to want to open the back door and the windows for a couple of hours in the morning this time of year?

[SweetAlmondOil]

My OH (we don't live together) says I'm obsessed with fresh air and wishes I didn't open the back door and most of the windows every morning for a couple of hours when the weather is no longer mild as it is in the summer. He's quite happy to open a window for ten minutes and that's it. When I stay at his I wish he did get more fresh air in but it's his place and he can do as he pleases of course.

I like to get fresh air in the house in the morning, especially since I have three dogs (the place - I've often been told - does NOT smell of dogs. Possibly because there is no carpet in the house and the dogs are not allowed on the beds and because of the above window opening!) and believe it's important to get rid of the overnight, stale air and also try to discourage mould/condensation, bacteria, etc. linked to not opening windows for long enough, often enough.

The heating isn't on when the door and the windows are open but comes on afterwards. I do admit that in between me closing everything and the place getting warm it takes a little while because the fresh air is cooler than the air that was in the house. So I was wondering whether IABU.

My upstairs windows are rarely closed. Hate stuffy rooms especially bedrooms.

Personally wouldn't have the door open, just the windows but it's your house.

We also have the heating set relatively low so it does need to be quite cold for it to trigger on

I always open my windows for a couple of hours, every day. Otherwise the house smells stuffy and over heated. It’s your house so you do what you want.

Shitinmyhands, it's to air the house, but I can't afford to have the heating on all day anyway. The most I can afford is 6 hours a day, even when it's below freezing, but I rarely have the heating on for more than 4 or 5 hours a day and some years don't put it on until mid-November. As I have a bit more money this year, I've had the luxury of having it on for a few hours a day since September.

Oh and I have no extractor fans either and as I live in social housing I'll only get them if the Housing Association install them, so I suppose that's another reason.

We live in a draughty old house with single glazed windows , and I still have the bedroom windows open for an hour or so every day
Our bedroom window is open a tiny gap at night too , and we don't have the heating on in our room ....yet ...

I open the upstairs windows but when its really cold I dont leave them open for hours, especially if its windy and it blows through the house quickly. I dont always open the downstairs windows, because I often open them at other times during the day, and I suppose with the outer doors being opened numerous times a day it doesnt generally feel as stuffy downstairs.

If I had a cold guest here, which I quite regularly do, I would make sure they werent cold, so maybe air upstairs while theyre downstairs and vice versa, and check theyre not cold at night too, offer an extra blanket or a hot water bottle

I have at least one window, usuallu a bathroom, open all the time and my bedroom window is almost always open, I've been known to wake up to a pile of snow on the window sill!

Every morning we fold the duvet in half to air the bed and open the windows, not too wide if it is raining but we let the fresh air in.

Both my teenage sons do this too.

I like being warm so they don't stay open for hours, but I like the smell of fresh morning air especially if it is a bit crisp like now.

Same argument in this house! And I’m generally a colder creature than he is but I like fresh air.

I would be miserable if all the windows and back door was open for 2 hours in the cooler months.
I do open the bedroom windows for a little while and am in and out of the backdoor quite a bit anyway.

I have no problems with damp or mould in my mid-terrace 80s house and no one has allergies so I think we're OK.

I have at least two windows open in the house all day every day until someone complains they are cold. My bedroom windows haven't been closed at all for at least 10yrs or more. I have a fan on all night in the bedroom too and one on in the living room whenever I'm alone in the house or if someone has closed all the windows.

Obviously my bedroom windows are closed if we are on holiday before someone comments on the stupidity of leaving them open whilst away

You can do what you like in your own home, just respect his wishes in his home.

This surely depends on your local weather- it's 9 degrees, raining and windy where I am, no way will I be opening any windows!

I hate stuffy rooms and I do like letting air circulate throughout the house all year round but I wouldn’t leave them wide open (I just open them a tiny bit) and certainly not for hours- the house would be freezing!

Bedroom windows - open all day every day.
Kitchen windows -open most of the day, as is the back door, to let the bloody cats in and out, or they knock on the door to be let in.

Whenever friends of mine ask if their doggy house smells I always say "of course not!"

(But it always does.... )

Its really important this year to be opening doors and windows to allow for air circulation, its healthy to have fresh air in a building

@Lockheart

I think mould and condensation are indications of damp, rather than unaired, rooms.

Despite opening windows rarely in winter, I don't have issues with condensation or mould - even in bathrooms or rooms where we dry laundry. But we do run the heating twice a day.

If your house is damp it's best to address the root cause rather than the symptoms. Plus trickle vents are your friend!

Condensation is down to lifestyle - damp is down to the actual house/flat/building. Luckily we don't have either but I often see people on Facebook saying they have mould and then it turns out they hardly air their homes.

Bedroom windows - open all day every day.

mine are closed in the day and open all night

We work from home so I wouldn’t be sitting freezing at my computer for hours a day.
Having said that, we don’t have a damp or mould problem so I don’t see the need to have windows open all the time. I open them for a 10 min blast of air in the morning.
Also I have a dog, and don’t particularly care if my house smells of dog. It’s my house and if people don’t like the smell of my dog then they don’t have to come round .

Another one that can't stand stuffy rooms. I'd much rather be cooler and wrap in a blanket on the sofa that feel too hot - I can't stay at some of my family members houses because they are suffocatingly hot in winter.

We sleep with the bedroom window open all year and I always open the back door for a bit in the morning - no set time period for it to be open though

I leave windows on top floor open all day even in winter. Also every toilet and bathroom.

20 mins or half hour maybe but several hours is a bit too long for me in the winter.

@CornflakeMum

Whenever friends of mine ask if their doggy house smells I always say "of course not!"

(But it always does.... )

I've had people tell me they were surprised I have dogs because they couldn't smell them. And have a friend who would definitely tell me (she doesn't like dogs) if my house smelt - of anything The house is hoovered and mopped daily though and dusting and other cleaning is done three times a week. And the dogs' bedding gets washed once a week. Maybe I am a little obsessed with trying to keep a clean home...