I love opening my windows! Being in a Manhattan apartment where the radiator is constantly on `high' and subject to the apartment building super's whims rather than my comfort, I keep at least one window open all most all the time even in winter. Come 65 degrees, they are all open, which means frequently cleaning the fan, the AC filter and the window sills. It's worth it!

Oh I wish I could throw my windows open. All I'd hear are screaming children and really, really bad music. Sigh.

Laura
http://www.grafxnerd.net

I live in SF in the foggy cooler area and keep my bedroom windows open while at home during the day and sleep with them open, I love nothing more than a cool room under warm duvet. During the day except when it rains I keep several windows open while at home including the back patio door. I love the cool fresh air and have lots of throw blankets for my friends when they visit as they are not as fond of fresh cool air. My house always smells fresh I cannot imagine it any other way. I get allergies and I am never sick.

I open my windows any chance I get. When I was growing up, my parents never turned on the AC unless it was swelteringly hot and humid. It's such a natural thing for me that, when I was living in Philly, I kept my windows open during warm weather even though I lived on a particularly noisy street. I just got used to the noise (well, except for the Duck tours and motorcycles) and occasional fast food smells.

I hate being stifled up in a room or car with the windows closed tight. I even prefer to sleep with the windows open. Nothing like drifting off snuggled beneath a light blanket with a soft night breeze stirring the curtains.

My new house has really good windows that a previous owner (an architect) put in. It makes such a difference to be able to pop in screens interchangeably instead of having to fit each one to the window it came from the last year even though they are all ostensibly the same size (that was the case in my old (1916) house). Most of the windows in my current house are a casement style and crank open effortlessly. So to me, having windows that work without a lot of hassle is key to taking advantage of good weather.

I cannot imagine life without open windows. I like to think of my house being "free" in the months that I don't need to run the heat--I just open or close the windows to attain the perfect temperature. Sleeping under blankets with the windows open is bliss, as is taking afternoon naps when I can hear the distant sounds of lawn mowers.

Fresh air and sunlight naturally keep fabrics and homes feeling fresh and clean. You can smell it when you walk into a home that doesn't have windows open often. Yuck! Fresh air please!

Every window opened 15 minutes everyday, rain, sleet, snow, or shine. I'm deathly afraid of growing old and living in a house that smells like vegetable soup.

I hate air conditioning, though others in my household love it. It gives me a migrane if I have to sleep in a room with an air conditioner, though I'm all right during the day.

I am an open window person. Though on the hottest days of summer, I install a window fan, I'm not someone who is too bothered by heat.

I love fresh air and will keep my windows open whenever I can. I also have a back door leading to my patio from the bedroom. That door stays open and the screen door allows fresh air in. I also run several fans to circulate it.

Mine is a garden-level apartment in the basement of a 120-year-old house, and doors and windows are open whenever the temperature rises above 50 degrees. Nothing out there -- neither bugs, nor grime, nor gloom of night -- could be worse than the smell of a musty basement.

I open the windows while I am home and awake. But with a one story house, all the windows get closed at night except the one my Akita sleeps under. I don't want to have my house burgled, or wake up to someone intending harmful mayhem.

it gets over 100 in the summer in concord, calif. daily form july to september... we like the doors and windows when the mercury is below 80, but over? it's AC time.

we have to open our windows because we don't have ac.
there are huge flowery bushes outside the window and our kitchen was coated in pollen on one of the windy days.
but it's annoying having the windows open because our bedroom windows are by the parking lot so we hear conversation/cars/music and i'm sure they can hear us.
our living room window is by the stairway where everybody walks by! so it's soooo ridiculous that we can't open it without everybody looking into our apartment and hearing what we say or whatever. there's also no screen which is annoying.
i don't know why i'm blabbing.
i love the windows open though. but i think i'd like it much more if i lived in the country.

Windows shut. Because they're painted shut. Plus we don't have fly screens and in summer there are European wasps EVERYWHERE. Not to mention flies, mosquitoes. Ick. Plus in the heat of summer its SO hot. Curtains and windows are kept shut to keep out heat.

I love open windows. I like the breeze and the sound of the wind in the trees, the smell of fresh cut grass, etc....

I'm willing to give in to the AC-loving husband when it gets ridiculously hot-- but our place currently has just a window AC that only gives a minimal effort, so I usually win!

I love having windows open even with a noisy street, pigeons nesting under every window, and terrible music. I had a bad experience last summer, though - someone climbed our fire escape to smoke pot, and all the smoke drifted into the apartment. They pissed through the screen and ruined all the cookbooks on the sill - in retrospect, it's better that than the other two windows available to them (the bed through one, and the couch and a computer through the other) but we broke lease and moved to a nice third floor place where no one but us can get at our windows.

I love open windows, in the summer we open windows int he mornings and evenings and at night, too, but during the day it often gets really hot and it's cooler inside the house, so we just keep them shut until the temp goes down again. No AC here, just manual temperature regulation.

The windows here tend to be shut. I wouldn't mind the dirt and grime since we are on a second floor so not much could get in - but seems like anytime we have a window open, bugs manage to get it. But that's mainly because with an apartment, the screens are cheap and most have at least a slit in them. Plus our front windows overlook the apartment parking lot, so it's always noisy there - and the rest of the windows face a working set of railroad tracks that trains do come by several times a day and it's extremely loud with the windows open.

Definitely windows open. I absolutely need the fresh air, AC does not agree with me.

The only downsides: my husband gets irritated by the bird in the morning (although I love it), the bedroom windows don't have a good overhang so we have to close them when it rains or else water gets in, and a few years ago we had smokers living below us who would alternate between smoking in the front and the back of the building, so we'd have to run back and forth to close the windows whenever we smelled the smoke.

I'm incredibly allergic to trees, grass, mold... basically, the outside. I try to open the windows at least occasionally, to get some fresh air moving through, but I'd really rather have the windows shut and the AC on with a decent filter. Also, I get hot really easily, so even with the AC on to what normal people consider "cool" (and what my little environmental souls can stomach), I still run the fan in my bedroom so I can sleep. No open windows for me, thanks.

If there were no environmental or cost factors, I'd happily turn the AC down to 65 all summer, and run it until almost Christmas. Of course, we don't do that -- it would be totally irresponsible -- but I didn't ever open the heating vent in my bedroom last winter, and I was perfectly comfy.

Windows open. All the time.

I hate the days that it's 90 degrees. We live on the top floor and it gets hot up here, and I hate turning on the a/c. We actually lost 2 friends because they thought we were crazy to not have the a/c on. Sure, it was warm. But it wasn't to the point where we were sweltering!

Anyway, we were at a friend's house the other day and they already had their a/c on...and it was only 70 outside! Ack that makes me crazy, but everybody does things differently.

The worst day of the year is the day I finally admit to myself that we're wasting heat because the window is open. Usually in October. And then everything gets quiet again until March....it always feels like an eternity. Sometimes we air the house out in the winter and snuggle up with blankets and coffee, it's always fun. :)

I love having my windows open but it's difficult on really humid days.

I have a ceiling fan and three windows in the main room of my studio and it is just glorious going to bed with a light gentle breeze, with my curtains billowing ever so slightly.

I do live just north of downtown Baltimore, and about 4 blocks north of a hospital so there are a few sirens but I'm generally able to block out all of the noise. The first couple nights are sometimes a little rough but I like hearing cars woosh by three stories below.

I like to turn on the ceiling fans and open a few windows, one in the kitchen, one in the bedroom and let the air whip through my apartment. It creates a wind tunnel through my apartment.

My kitty likes to sit outside on the porch but hates it when I shut the door on her while she's out there. So sometimes I just open the door, turn off the A/C and sit in the warm air for a while so she can enjoy some really nice sun beams. I'm such a cat person.

I agree with Slowdown...I also grew up in an AC-less household whereby my parents would only turn it on if you were dead and dying. I love to open my windows and put a fan on and listen to the hustle and bustle of summer in the city. :)

I've never found it to be extremely noisy...

My windows are right above the garbage bins. Lucky me.

I'm a windows open girl --- it's so nice to have the fresh air and breeze, plus the low electricity bill is a big plus. Even weeks like this last one where the temp has been in the upper 90s in DFW I have my windows open all day; I get an awesome cross breeze if when I open the doors to my front and back balconies. But I can't sleep if my apartment is hotter than 80-82, or if it's really humid, so I have turned on the AC a couple of nights this spring.

The worst things for me about having windows open, is that I have been eaten alive by mosquitos and feathers blow in from the baby pigeons living on my balcony, but it's still worth it.

I'm definitely planning on leaving the state (texas) at some point to be in a place where AC is only needed on a timely basis and where opening the windows is useful

We live in "the country" in the southeast - so we tend to open our windows as much as possible. All we hear are birds chirping and trees swaying in the breeze. It's lovely and I know we are really lucky.
However - once the humidity level reaches 100%, we turn the AC on to take the moisture out of the air while we sleep.

Open windows and fans! I hate heat, but hate a/c even more. Of course in NYC, there are times of the summer that a/c is the only way to go - the 90-plus degree days with similar levels of humidity.

flobo -- where in Texas do you live? If you're in the Southeastern part (Houston, Corpus etc) then I can see why you're never opening your windows. But up here in Fort Worth, I started opening up my windows in late Feb, and probably won't go 100% A/C for another month -- then I'll be able to open things up again in September through November.

I'm an open-window type girl; I have to be! With two kitties and a top-floor apartment, it's vital to get some airflow. I'm also allergic to the tree outside my window, though, so pollen cleanup is a must. A wet swiffering, though, and the problem is taken care of.

With window screens, a lot of the dust/bugs is taken care of. We always have windows open, in warm evenings we'll lock the security gate on our front door, and leave it open. Honeysuckle grows all over our porch, so it's really nice to refresh the house.

Windows open - even when I'm visiting family back east in VA or Florida.

Can't stand AC unless it's 90 degrees w/ 85% humidity and no breeze.

Windows open all the time.

We live in Germany where almost no private home has A/C. It doesn't get too hot here and humidity is usually rather low. We have screened several windows and keep them wide open as much as possible during the warm months. It's very safe here and quiet - you just hear the birds and the breeze in the trees.

I even open the windows when it is so hot that it might be better do keep them shut during the day, but I just love the cross ventilation!

I keep all my windows open. 1) For the kittehs, because they are indoor animals and need the scenery and 2) i cant stand stale air. I have fans on too to flush the air out of corners.

Poor kitteh fell out of a window who's screen wasn't secure. She is fine, but I am so freaken scared everytime i see her trying to use the damn screens as a stretching post.

all windows open when the weather is nice, and on nice summer evenings my husband and I (since we absolutley love our neighborhood and it's really safe) we put up a tension rod in the doorway and sit in the living room or just on the porch and let the nice air really get into our house, the extra light from having the door open during the day through the sheer curtain is also amazing.

Erin_Lang -- I hate to be a voice of horrible, but what you think is hot is way different that someone else. I can find an example just between me and my fiance - 70 degree weather perfect for me, for him he's sweating since he usually just hotter. If you want to have company over, you do need to make sure they are comfortable too. To them, it might have been like sitting in a furnace and prefer to have less friends than be that hot.

Our windows are open as much as possible. While we have central heat and air... we put a little window AC unit in the bedroom which gets turned on about half an hour before bed. My partner can't take any sort of heat when hes trying to sleep. I on the other hand, am always cold and could completely do without AC.

We live in a rural community, and aside from an extremely noisy family next door its pretty quiet, things get dusty, sure; but the fresh air is worth it.

The apartment we lived in before this house had an attic fan which made a huge difference. I'd love to still have one of these things, the difference it makes in temperature regulation is amazing.

Windows OPEN! Always - I was raised in a house that rarely saw A/C, even in hot, humid Indiana summers. But I love it... after 6 months of cold weather we Midwesterners have to live it up (at least that's my philosophy!). I do have to dust a bit more often and make sure there aren't any gaps in my screens where the buggies can get in - but even if they do I have a tag-team of kitties who usually take care of the problem.