Do you close all your windows before you sleep every night?
By squaretile
@squaretile (3778)
Singapore
June 26, 2007 12:51am CST
I didn't. And paid for it last night. In the middle of the night, the wind started wailing and suddenly a heavy downpour started. Woken by the sound of heavy rain pattering on my window, I had to drag myself out of bed and close all the windows, whilst getting splattered by cold drops on my arm and getting wet feet from the rain that had already come into my home.
Do you close all your windows before you sleep every night? Is this mainly for security (in case someone climbs in if you have no window grilles) or in case of sudden rain? I live in a high-rise apartment so security is not so much an issue. I also prefer keeping some windows open so there is constant airflow throughout.
What do you do?
8 people like this
38 responses
@Lucille7 (509)
• South Africa
26 Jun 07
In the winter we sleep with our windows closed because it is too cold for them to be open at night. During the day they are open as I like my place to be aired.
In the summer we sleep with our windows open cause then it is too hot to have them closed. If it starts to rain then I get up and close them, or if the wind is too strong or something like that. We have bars on our windows so people cannot just easily climb through. We live in a ground floor unit and we have 24 hours security guards at the gate of the complex. So we are pretty safe. Our unit is also right next door to the security guardroom and so it is even safer.
I love to have windows open all the time in the summer.
@squaretile (3778)
• Singapore
26 Jun 07
It's summer all year round in Singapore! but we do get two rainy seasons a year...
1 person likes this
@mrsbrian (1949)
• United States
26 Jun 07
We live in a ranch style home so everything is on ground floor, so yes we close all the windows except the bedroom windows, unless the air is on. The only thing I miss about living in our old apartment is that it was all 1 story up so we could leave all the windows open.
@squaretile (3778)
• Singapore
26 Jun 07
but i guess with your home you get a great yard and garden! with high rise living it's hard.
1 person likes this
@michael_harvard1010 (262)
• Philippines
27 Jun 07
no i don't close my windows because its very here in my house. and there is no exhaust.
@Deathknight_31 (500)
• Pakistan
26 Jun 07
i close all my windows before sleeping mainly because security is a really big issue here, i read in the newspaper that robbers came through the open windows and robbed the place and the crime rates are high here so i close all the windows.
3 people like this
@squaretile (3778)
• Singapore
26 Jun 07
crime is low here, but as our friendly men in blue like to remind us 'low crime does not mean no crime'. yah i should be more vigilant.
1 person likes this
@minijumbuk (514)
• Australia
26 Jun 07
I close all the windows/doors in the house at night when i go to sleep, yes mainly for security so people can not climb in so easily. It is also because in the morning, we can hear birds chirping really loudly at around 5am. Mainly, although i dont think burglars would come to our house, but I just feel more secure inside knowing that nothing can get me =D
Sorry to hear that your house got splattered with rain xD
Another thing, i dont really care about air flow, since early in the morning we have to go out and i go to school anyways...so i get plenty of fresh air =D
2 people like this
@squaretile (3778)
• Singapore
26 Jun 07
you have lively birds! yah i like to sleep in after day breaks so by then the birds are up too. how come they seem to need so little sleep? perhaps cos they sleep early. i hear them squawking in their nests around dinnertime and then they are silent for the rest of the night. they really rise and sleep with the sun.
1 person likes this
@minijumbuk (514)
• Australia
26 Jun 07
You're right, at dinner time, when the sun sets, they chirp because some are calling their off springs home while others are just yelling for food. And after that they just rest and be quiet for the rest of the night. But sometimes though, when it rains, they hide in the gutter (don't ask me why) and they make annoying noises so i cant sleep!
(by the way, dont hesitate to rate my post positive =D)
2 people like this
@squaretile (3778)
• Singapore
27 Jun 07
sure - all deserving respondents who don't just make off the cuff one liner comments deserve to be positively rated.
in the gutter? I've never seen birds do that. Usually they are far out of reach. gutter seems dangerous and too easy for humans to catch.
1 person likes this
@danishcanadian (28953)
• Canada
1 Aug 07
Here in Arizona we have air conditioning and fans so we really don't need the windows open. At home I don't have air conditioning, and I don't have ceiling fans, so I keep my windows open during the summer months, day and night.
2 people like this
@Gwapako_28 (2140)
• Philippines
27 Jun 07
I have 2 kids with me sleeping in the bedroom.So i always close the windows before going to sleep.Making sure that bad air wont come lol.The same time,they are afraid that bad people might come inside.Me too, i cant sleep well when i knew that i wasnt able to close it.It bothers me a lot.
2 people like this
@squaretile (3778)
• Singapore
27 Jun 07
bad air? like polluted you mean? I guess it depends on where you live and how near a road one is.
perhaps if your window had grilles that could be locked, safety would be less of an issue?
@byfaithonly (10698)
• United States
26 Jun 07
I like to sleep with the windows open, even when it starts to get chilly at night. Of course I turn the furnace down so it won't 'heat the out doors' and when it gets really cold I can't do it but during spring, summer, and fall I like to keep windows open and will run around opening them when it starts to cool off.
2 people like this
@byfaithonly (10698)
• United States
27 Jun 07
What has always worked best for me is to close down the 'hot side' of the house - windows curtains etc, I've even closed off one room during the hotest time of day on that side of the house. Open windows, doors and shades on the shady side of the house.
If at all possible if you have an upstairs put a fan in a window venting out - I know this sounds strange, fanning the outdoors but what it does is heat rises and the fan venting out will actually pull the heat out of the house and cool the lower floors.
In my new 'home' my main living area is in a loft the hottest point in the house. I have 2 windows facing the sunny side of the house and have a fan in both windows venting out. I have a 3rd fan close to the rail directed towards those windows but I usually sit in the pathway - it actually keeps it rather comfortable here even in the hottest time of the day.
@squaretile (3778)
• Singapore
27 Jun 07
yup - the other thing i was thinking about is, in the late afternoon one of my rooms gets heated up terribly because the setting sun shines directly into it.
So I can't figure out whether pulling the blinds down and closing the windows is better to keep the heat out, or just open the windows and allow for ventilation anyway, since closed windows mean greenhouse heating effect??
@ahgong (10064)
• Singapore
27 Jun 07
now-a days with the close proximity of the blocks of flats, one has no choice but to keep the windows close when in the bedroom.
From my bedroom, I can see clear into the living room of the block opposite mine, all the way to the kitchen. Can you imagine what the person, standing at his living room can see into my bedroom?
Cos of that, my curtains are always drawn! It is frustrating!
But I do not have a choice. This is especially so when it comes to sleeping at night. For privacy reasons, we close the windows. Cos my place is windy, and when the windows are open, the curtains are flying all over the place! It is as good as not having the curtains drawn.
So, bo pian, need to keep the windows closed.
The only consolation is my windows are top hung... so I keep the top opened for ventilation.
2 people like this
@squaretile (3778)
• Singapore
27 Jun 07
my unit is situated such that it's not so close to another block... unless they are deliberately taking a telescope and aiming it at an angle into our bedroom haha.
it's great that your place is windy though, can draw the curtains in the morning and get a cool breeze!
1 person likes this
@ahgong (10064)
• Singapore
27 Jun 07
I do that every night!
Not because of security, but because of rain.
There was once I left the window opened in the living room and went to sleep. That night there was a heavy downpour and we didn't realize it cos the weather was so cooling to sleep, we did not get up!
Next morning, half my living room was ankle deep in water. Took us a good hour to remove four pails of water.
Good thing my sofa was leather, and the water did not seep into the crevices of the sofa. And my TV and Hifi were not wet from the rain. Otherwise, it would have been a much costlier lesson than just having to spent one hour cleaning up!
From then on, we make sure that all the windows are properly closed before we go to bed!
@ahgong (10064)
• Singapore
27 Jun 07
Yeah... and I was so thankful that day that I went to the living room to look for my watch. If I hadn't I wouldn't have noticed the water in the living room. My living room is long, and the main door is at the far end of the living room.
Imagine, if I had not cleared the water, my sofa, my side table and my TV console would have been damaged beyond repair!
@squaretile (3778)
• Singapore
27 Jun 07
ankle deep!! that is serious!! thankfully no serious damage. I'm a light sleeper so when it rains I'll realise it and definitely get up to close the windows. From the heavy downpour two nights ago, my sofa cushions got a bit damp. had to switch on the fan for a while to dry it off.
1 person likes this
@applefreak (3130)
• Singapore
26 Jun 07
that's why for my new place i insist on windows with top-hung
so even if it rains heavily, at least air can come in from the top but the rain can't
at home now, we have a habit of opening all the windows at night
so we learn to keep everything away from the windows
when it rains we'll just continue sleeping... hahaha :D
2 people like this
@applefreak (3130)
• Singapore
27 Jun 07
hehehe, everything is away from the windows mah
so only the floor wet loh
whoever wake up earlier will mop the floor :D
@Illinois_shy_girl (123)
• United States
27 Jun 07
I do not close my windows at night. I love the night air rushing through the open windows. I have occasionally had the experince that you did but it was not enough to make me close them every night. I live in the counrty so I don't really worry about intruder of the human form anyway.
2 people like this
@squaretile (3778)
• Singapore
27 Jun 07
yes I love the night air breezing in too, but the sad part is that the breezy times in my climate are usually the rainy times too. So sometimes I forgo the breeze so that my floor doesn't get wet.
It must be nice to live in the Illinois countryside! Do you live on a farm too?
@jazzygdc7 (285)
• United States
26 Jun 07
In fact, I never even open my windows at night because ther is no need for me to. I have air conditioning in my house. I also don't like even opening my windows because if it rains, the rain might come in to my room. Also, I leave my windows closed for security reasons.
@squaretile (3778)
• Singapore
27 Jun 07
is the air conditioning on all the time when you're in the room?
@ozkid92 (549)
• United States
26 Jun 07
i nvr do. otherwise id die from the heat. it gets hotter here at night than durring the day! its crazy!
plus if it gets windy or rains in ive got the blinds stopping the most of it, plus the screen on the outside. so im good for now. as for winter....they never open between november and march.
2 people like this
@squaretile (3778)
• Singapore
27 Jun 07
yeah, blinds are good for keeping out rain! great idea.
1 person likes this
@meljessxena (2315)
• Australia
26 Jun 07
i live on a farm, so leaving a window shut still wouldnt stop a robbery if they were determined to get in your house as noone else can see our house for kilometres. but we only shut the windows of a night in the winter so have the heater on. as we have a verandah going all the way around our house, the rain rarely will get reaching the middle of the verandah.
2 people like this
@squaretile (3778)
• Singapore
27 Jun 07
i've always wanted to live on a farm. had a one day experience during an overseas trip, but that's hardly living on a farm! great house design, can just imagine the verandah already.
1 person likes this
@maddysmommy (16230)
• United States
26 Jun 07
Our windows are usually closed most nights because we sometimes have the aircon going throughout the night (my husband can't sleep when it is hot). We live on the second floor of our apartment building and I prefer that they are all closed and secure, just because I feel safe if they are. During the day I have them open to allow air to circulate around the home. When I step out of the house during the day then they are closed again.
When my son and I returned from our quick visit to Connecticut two months ago, I noticed from our balcony, that someone may have been trying to get into my sons bedroom window because the screen on the outside was slightly bent as if someone tried to put a rod in there to break it or something. It wasn't like that when I cleaned his windows a month or two before that. So I am always cautious now when leaving windows open. :0)
@squaretile (3778)
• Singapore
27 Jun 07
that's scary. sometimes when I'm away i get the neighbours to keep a lookout...
1 person likes this
@misheleen73 (6037)
• United States
26 Jun 07
If it is cool enough outside, I leave them open. I cannot sleep if it is hot. So if the windows are closed, it has to be either very cold outside so the inside feels cool or the air conditioner must be on. I have a balcony, so we can leave the sliding glass door open and the rain doesn't reach inside. The bedroom windows I leave open very slightly. No rain gets in there either. I also live in an apartment on the second floor, so security is not much of an issue. Especially where I live.
2 people like this
@squaretile (3778)
• Singapore
27 Jun 07
it's great to have a balcony next to the room. Well designed apartment!
1 person likes this
@dlkuku (1935)
• United States
26 Jun 07
I leave the windows open, crime is low here and even though we live in a one story house, we don't worry about crime.
And when it rains, the kitchen windows are the only ones we close, because it always comes in those windows. If we closed the windows, we would suffucate, it's so hot here, and we try to use the air conditioning as little as possible to save on the electric bill.
2 people like this
@squaretile (3778)
• Singapore
27 Jun 07
yes it also depends on where the rain will come in when the wind blows. I've realised that it comes in usually on one side of the house but the rooms on the other side are ok.
1 person likes this
@321633wy (1795)
• United States
26 Jun 07
I like to let my window open day and night unless winter and rainy day.The place i am living now is very safe and nothing to worry about security issue.
I like to feel the fresh air flow throughout and creates better air ventilation in the house.
2 people like this
@squaretile (3778)
• Singapore
27 Jun 07
yes the best thing is to ensure that the design of one's house allows for windows in the right places so that air flow is fresh. i don't like musky dusky homes. :)
