Why You Should Always Sleep With Your Bedroom Door Closed
February 23, 2023
source: Southern Living via Getty Images/Ben-Bryant
I have always been someone who sleeps with the door open – mostly so my dog can wander in and out as she pleases. There are many perks to sleeping with the door open: ventilation, being able to hear children in the night, and being able to easily walk in and out of your room if you need to visit the bathroom in the middle of the night. However, all of us out there who are sleeping with the bedroom door open should strongly reconsider – and it’s because of safety.
Sleeping with your bedroom door closed can buy you more time to escape in the event of a fire. As reported by Family Handyman, so many items these days are made from synthetic materials. So while the average time to escape a house fire used to be around 17 minutes, it’s now just three minutes. Pretty scary.
The UL Firefighter Safety Institute recently filmed a demonstration showing the difference in fire damage between a bedroom left with the door open, and a bedroom left with the door closed. The bedroom with the door open ended up completely charred, while the one with the door closed was able to keep the fire at bay.
This demonstration led to the nationwide campaign, “close before you doze.” Sleeping with your bedroom door closed can keep fire out long enough for you to escape, while also preventing more severe smoke damage and inhalation. This is also an important reminder to ensure you have smoke alarms on every level of your home and that they are all up to current safety codes. The same goes for carbon monoxide detectors. You should also ensure you have an escape plan for yourself, as well as everyone else in the home, noting what each of you should do to escape in the event of a fire.
House fires do happen, and the results can be far less catastrophic if we take the appropriate safety precautions. Sleep safe, everyone!