Irrational thinking

DIddy1, is your husband a controller over other things as well.??? You must do what you want, it's your life, don't be told by him to do or not to do anything that doesn't suit yourself. Open the windows, you can't beat fresh air. If the house gets dusty, then get the duster out later.

Love haporthrosie, reply, must remember that.
I agree, opening up when its hot is not ideal, but once it gets cooler in the evening is when I need fresh air, or early in the mornings, I will put many suggestions to use, thank you all

If it is hot out side the last thing you want to do is open the windows, all that does is let the warm air in. We have ceiling fans in our lounge and bedrooms and always sleep naked.

Gently remind him that the Public Health Act was passed in 1875 ... reassure him that you realize his Victorian childhood must've been traumatic but it's all over now and aren't we lucky to be able to avoid disease, and possible lunacy, by opening our windows! Windows are there to be opened, air is there to be breathed and felt - there's nothing better. Closed-up air is disgusting. Alternately, shove a feather duster in his mouth and open away!

I'm told that house dust is largely composed of discarded human skin cells which makes me wonder how it gets on top of my wardrobe. My terraced house is only a few metres from a road that's quite busy at peak times and the external sills get really mucky. So I don't open the front windows - if I do, the internal sills also get grimy.

and I wait until DH has nodded off pollyperkins and pull the window in the bedroom to a little bit if it's windy.

I see that you live in the country Diddy, ignore my question re pollution - although, of course, farmers spraying crops, dust from harvesting etc etc is all a form of pollution.

Our conservatory seems to be a graveyard for wasps and flies - I try to rescue any stray bee or butterfly that ventures in and put it outside on a flower. The dead wasps and flies get hoovered up daily.

[gasp] I don't know where you met your friend Violette but there is plenty of fresh air on a cruise - fresh sea air!

I have seen the air filtering system on Grand Designs but have never come across it - do you live somewhere with a high level of pollution Diddy?

What willa said is correct; most dust comes from within rather than without the home unless the wind is blowing from the Sahara when you'll see the windowsills, car etc covered in a layer of sandy dust.
Where does all the fluff come from? It gathers underneath chair legs and in corners practically daily - but from where??

My french doors are open from April thru to Oct. I mourn the days I have to shut them

I throw every window and door open ..but like you, hate the flying things that come in, so I have fly screens all over the place ,,,which have to open so I can close the shutters ...when I was telling my neighbours about the dust (I live in France) they were horrified that I even think about opening doors and windows !!! in our village shutters are always half closed mostly all day ....to keep the dust out .....I was told that is why I have dust !! but I simply cannot shut them all ...we have leaflets here about how to protect yourself in the 'canicule' (heat wave) ...stay indoors with windows and shutters closed......no way could I do that ! I went to visit someone who arrived in Bordeaux on a cruise who I hadn't seen for 60 years ...always thought a cruise would be nice, but after just a few hours I was gasping for fresh air ...so claustrophobic ..I'd have to find a port hole or whatever to break open (lifeboats to the fore !)

I have the opposite problem - my DH is fresh air fiend and we have a howling gale in the bedroom all year round with all windows wide open. In the winter the bedroom is like an ice box ( no radiator on upstairs!) and i have to pile blankets on my side of the bed!

Grannypiper, I`m like Librarylady, absolutely terrified of wasps, can`t keep still, if they come near me, in warm weather I pray for rain, so I can open the windows for a little while. Holly100, I`ve had those screens that cover the doorway and fix on with Velcro, but there`s always a little bit of a gap somewhere, and the flaming wasps always find it! I would open the bedroom window at night, but I`m scared that the sun will be up before I wake, along with the wasps! It didn`t help yesterday, reading an article about giant wasps from Germany that have found their way over here!

Hello again, here is a report from the house building firm, first he laughingly wrote, I should move to where the firm is, in the North of Sweden they had +3 degrees yesterday!I will stay put,this man was the Technical Chief and explained that there is a filter for the incoming air, which prevents dust and other larger particles to come through, however, there is nothing in the warmth/ventilation system to stop us opening the windows, there can as many wrote on this thread, be dust and dirt, and some insects coming in, but there is no technical reason why we cant open them. As I dust (occasionally)I think I am allowed to open, but to be on the safe side, when I am on my own! We live in the country so the air is clean, it will be insects getting through I suppose, but fresh air too. Thank you all again for your comments and suggestions, I have enjoyed this thread, I am now going to open a window!!

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!

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!

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.

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

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.

I hadn't even heard of this bit of technology for 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
?

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!

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

For a while ?

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