Is DH U or am I paranoid? Locking doors at night

[Spiderpigspiderpig]

We live in a bungalow. Front door and back door are on the left of the building and are opposite each other... Hallway & kitchen between them. We have another external door at the back on far right handside of building in ds room. So 2 rear external doors & 1 front one. The one in ds room is closest to all of the other bedrooms.

Before be Dh prefers to lock all door and hang keys up in kitchen.

I prefer to lock doors but leave all keys in locks.

His argument is that a burgular will smash a window and reach the key, so it's not safe to do this.

My argument is that if there's a fire we'll be trapped in the house as we won't be able to get to keys. Our windows don't open enough to climb through.

Who is bu?

It's so frustrating to see so many people advocating that you lock the door and put the keys elsewhere overnight!

I would advise changing the type of lock to a thumbturn or some other form that can easily be opened without the use of a key. In a fire you WILL panic. And since most house fires start in the kitchen it is highly likely that your kitchen would not be accessible during a fire anyway.

If you can't change the sorts of locks on the doors you would use for egress in an emergency, please please PLEASE leave the keys in the lock at night so that you can relatively straightforwardly escape in the event of a fire.

The chance of home intruders at night is infinitesimally small, and the risk to your safety as a result of an intrusion far less. House fires are a greater risk.

To reiterate: YOU NEED TO BE ABLE TO ESCAPE IN AN EMERGENCY WITHOUT NEEDING A KEY

Source: 3 generations of family in the fire service.

Everyone is talking about burglary risk vs fire risk as if it's one or the other! It's not difficult to put a hook or something near the door so that keys can be very close to it without actually being in the lock. Then you have reduced the risk of being trapped in a fire AND of being burgled while you're home.

Both of these things may be small risks, maybe one is a smaller risk than the other, I don't actually know the statistics, but guess what? We don't have to choose between the two anyway!

in my family it doesnt work that way. no one leaves things where they are supposed to be. on the hook, on the floor, by the bed.... take us hours to find them!

We were burgled when DH was away and I was asleep upstairs. They came in the front door by putting something in the external hole and turning the key.
Obviously not an issue with a Yale.
I now leave the door unlocked but bolted so secure but no need for a key to get out

I wouldn't leave the keys in the kitchen - surely that's where a fie is more likely to start.

Put a hook where you can hand the keys near the door but not reachable / visible. My consumer unit is in the hall so an ideal place to keep a key.

You might also consider getting a fire ax so you can get out of a window if you have to.

Just to get some facts, since it's always nice to deal with those, here are some statistics regarding domestic fires and burglaries:

In the 2014-2015 year, there were 31,000 dwelling fire incidents involving the fire brigade. 13% (4,030) occurred overnight (most occurred in early evening - cooking accidents).

From 23 million homes, that is a 0.0001% chance of a fire occurring overnight in your home. Not an insignificant risk, but not huge. A bigger concern should be your cooking appliances and lack of/faulty fire alarms.

As for burglaries, the latest data I can find is from the 2010/2011 crime survey, but it does show that a lot of people on here have misconceptions surrounding the idea that "criminals aren't interested in breaking into occupied homes".

Total number of burglaries: 452,000. Number where somebody was home: 59%! That's 266,680. That means you're 66 times more likely to be broken into while you're at home than for you house to catch fire while you're asleep at night.

Something to think about.

(SOURCES: www.gov.uk/government/statistics/nature-of-burglary
www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/532364/fire-statistics-england-1415-hosb0816.pdf
england.shelter.org.uk/campaigns_/why_we_campaign/housing_facts_and_figures/subsection?section=housing_supply
thecrimepreventionwebsite.com/home-security-assessment/470/burglary-risk/)

i never leave my keys in the door as i did get burgled by someone smashing a pane of glass (was my back door which had loads of little squares of glass in) reaching in and unlocking the door.

I too would be more worried by fire than a violent intruder.I bolt the external doors…..use keys(in drawer) on windows/french doors etc but main access points are bolted from inside so they can be easily opened.Neither bolt system can be accessed by smashing a window and sticking a hand in .If the teenagers are late home and using key (i.e. door unbolted) i keep key handy but not visible or simply accessible by said intruder

What about a small magnet at the top of the door frame (if they're aluminium) with a key on it?

I always leave keys in the door. Most burglars don't want to kill you, they just want to steal stuff. If you are caught in a fire and can't get hold of a key, you will die.

OP, I agree with whoever said up thread to buy a window braking tool and keep it next to each bedroom window. That will put your mind at rest.

I've done some very realistic evacuation trainings at work and it's quite terrifying how difficult it is to get out of somewhere when it's dark and full of smoke. Even if you know it's training and you've been through those corridors and doors a million times.
If it's real life, you wake up in the middle of the night in panic, it is quite unlikely that you would be able to find the keys hanging somehwere, and get them in the keyhole.

So keys stay in the door. We have alarm system that would be triggered if glass is broken. Yes, burglaries may be more common than house fires, but consequences can be quite different as well.

Out of interest, does everybody here live in houses with windows you can't fit through? I can get out of any window in my house, except the bathroom windows. Would be my first thought if there was a fire.

Yes, burglaries may be more common than house fires, but consequences can be quite different as well

Probably true, although the stats I linked earlier also show that violent confrontations (can't find data about how serious those confrontations are) are about 100 times more common than house-fire fatalities.

I guess my point is that we are often more fearful of relatively rare events - like how so many of us are scared of flying, but not scared of driving - if the event seems like the consequences are worse and more out of our control. It's not entirely rational.

Let me stress, I'm not saying we shouldn't plan for possible fires at home, or that it's not a risk we should take seriously. I just don't believe that putting ourselves at risk of a potentially serious crime is the best way to plan for that. It is possible to vastly reduce your risk of being stuck in a burning house without leaving your keys in the door!

please dont just go through the window without trying the door first! I know someone who did this. they broke their pelvis. everyone else went out through the downstairs door. panic makes people do strange things!

eg one person I know actually went outside then back in to get their bag upstairs! meanwhile, having left the door open and providing lots more oxygen for the fire, they.found their downstairs escape cut off and had to be rescued from the bathroom

Persian our house has the same kind of door lock, I hate it!
I think that they are bloody stupid.

Do you also live in a new build property?

What about a small magnet at the top of the door frame (if they're aluminium) with a key on it?
I didn't think that aluminium was magnetic???

I'm with you spiderpig, I'm more bothered about being burned alive than being burgled. Each to their own imo, however I've won the point in our house. Dh can't be arsed to even lock the doors if he's home alone

It's not about burglars smashing your window to grab the key... It's about them silently using a tool to unlock your door from the inside through the letter box.

I leave my keys next to my bed.

I'm ok then, no letter box in door!

We've had keys fished twice and been broken into whilst at home asleep. First time was opportunistic (keys were within sight through window). We had our alarm on but they still grabbed a few bits that were by the front door. Second time the police think dh's car was stolen to order. This time our keys were out of sight but they had obviously trawled along all close surfaces with a strong magnet on a pole and managed to remove both my and dh's sets. Dh woke up and heard a tap tap tap just as they managed to get his set with car keys on. We watched, trapped inside the house as they very speedily made off with the car.

Yale locks can be compromised silently in seconds by a burglar with a piece of bendy plastic cut from a coke bottle so are completely useless from a security perspective.

Car keys are never near any door, probably either in my handbag or in dh's trousers on the bedroom floor.

Dgf was a fireman for a lot of years. Keys should be in both doors and the biggest upstairs window so you can get out of the house if there's a fire. I've heard some awful horror stories of people not being able to get to house keys in time and their children dying from smoke inhalation due to the increased time that they're breathing it in, or even a family member not putting the keys where they should be (we've all done it when we're in a rush) He's always taught us that possessions can be replaced. Lives of our children or even ourselves cannot...

We keep the full set of keys in a dish near the front door and then a back door key hangs near the back door too so both are easily accessible and everyone knows where they are which I think is important