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?

Fire exits are essential. Keys need to be near Windows as smoke is quick to kill

You shouldn't be leaving the keys in the locks IMO. You should get a set of keys that opens all 3 door and leave it in your bedside table drawer or similar. Then you'll never be stuck for keys in the night. Depending on the age of your ds, he could have a set too in his drawer.

RoystonVaseySmegHead

The stats given above show that there are 4,030 house fires overnight per year. But there are 122,000 burglaries involving violent confrontations per year. That means our children or ourselves are also in danger in the (more likely) event of a burglary, not just our possessions.

I would therefore maintain that it is safer to keep keys near the door and/or near the bed but not IN the door.

I agree with your DH and so would the police who deal with lots of burglaries every day. Burglars do use hooks and sticks and wire hangers.

Can you not get out of your main front door by just opening it? You should be able to and if it's a UPVC door, it should be safe.

I've worked for the police and have friends who are SOCOS (Scene of crime officers), and I've heard lots of the burglars methods of entry.

Persian yes we do

Can't you just have the appropriate key next to each door.

I seem to remember a story on the news not so long ago where a couple of people died in a house fire as they couldn't find their keys.
They were actually at the door calling out and had people trying to help but the door couldn't be opened without a key, no window and it couldn't easily be broken down.
Thankfully I have a thumb turn lock so I don't have to worry about finding a key but If I or dd stays anywhere I make sure we know how to get out. My sister leaves her keys in the lock (no window and stable door) and my mum has them in a hook next to the door, although it does worry me about finding the right set as I'm not sure I could find it in a panic. Think I'll find her a big keyring to identify it!

In order to escape from bungalow Windows that don't open ( assuming if there is a fire it would be pretty established before it woke you - so leaving the room by any other means would be tricky )
Make sure every bedroom has a hammer and a punch in the room. Show everyone on an old window or just show where to hit the glass with the punch and the hammer - a bottom corner will do it so you can stand away from it as you hit - might need to do it twice or three times for double or triple glazing - but you can then put your bed linen over the jaggy bottom edge and climb out safely and much quicker then trying to find keys - arrange a 'meet at the bottom of the drive ' type place so you can do a head count and check everyone's out ... This needs discussing so you all know the drill !

I dont leave keys in doors, keep a set by my bedside with a glow in the dark fob so I can see it at night (thankfully not needed so far)

Spider, you now have the perfect excuse to inviting a hunky member of the fire brigade into your home, but only to discuss fire protection !
You may feel more comfortable with expert advice.

Persian yes we do
I think that in the future the door locks that we have will become standard and fewer people will need to ask the question asked in this thread.

Could you get a hammer that would smash a window if needed? Like on a bus? Also I thought my windows didn't open far but I checked & there's a bit on the inside of the frame that you press in to make them open further. Think they're on child lock type setting at the mo. I'm also scared of the fire thing & keep keys near door but not in lock

Get spares and keep out of sight in the appropriate rooms. X

My DH is a locksmith and goes to so many break-ins where the keys have been left in or near the door. We keep ours on my bedside table so they are in reach in an emergency yet nowhere near the door

Oh and we have the front, back & French doors aswel as the side gate on the same key so only one is needed for all

Thanks oneplan I'll invest in some.

sugar thank you too!

DH used to be a firefighter and we leave keys in locks. Also, my mum double locked our front door and put the keys away in a top floor flat when I was a teenager. She then had a chip pan fire and the door keys were in her bag on fire by the hob. If we hadn't have had a balcony she would have perished. Keys in locks all the way here

I am married to a fireman so it's keys in for us, if it was smoke logged they may be hard to find...but then he's burgelers could be an issue.

Yes not he's.

House and car are never locked at night.....or at all really! (we live in a safe quiet town in NE USA) me and DH have a pistol each in the bedroom in case of a intruder.

We have a hook by each external door for its key. It can't be seen from outside and keeps the key close by.

Lately where I live people have been leaving their car keys on show as there have been a few houses where people have unfortunately been held at gun point until those entering their homes have found the car keys.

My dad has made us all leave the keys by the front door now because much rather them have the car or our belongings than go through that!

I'm with you re fire. Fire is more common than violent burglaries, and non violent burglaries don't matter in the scheme of things, it's just lost stuff.

Dp and I argue over this all the time. So we're getting a new door, one where you don't need a key to open it from inside, but it is locked from outside. That way we both win (except being c£1200 poorer, but hey ho).

Keys in locks for me, both in windows and doors. Ex bf was fire fighter and he recommended it. I also have suited locks so that all the door keys are the same. I really dislike seeing upstairs window designs with just fanlights and no large openings to get out of. When I first moved to this house one of the first things I did was change mine and DD bedroom windows to side openings. DD's was fitted with a child hinge that only opened so far unless you pressed a button. I taught her how to press the button as soon as she was old enough to know that jumping out the window would be silly :)

If there were a fire, would you be able to find the keys quickly in a fire? Heavy smoke obscures vision and it can be very difficult to see. I think I'd leave the keys in the door whilst we were in bed as you'd probably hear the glass smash or at least have them easily in reach by each door. Hanging them centrally whilst you were out would be more security conscious.