinary paper keeps its information below 170°C, and the 60 is the minutes that limit held. The paper class says nothing about USB sticks, hard drives or film, which the same method treats as needing far cooler conditions; for those you need a data-rated safe such as the Phoenix Datacombi DS2501E.
In a British home
The interior is 260mm tall, 320mm wide and 234mm deep: A4 paperwork lies flat, passports and document wallets stack on the adjustable shelf, an internal light helps in a dark cupboard, and a lever-arch file does not fit. The touchpad takes a code of 4 to 12 digits (Yale's product page says three; its fire safe manual and FAQ say four), a one-time passcode for a tradesperson that expires after one use, a scramble option that buries the code in a longer string, and a silent mode. More than five wrong codes locks the panel for a settable 3 to 9 minutes, and you can lock it down yourself for 1 to 48 hours.
The security caveat
Yale prints a cash figure of 1,000 pounds and a valuables figure of 10,000 pounds. Neither comes with a named burglary standard or certifier on Yale's page, and a search of Sold Secure's register under Yale on 21 October 2026 found the motorised YSEM safes at Silver but no YFM fire safe, so treat them as Yale's suggestion rather than an insurer rating. The door is 76mm thick and the walls 46mm, with two 16mm locking bolts and 18mm bolts guarding the hinge side, but Yale's support pages say the body is filled with fire-protective material. If theft cover is the reason you are shopping, the Burton Home Safe S2 1E is the certified alternative.
How it compares
The Yale Large Fire Safe YFM/420/FG2 has the identical rating and lock in 25.3 litres and 36kg; its interior is 60mm taller and 70mm deeper than this one but 60mm narrower, at 260mm. The Chubbsafes Executive 40K is the step up in certification, with NT Fire 017 class 60 for paper from RISE and UL 72 Class 350 for an hour, 41 litres, a key lock and 57kg. More on our home safes comparison.
Living with it
Four AA batteries are included and a low-battery indicator sits on the keypad; when they run flat you hold a 9V battery to the port under the dial, touch the screen and enter your code, which survives. Yale's fire safe manual says these safes are delivered with the door open, and Yale is emphatic that you fit the batteries and set your code before closing it, because there is no override key. Forget the code and Yale emails a factory passcode within 48 hours against the serial number, proof of purchase and ID. The product page mentions holes for floor or wall fixing, but Yale's support pages say floor mounting only, into brick or concrete with the supplied bolts, because of the fire-protective material inside. The guarantee is two years, with paid extensions. Yale ships it kerbside by pallet courier, and its returns policy is 14 days from delivery with a prepaid label.
Our verdict
Buy it if you want an hour of credible paper protection for the documents that would be miserable to replace, in a size that fits a wardrobe floor, and you accept a battery-only lock. Skip it if you want to protect data, need an insurer-recognised cash rating, or would rather turn a key than trust a battery; the Chubbsafes Executive 40K answers the last of those. Whichever you choose, bolt it down and keep a copy of what is inside somewhere else.
A researched review, built from the maker's specs, manual and UK listings; facts checked 21 Oct 2026. Sources: Yale UK — Fire Safe Medium YFM-352-FG2 product page (rating, dimensions, lock features, warranty, delivery); Yale — Fire Safe user manual (PDF: batteries, 9V emergency opening, one-time passcode, time lock, lock-down); Yale UK — fire safes FAQ (flat batteries, forgotten PIN, floor mounting only, lockdown); Yale UK — fire safes getting started (set code before closing; no override key); Yale UK — delivery and returns; Sold Secure — approved product search, keyword Yale (motorised safes at Silver; no YFM entry); Nordtest — NT FIRE 017, Edition 3 (2003): class criteria for paper, data and diskette cabinets.
Who shouldn't buy this
Skip it if your concern is theft rather than fire — the Burton Home Safe S2 1E costs about the same and carries a Sold Secure EN 14450 S2 certification an insurer will recognise.
Key specs
| Type | Fire document safe, digital lock — no burglary grade |
| Certification | Fire: NT Fire 017-60P (SP), maker-stated. No burglary grade. |
| Lock | Digital touchpad, 3–12 digits, battery override, 2× 16mm bolts |
| Capacity | 19 L |
This is a Researched review: we haven't used this product. We check every specification against at least two independent sources, re-check the UK price on a schedule where we can track it automatically, and say plainly who it isn't for. Commissions never change a rating.
If this isn’t the one
Best for Households who want fire certification from two named independent bodies, with room for four lever-arch files.
Read the review →
Best for The same 60-minute paper fire protection as the medium, in a 25-litre body for households with more paperwork.
Best for Anyone who needs a cash or valuables rating their home insurer will actually recognise.
Questions
Does the Yale YFM/352/FG2 fire safe protect USB sticks and hard drives?
No. Its rating is NT Fire 017-60P, the paper class, which allows the interior to warm by up to 150°C during the test. The same Nordtest method treats ordinary magnetic media as at risk above 70°C, far below what the paper class allows. For drives you need a data-class safe such as the Phoenix Datacombi DS2501E.
Can the Yale YFM/352/FG2 be mounted on a wall?
Yale's support pages say no: it can only be floor-mounted because of the fire-protective material inside. Fix it into brick or concrete with the bolts supplied in the box.
What happens if the batteries in the Yale YFM/352/FG2 go flat?
Hold a 9V battery against the two terminals under the dial, touch the screen and enter your code. The code is kept when the batteries die. There is no key override, so store a 9V battery somewhere outside the safe.
Is the Yale YFM/352/FG2 insurance rated?
Yale prints 1,000 pounds cash and 10,000 pounds valuables but names no burglary standard or certifier for them. Ask your insurer whether it accepts a manufacturer figure; if it wants an EN 14450 grade, look at the Burton Home Safe S2 1E.
Free alerts for your home
Home Alerts emails you when a power cut, a Met Office warning or a flood warning covers your postcode. Free for your own home. Sign up in a minute.
Start free →