Do you leave loftroom Velux open at night in your mid-terrace home?

[Teapleasemilknosugar]

Just that really.

If you have a loft conversion with Velux windows in your mid-terrace home - do you leave the Velux open at night?

Would it make a difference to your answer depending on who occupies the room or the room's purpose?

There are always at least 2 at any time with scaffold up on our terrace.

And in our area you can't walk along any single terrace without seeing scaffold. That is all year round.

OP you asked about insurance. I was having a quick look and it seems that insurance requires security on all “accessible windows”, and defines them as

ADQ - Accessible windows - are windows within 2m of: ground level, flat or low pitched roofs. (lowest edge within 3.5m of ground level),access balconies and basement areas.

So for us, our loft window is way above that. But I agree if there’s scaffolding up, it may affect it - not sure how far along it would need to be to make them inaccessible though?

Ours face north but we’re up very early anyway so 5am daylight isn’t a concern for us! I can also sleep in most levels of light too.

Haha that’d do it! Gone are the 5am starts for us. And we had years of terrible thin curtains that we never sorted in prev room, so really value the dark here!

We were actually burgled in broad daylight through our rooftop velux windows and we were on the top level of a flat conversion! Scaffolding had been put up but obviously not secured properly and we lost all our electronics and identity documents. It always makes me think twice about leaving them open now.

We have had a Velux window in every house we have had. Terrace and end-of-terrace in S London and a 3 storey Victorian in a market town.

We have never had the slightest problem with leaving them open and I really don't understand why you seem to see an issue with this.

I came here to say this! Former criminal barrister prosecution and defence. Have been involved in literally hundreds of burglary trials or pleas. Not one involved a velux window on an upper floor!

It can’t be very pleasant living in such fear of extremely unlikely events. Unclench a little and open your Velux.

I’d be more likely to wake up because I was hot if the window was shut than because of the light in the morning.

On a warm night we leave ours on a latch so we get a small breeze.

We’re more likely to get woken up by the cat crashing down (controlled!)through the window as it likes wandering around on the roof at night!

We've got a solar blackout blind on ours so I tend to have it mostly closed in hot weather, and it's usually left on the catch open overnight so enough to let air through but not enough to let birds/rain in. The worst was when it was opened fully once and a bat got in. DH was screaming more than me and it shat everywhere as the dog was going mental. We've never left it fully open after dusk since! (we've got a lot of bats in the garden, think they roost under the eaves).

It can't be very pleasant to be living so unkind or lacking in empathy, either.

Both of you reassuring, but some replies on this thread show that it does happen!

Just what I was thinking as well. I imagine a mid terrace house is going to be less appealing to burglars because there is more likelihood of being seen.
I will admit though that I did go out a couple of times last year and left my downstairs windows open!😬(although neighbour regularly goes out and leaves his back door wide open.)

They have to be very wide open to let rain in. If they are only a bit open the rain runs off.

We once had a soaked carpet because of the velux being left open by a guest and we didn’t realise for a day or so. However it was one of the ones that opens by pivoting in the middle so bottom of window goes up and top comes down and rain can get in and also runs down the actual pane and drips in. If it’s open wide enough.

Yes mid terrace, leave them open a small amount day and night. Not big enough for a bird to fly in. Don't think it would be very appealing to a burglar.

I know my house isn't. Neighbours are always up to something out back and the front is worse. My house is raised above the pavement about 10ft so the street light directly in front of it lights up everything...and im right on a busy road.
You would have to be prepared to burgle with a spotlight and Audience!😁

why Wouldn’t you?

Bit different if the building is scaffolded though, right?

I have one in my second floor bedroom (loft conversion) and usually leave it open all day during the summer unless there is a risk of rain. Otherwise, it gets too hot to comfortably sleep at night. I may have to rethink this after today after a pigeon flew in, ended up in DD’s bedroom one floor down and gave her a huge scare when she came home from school.

No.

Moths will get in. Hundreds of them. Then you will have to burn your house down.

I speak from experience.