Do you key lock your UPVC windows?

[GorgeousLadyofWrestling]

Such a random problem to ponder over!

Obviously locked using the handle. But key lock them for more security or keep them unlocked in case of a fire and can’t find a key?

DH says keep them unlocked - you can’t open them at all from the outside when the security locks are engaged with the handle. He’s worried we won’t find a key if there’s a fire.

I was going around locking and them unlocking them with the keys constantly but sort of coming to his thinking. Plus the keys were always falling out of the locks.

Never locked them.

Yes, downstairs. Upstairs only when we're away.

Downstairs windows arent opened much (as patio door opened instead). Keys are on a keyring in a drawer so I know exactly where they are.

I don’t know where my keys are

I’m not sure we even got the keys when we bought the place! I think they might be on a chain somewhere but no idea.

We’re a ground floor flat though, and they only open on a fanlight at the top anyway - crap for escaping in a fire but also rather small for anyone other than a child to get in through. Should we wish to get out in a fire or anyone wants to break in, I imagine we/they will be using the front or back doors...

Downstairs yes and also used to lock the kids bedroom ones when they were small as we half split windows they could easily have opened and fallen out of. The keys were kept on a shelf right next to the window that thy couldn't reach.

I locked them in the beginning but what a faff! I'm with your husband, it wastes too much time if you need to get out quickly.

I keep the keys in little pots on the windowsills.

Large downstairs ones are locked.
I lock the large upstairs windows when we're away.

I lock mine. I’m sure my house insurance policy says that if the windows have locks then they have to be locked for them to pay out in event of a burglary. I keep a key on a hook next to the window. It’s in the same place for each window so if you need it in a hurry it’s always right there. Not like my in-laws where you need to hunt for a key to open a window.

Check your insurance. DH says we aren't insured unless they are locked. He keeps a key on his key ring.

We have a couple that are regularly opened that we leave unlocked.

I like to leave the key blue tacked to the right back corner of the windowsill- where your hand would go first in a hurry. However, we had to remove all the keys because we had a child that would open the upstairs windows wide and hang out to talk to the neighbours.

Yes. Otherwise we wouldn't be covered by our house insurance.

That’s the thing - I was locking them and hanging the keys next to the windows. But we have young children who are old enough to operate the key locks but not old enough to be trusted not to randomly open windows! My five year old is a massive pain for continuing to do things I’ve told her not to do a million times!

We live in a flat so in the event of a fire, there’s only one exit.

I don’t know where our keys are.

Could you use a command hook to put the key high up out of climbing range? I keep the keys in my locks but my dc weren’t climbers.

The keys are in mine so when I close them I automatically lock them.

Downstairs are locked though the key is in the lock. So if anyone wants to break in I guess they could just smash the window and open it that way.

Mind you when we were broken into they didn't use the window. They used the patio door and just broke the locks from the outside instead.

Upstairs the key is in the lock but they are rarely locked. We don't have a young child at home anymore. When dd was small those she could reach were locked and the key kept safe but accessible to us.

We keep the keys in the locks and do lock them at night. Windows are open a lot in this house.

We have spares in a safe place somewhere (though of course I’ve forgotten where.)
Keeping keys in locks however could be a problem if there are children who might remove and lose them. Or in our case some years ago, a FiL with dementia obsessed with taking any keys he found and hiding them God alone knew where.

keys kept in locked and always locked - but no children here to muck about. Insurance does indeed say locks to be used.

Always. Every window has a hook near it with the key on.

I had an attempted break in last year. I came home to find the front door lock had been repeatedly attacked with a hammer and screwdriver, but it held, as did the multipoint bolts, as they expected to be able to bump it but I had a different type of lock they weren't used to getting through. They had then tried to get through the window by prising the frame by the handle, but because I'd locked the window with a key, they couldn't open it that way, either.

By this time, they had obviously spent too long making too much noise, so they legged it. The Police said that the only reason they didn't get in was because I'd actually used the locks as designed and it's very easy for them to get in within a few seconds when doors and windows are just shut normally.

So yes, always lock downstairs windows at the very least.

If ours are closed or ajar, they are always locked. A key is bluetacked to the frame of each window. When the dc were younger, we blutacked the keys out of their reach at the top of the frame. Once the dc developed some reliable common sense the keys were blutacked lower down, where they could easily reach them in an emergency.

Some of our windows are newer and more secure than others. Although they are all double-glazed UPVC, I do not trust the oldest windows. It is simpler and more straightforward to say that all our windows should be locked.