Irrational thinking

I think windows are there to give light into your home and are also and escape route in case of fire etc. PLus they provide a view and you can see what is going on outside or identify danger and intruders before you open the door.

Does this mean you have to keep your doors closed except when you are going through them. I would find that difficult as I always keep the back door open in all sorts of weather. Not when the central heating is on as I get reprimanded!

Diddy1 - I love your comment "I do this when DH is not at home" ! I bet we could start a new thread on things we do when DH is not at home! I put washing machine on highest spin cycle ( DH believes it is not necessary??? Don't ask me why!)

DH suffers from true hay fever and from March to September he goes through hell - every time neighbours strim lawns, the pollen is unbearable. I'm a fresh air fiend, but he's more or less bed bound - gets up in mid-late afternoon - so I throw open downstairs windows first thing and close them around lunch time. When he gets up, I open the bedroom and landing windows till I go to bed. That seems to work for us as well as can be expected.

I would have the doors open then.........if you have one of those air pump things that heat or cool maybe that is the reason? there is nothing nicer than fresh though, unless, new husbands are available.

grannypiper I can't speak for callgirl but as I feel as she does about wasps, I can give you my view. Like her, I would love to fling open all my windows but daren't because wasps are generally flitting about. Car windows are closed when car is stationary. In work, it is understood that I will deal with spiders but if a wasp appears I will leave the room.

Outside is better because it is more open; I avoid places wasps are likely to be found and wouldn't dream of going to picnics or barbecues or even, sadly, of sitting in the sun reading a book.

I think the real problem with a wasp indoors is when you don't know where it is. Even if you see it fly in, it can 'vanish' in moments and I truly feel ill if I know there is one in the house somewhere that I can't find - I certainly would not sleep.

Note that I am not allergic to wasp stings and that none of this applies to bees - however foolish it seems to others, I truly suffer from Spheksophobia

I too love having my windows open, I have had at least 6 large wasps come in this year, solution - can of Raid (other brands are available) on hand. No wasp escapes my home alive if it dares to come in.

I also hate large flies, they too die.

The other day I could hear angry buzzing in my hallway, in my bamboo blind was a very busy spider & one very angry wasp, the spider won

fly screens are the answer! Wasps the size of jumbo jets are buzzing round outside and they can't get in. Mice can't either

During the hot weather I have had the door wide open but to prevent flies coming in I hang a long net curtain over the door and peg it to the door frame. If the odd one manages to sneak through I zap it with a little fly spray, no problem. The only thing I won't do is leave windows open at night, not only for security reasons but also moths and spiders.

callgirl1 - buy window and door fly screens - Dunelm Mills - they do work

It's not the fact that you have air-conditioning that is stopping you opening the windows, it's the fact that you allow your husband to tell you what to do!

I will be interested in the reply from the manufacterer about your house .
Do you have neighbours with similar houses? If so have you looked to see if they open their windows?

My husband´s star sign is Virgo, which means pernickety, fussy about detail and so on. He, too, has a theory about not opening windows in summer, so as not to let the hot air in. I grew up in Scotland and don´t know anything about hot weather, I just love to have the windows open. I go around opening them as fast as he is closing them. We have been doing this for 35 years.

More than one member seems to have taken this thread as an open invitation to criticise Diddy1's relationship with her husband.
Whether or not OP does need some support in asserting herself, who are we to say or judge

I'm a window opener too, husband isn't. For various reasons I am sleeping in a separate bedroom at the moment. Husband has the main bedroom, all windows shut, blinds across and curtains drawn too! They stay like that all day even though it is much cooler today. In my room the blinds and curtains are open and the windows open too!
This has been an ongoing battle for a number of years, how he sleeps in such a hot, stuffy room I'll never know. He does say it's better for his hay fever but is out in his workshop now with door wide open and sits in the conservatory with......yes! ....doors wide open! ?

We had some South Africans living next door for a hole. Windows firmly closed and curtains drawn all summer. They said it kept the house cool. Bit dark though I would have thought

For a while ?

Who gets to clean up the dust? If it's him, reckon he's got a point, if not, tell him to chill out!

Reminds me of the old joke "They've invented a way to see through walls... they're called windows"!
I like to have "real" air, whatever the cost to the heating. Fortunately, DH is of the same opinion - we have our windows ajar/open all year round. In summer, like now, we have our bi-fold doors to the garden open all day. A bit later, when it's warmer, we have them open from breakfast to after dinner. Need air!

Hi
A gransnetter after my own heart!???
We have a new house too with all the up to date gizmos including the air exchange. I insist it goes off at night because the noise keeps me awake. It's like being in an aeroplane. Believe me it doesn't stop the dust! In our house at least.
I sympathise
?

I hadn't even heard of this bit of technology for air.

It sounds to me as if the OP has a whole house heat reclamation and ventilation system which, during cold weather, reclaims the waste heat from stale warm air (eg from kitchen) and uses it to heat fresh cold air on its way in to the house. In warm weather it can be switched off and then its fine to ventilate the home by opening windows.

In our house it's not so much the windows as the curtains. If I sit down during the day it is usually in the back room. If the sun is shining I'm not allowed to open the curtains as the sun shines on his computer, it doesn't matter if he's using it or not. In the afternoon when the sun shines on the front of the house we have to have the sitting room curtains closed by about 3pm as the sun dazzles him when he is sitting in his chair. Drives me mad and he wonders why I spend most of the day outside, weather permitting

Jan51 I also have the curtain issue but it's worse in winter. Around 3.00pm I like to put a small side lamp on as the room gets very dark by then. As soon as I do it he draws the curtains. We live in a cul de sac so hardly anyone walks by to look in. I end up sitting in the dark rather than have the curtains drawn for half the day.

I know it's supposed to be healthier to have your windows open, especially at night, and it would probably help my chronic daily headache and migraine, but I'm terrified of spiders, so I keep them closed. The birds would wake me up about 4 o'clock anyway if I had them open. I live alone so I don't have a partner to catch spiders for me! I have had a plug in spider repellent for about a year which does seem to help, but I have seen a couple but fortunately they have been small. Also I have new neighbours and their cat comes in if you open the door and he got in the kitchen window recently!

It's so lovely to let in fresh air in good weather! Dust is unavoidable unless you live in a reverse flow 'clean room' laboratory. Diddy1, tell him also that most household dust is made up of microscopic fibers, dead human skin cells and pet dander, all of which originate inside the house. Mention that indoor pollution due to poor air circulation can be more hazardous to human health than a few extra dust balls!