Do you leave windows open when you aren't home?

[cjcouple]

Yes however, I also live in a 3 story condo with the main living areas on 2nd and 3rd floors. 1st floor is always closed/locked up since it our garage/basement and front door.

[expectantsteelerfan]

This has been fascinating to me. It really never occurred to me to shut them every time I leave the house. I guess it's a good thing we don't have them open often because apparently it's a big deal to my dh, but he's not the one home for 10 minutes then leaving to pick up one kid, then home again for 30 min. and then leaving to drop off another kid, etc. because I am certainly not opening and closing them every time I do that. If we are all home and then all leaving for the day, sure, I'll compromise for that, but not for these short little errands. I am also the type of person who leaves our garage door open while I walk our dogs around our cul de sac every day though too. Our house is visible 90% of the 10 minute walk, but I don't have a single concern about leaving it open. And our kids have been known to leave the garage door open overnight as well when they've been out playing, and I do get annoyed when they do that, but it's more for energy concerns than security concerns honestly.  Yet I'm also one of those people who locks my car every time I get out of it no matter what, because habit lol.

[mortomo]

Never. There have been several break-ins in my neighborhood throughout the years we've been here and the majority have happened in daylight and through a window that was already open. We also don't leave windows open at night, except for the room we are in. Earlier this year our Ring camera caught someone trying to open our front window that is facing the street (it was at night and our lights were on in the room of the window they were trying to break in. Our camera went off and then we heard someone at the window.).

[gastro]

We do but our house is built on a terraced lot on a steep hillside so most windows on our “first” aren’t accesible from the outside without a ladder.

[toepick]

Nov 6, 2022 22:07:28 GMT -5 gummybear said:

Nov 6, 2022 22:03:40 GMT -5 devonpow said:

We do. Not it we are gone overnight though. I also leave doors unlocked all the time. During the beginning of Covid I actually lost my house keys for 6 months and didn’t even notice for a while. It’s not a good habit, I know.

And then there’s me who locks my car when I park
In the driveway of our friends to pick up my kid from a play date and I’m out of the car for 2 minutes 🤣

I would never leave my car unlocked!

Every day on next door there are people talking about the fact their unlocked cars were “broken into” and stuff stolen. People aren’t breaking windows - they are walking up and down streets trying door handles. If you lock your car, there isn’t a problem! And don’t leave your iPad, wallet or gun (!!!) in there unlocked or locked.

[tacokick]

Nov 6, 2022 22:24:20 GMT -5 kadams767 said:

Nov 6, 2022 22:18:13 GMT -5 tacokick said:

I can’t see ever leaving them open when I’m not home. I leave the backdoor open during the day but close it when I leave even if my husband is upstairs working.

I’m a little surprised so many people do! I guess I thought most people have air conditioning or heat running most of the year so not a lot of open window time. We don’t have air conditioning but I don’t think leaving our windows open while we’re gone would make much of a difference temperature-wise.

I don’t do it when I have the heat on more than a couple degrees, and not when the AC is running.  But I only run the AC for the hottest of the summer, so really only a few weeks per year where I live.  And I am pretty judicious about turning the heat up when it isn’t winter, so while it’s “on” now (because it was cold a couple weeks ago), it hasn’t kicked on for the past 5 days or so because it’s in the 70s again.  I love that I have windows open in November!  I just prefer the fresh air, it isn’t always a temperature thing for me.

Fresh air is my main window opening motivator too. But only when I’m here to enjoy it!

[tacokick]

Leaving windows open and not worrying about crime interesting to me because it seems like so many people (in general not singling out anyone here) have surveillance cameras in and outside of their homes. I wonder people with those devices leaving their windows open? I know I’ve seen some people in my neighborhood group complaining that their car was “broken into” and caught on the camera and 9/10 times it turns out the car just wasn’t locked.


Honestly, I don’t think someone who really wants to break into your house will be deterred by an closed window or even a camera system but closing your windows does seem like a way to easily make your house seem “secure” and cut down on crimes of opportunity same as locking your car.

I always shut them because I’m worried about rain! I forgot once as a kid and the unexpected storm soaked my bed. I can’t be that breezy ever again! Maybe if I lived in the desert.

[bex1973]

Same as most other folks typically the 2nd floor windows are left open when the weather is nice. H has been known to leave the house for short periods of time and leave the doors and garage open which I don't do but we do live on a cul de sac with multiple neighbors who are home all day and would notice if something was awry.

[glw]

Yes, I do. Realistically it would take only 2 seconds longer to break into my house if the window was closed, you know?

[wildrice]

Yes upstairs, no on the ground level. I don't expect someone to climb a ladder to break in - we live on a coldesac (no idea how to spell that lol) so they would surely be seen.

We do have those window lock things that allow them to lock a few inches open, so sometimes I will leave those on the first floor if it's just a few hours though. I often leave those overnight too so that it's not super stuffy when we come down in the morning.

[TR]

We never even open our windows. I guess because...Texas. The weather is rarely open window weather. It's either too hot or too humid or jumps right to too cold. Also, thinking about it more, the windows in our house are in odd rooms so it wouldn't even make much sense to have them open regularly.

[fivechickens]

I leave them open upstairs a lot. I have left the one window under my dogs crate open when I leave for work (I work 4 hours a day) because she gets hot. I don’t do it a lot, just days where it is nice enough outside but not so nice the a/c would go off.

I never leave them open at night and get annoyingly obsessive making sure EVERY lock in this house is locked.

[moreace01]

On the first floor - never.

At night - when I am home - I would only keep the windows open if I was sure someone couldn't get to them without a ladder. And even then, only on the front of the house. Too easy to hide in the back (I used to live in a condo and had numerous break-ins back there. Plus I've known way too many people who have had things happen where someone climbed up and got in.)

Non-security issue: I also just tend to not do it cause even on "nice days", the odds that the weather turns and we get a brief downpour are high and I've messed up my woodwork by keeping the windows open when I wasn't home on numerous occasions.

[Patsy Baloney]

Lol, I’m not even sure all of my windows lock.

I live in a ranch, so I guess just come on in.

But I always lock my car and make sure the door between the house and the garage is locked. Please walk around to the window if you’re breaking in 🤣

[fernweh]

Not intentionally. Occasionally I will forget the kitchen window at the back of the house is open. We generally don’t open the front windows though, we live on a busy street and it gets really noisy with front windows open. I wouldn’t leave them open thought, at least not main level windows.

[wanderingback]

Nov 7, 2022 7:38:05 GMT -5 Bad Dingo said:

We leave our windows (upstairs and downstairs, front and back) open whenever the weather is appropriate. If someone was going to break into our house a closed window wouldn't stop them so I'd rather be comfortable and save energy when possible.

Do you have evidence of this? That crime is the same via closed and locked windows/doors vs open ones?
I know crime stats aren't always easy to come by and I don't always trust the police, but I've def seen reports/videos of people canvassing neighborhoods and they seem more likely to pass by things that are closed and locked vs things that are open (car doors, front doors, garages, windows, etc).

[lab7979]

No, I wouldn't leave them open both for security reasons and also because I have a cat. I've had cats jump through screens before. I grew up in a small rural area where we left windows open and doors unlocked when we weren't home. I didn't lock my car. I live in a safe area now but its much more populated. I look at safety differently here. I would never feel comfortable doing those things where I live now. I'd feel like i was inviting trouble or something.

[dexteroni]

Nov 6, 2022 22:18:13 GMT -5 tacokick said:

I guess I thought most people have air conditioning or heat running most of the year

We run them when needed, but I was answering for days when the temp is right to have the windows open. So those wouldn’t be times when heat or AC are on. I answered earlier that I’ll leave upstairs windows open, but if I’m leaving on a morning when I expect that the AC will come on later, I do close those windows.

[InBetweenDays]

Nov 7, 2022 9:55:26 GMT -5 wanderingback said:

Nov 7, 2022 7:38:05 GMT -5 Bad Dingo said:

We leave our windows (upstairs and downstairs, front and back) open whenever the weather is appropriate. If someone was going to break into our house a closed window wouldn't stop them so I'd rather be comfortable and save energy when possible.

Do you have evidence of this? That crime is the same via closed and locked windows/doors vs open ones?
I know crime stats aren't always easy to come by and I don't always trust the police, but I've def seen reports/videos of people canvassing neighborhoods and they seem more likely to pass by things that are closed and locked vs things that are open (car doors, front doors, garages, windows, etc).

I think it must depend on the type of windows/glass. I can't imagine closed thick double pane windows aren't more of a deterrent than a screen you can quickly/quietly cut through.

I liken it to the thieves that walk the streets jiggling the door handles. If the door is locked they tend to move on to the next car.

[mrsslocombe]

I live on the 8th floor so we pretty much never close them. Even in winter, because our building is old and the heat was designed with the 1918 flu pandemic in mind. Aka if we closed the windows it would be 85+ degrees inside.

If we leave for several days we usually leave the windows cracked a bit.

[shauni27]

I live in a rural, and low crime area. If someone's house is broken into in the entire region it makes big news, lol.

We have lived in our house for just about 3 years and only JUST got locks for our doors, so yeah, leaving the windows open is a non-issue haha.

[Bad Dingo]

Nov 7, 2022 9:55:26 GMT -5 wanderingback said:

Nov 7, 2022 7:38:05 GMT -5 Bad Dingo said:

We leave our windows (upstairs and downstairs, front and back) open whenever the weather is appropriate. If someone was going to break into our house a closed window wouldn't stop them so I'd rather be comfortable and save energy when possible.

Do you have evidence of this? That crime is the same via closed and locked windows/doors vs open ones?
I know crime stats aren't always easy to come by and I don't always trust the police, but I've def seen reports/videos of people canvassing neighborhoods and they seem more likely to pass by things that are closed and locked vs things that are open (car doors, front doors, garages, windows, etc).

Of course I don't but breaking and entering is very low in my state, I live on a quiet dead end cul-de-sac so burglary is not something that I am worried about.  Yes, there are people that check door handles so we never leave our cars unlocked. Rummaging through a car is a much faster/easier crime than actually entering someone's house to rob them.

If someone is determined to break into my house for whatever reason, having the window open or closed doesn't seem like it'd be much of a deterrent.  I may be living in denial, but I enjoy the fresh air and keep the windows open whenever the weather cooperates.

ETA: Bears are a concern though  www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/bear-home-entries-hit-another-record-in-connecticut/2886565/

[glitzy07]

We'll leave the second story windows open, but not ground level. And the second story window that can be accessed from our back deck gets closed and locked before we leave the house for longer periods of time. I won't necessarily close that one if I'm running to drop the kids off at school or something.

[pixy0stix]

Nice try, burglar.



I used to, but no. We have people that come through the neighborhood checking car doors so I don't feel comfortable with that anymore. We do open our bedroom at night sometimes.

[steamboat185]

Nov 7, 2022 9:55:26 GMT -5 wanderingback said:

Nov 7, 2022 7:38:05 GMT -5 Bad Dingo said:

We leave our windows (upstairs and downstairs, front and back) open whenever the weather is appropriate. If someone was going to break into our house a closed window wouldn't stop them so I'd rather be comfortable and save energy when possible.

Do you have evidence of this? That crime is the same via closed and locked windows/doors vs open ones?
I know crime stats aren't always easy to come by and I don't always trust the police, but I've def seen reports/videos of people canvassing neighborhoods and they seem more likely to pass by things that are closed and locked vs things that are open (car doors, front doors, garages, windows, etc).

Antidote, but both of my house break-ins have been the good old fashion brick through a window in the middle of the day. Grant you they were rentals with older windows.

[gummybear]

As someone who is pretty obsessed with crime, I can tell you that the vast majority of break ins are crimes of opportunity. Walk through an unlocked door or climb through and open window. Yes, if a thief is targeting you or your home and something in it, they will most likely be able to be it regardless. But most are quick hits just like open car doors. There are also things that can make your house more or less attractive. Cars in the driveway, pets, lights on etc. walk out basements are particularly vulnerable. In fact, basements in general are.

I understand feeling safe and crime rates being low. But I don’t really think anyone anywhere is immune. I live in a very safe area and car and home break ins aren’t uncommon. Usually come in waves and 99/100 it’s unsecured property (vehicles and homes). Our cops (as misguided as they may be) have been known to knock on doors at night to tell people to shut their garages and physically close open front doors on houses.

[wanderingback]

Nov 7, 2022 10:43:34 GMT -5 Bad Dingo said:

Nov 7, 2022 9:55:26 GMT -5 wanderingback said:

Do you have evidence of this? That crime is the same via closed and locked windows/doors vs open ones?
I know crime stats aren't always easy to come by and I don't always trust the police, but I've def seen reports/videos of people canvassing neighborhoods and they seem more likely to pass by things that are closed and locked vs things that are open (car doors, front doors, garages, windows, etc).

Of course I don't but breaking and entering is very low in my state, I live on a quiet dead end cul-de-sac so burglary is not something that I am worried about.  Yes, there are people that check door handles so we never leave our cars unlocked. Rummaging through a car is a much faster/easier crime than actually entering someone's house to rob them.

If someone is determined to break into my house for whatever reason, having the window open or closed doesn't seem like it'd be much of a deterrent.  I may be living in denial, but I enjoy the fresh air and keep the windows open whenever the weather cooperates.

ETA: Bears are a concern though  www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/bear-home-entries-hit-another-record-in-connecticut/2886565/

Ok got it!
I totally understand that a burglary isn't a concern for many people and I def hate the whole "crime is getting out of control" false narrative.
But I was just specifically asking about the statement of "a closed and locked window wouldn't stop them anyway."
I had always heard and logically it makes sense that a lot of crimes, especially thefts are crimes of opportunity, so a closed and locked window would be more likely to stop someone. That is not to say that people need to be worrying about theft depending on where they live. 2 separate issues. 

[gummybear]

One more thing: I don’t know if I’m getting all Fox News up in here but often theft is fueled by drug addiction. With the opiate epidemic as widespread as it is, per capita, “low crime” means different things. Opiate addiction is rampant everywhere, even more so in rural areas. Yes, there may be only 5 break ins a year in your town of 3,000. But it’s more common than say, 100 break ins in my town of 200,000.

It’s like this false narrative that blue states have higher crimes than red states. It’s categorically false, statistically.

[gummybear]

Also, I’m not trying to be combative- I’m trying to justify my anxiety and way of thinking.

[ssmjlm]

We mainly only have the back patio door onto the screen porch open and then open the window in our storm door for a cross breeze. The way our house is setup with a side garage, the windows on the front are into the garage or powder room.

I will leave the patio door open when I take the dog for a walk. I not gone that long if it's a lunch walk.

I honestly can't remember in our old house if we left windows open downstairs when we were gone or not.