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As someone who has spent hundreds of dollars on blackout curtains (and sticking electrical tape on every LED in the house), I'd be happy to buy an apartment whe

As someone who has spent hundreds of dollars on blackout curtains (and sticking electrical tape on every LED in the house), I'd be happy to buy an apartment where few of the rooms have natural light. I know bedrooms have to have windows so the fire department can pull you out of a burning building while you're asleep or whatever, but personally, I am not a fan of the noise and light most of the time. I just think there is so much space that you can use in a residential setting without natural light. Your movie room. Your bedroom if you feel like not following The Law as to where they're allowed to be. All your 3D printers and other maker activities. If it's space that nobody wants, I'd personally buy it at a discount if it were offered to me.

ldjkfkdsjnv 2y ago
I rented a place specifically because one of the bedrooms has no windows. Easily one of the best quality of life improvements.
- webdood90 2y ago
  Great, until it's not. You have no escape in case of an emergency. The room probably wasn't technically a bedroom.
  - renewiltord 2y ago
    I think the probability of that is lower than my probability of death on my motorcycle. So they're probably going to be fine. Everything is fine until it's not. The risk tradeoffs we disallow are ones where you need to be 1σ+ to be making the tradeoff because the crucial functionality there we provide is legibility in the marketplace.
  - giantg2 2y ago
    That's easily remedied - axes and specialized entry tools can be used for exiting. Yeah, if it doesn't meet the legal definition of a bedroom, it can't be listed as one. That's partially why there are so few interior rooms - lower property value vs if it was a bedroom (but mainly consumer demand for windows).
    - eropple 2y ago
      > That's easily remedied - axes and specialized entry tools can be used for exiting. You keep an axe in your bedroom?
      - giantg2 2y ago
        My bedroom has a window, so no. If your bedroom doesn't have a window and you're concerned about another exit, then sure.
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      - WalterBright 2y ago
        Yes. Seattle is earthquake country, and I want to be able to get out if the doors are blocked or jammed from earthquake or fire. It's a fireman's axe, as that job is what they're designed for. I also keep a fire extinguisher in the bedroom.
        bombcar 2y ago
        I mean you’re also an axe murder, but that’s besides the point. ;)
        WalterBright 2y ago
        If you've ever handled a fire axe, you'd realize it makes a lousy weapon. It has a long handle, with a heavy head. The idea is it can build up a lot of momentum to crash through things like doors and walls. But the long handle makes it difficult to swing in a melee, and slow to swing, and once the swing starts it will be very hard to change its arc. Hence, your target can easily sidestep it. I suppose it would be good against plate armor, but not many villains wear plate armor these days. You also have to be careful with a fire axe to not chop your foot if you miss. I don't think I've ever seen a war axe/hatchet/tomahawk anywhere near that size. For self-defense in close quarters, a baseball bat is ideal. P.S. I am no martial arts expert.
  - JumpCrisscross 2y ago
    > You have no escape in case of an emergency Nobody is exiting the 60th floor of a skyscraper through the window. We don’t even have ladders that go that high on firetrucks in New York [1]. [1] https://www.fdnysmart.org/fire-trucks/ https://www.fdnysmart.org/fire-trucks/ 95 ft, or about 10 stories
    - BobaFloutist 2y ago
      What, you don't keep a parachute under your bed?
    - bluGill 2y ago
      Which is why buildings higher than fire trucks can reach have different fire codes. Stairways are often a separate building within the building with a firewall between them - if the building starts on fire you can get down one of the stairs.
  - ldjkfkdsjnv 2y ago
    High up in an NYC building, there is no escape regardless of windows. Also, my quality of life with good sleep is so high, its easily worth it
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kbenson 2y ago
It's less about natural light than ventilation. If whatever ventilation systems the building uses breaks down, interior rooms without opening windows are a liability.
- NoMoreNicksLeft 2y ago
  This seems wrong... are people opening windows on the 60th floor? What about those buildings whose design precludes easy retrofitting to openable windows? I'm not being rhetorical, I'd like answers.
  - kbenson 2y ago
    I figured looking up tall residential building and seeing what they do would be a good indicator of norms. The tallest Residential building in New York is Central Park Tower at 98 above ground floors: The residential stories have casement windows, within the curtain wall, that can swing up to 4 inches (100 mm) outward. In addition, some condominium units have motorized windows at least seven feet (2.1 m) above the floor.[1] The condominiums start on the 32nd floor, according to the same article. If building can't easily be retrofitted to allow openable windows, then I would assume they either can't be used for residential or they could try to get some sort of exemption if they can prove it's safe. I'm mostly going off what I know about building codes and what I've read previously on the topic when it's posted and it's delved into what the actual problems are in converting to residential. 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Park_Tower https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Park_Tower
  - JackFr 2y ago
    Opening windows on high floors is great -- you don't need screens cause most urban insects stay much closer to ground level. (Although admittedly I haven't opened any windows higher than 20)
- quickthrowman 2y ago
  Office towers do not have windows that open, aside from some very old ones might have windows that open. Commercial building windows in general do not open at all.
sokoloff 2y ago
I think in most places that bedrooms just need two means of egress plus possibly a specific ventilation requirement, which is most commonly met via a door plus a window, but could be met by two doors to two different legal means of egress (and an HRV/ERV if ventilation is required under locally adopted code).
whartung 2y ago
> I know bedrooms have to have windows so the fire department can pull you out of a burning building while you're asleep or whatever When we were looking for a new house we toured one that had a bit of remodeling done. What was done was the back patio was enclosed to turn it into a room. The detail was that there was an existing bedroom that had a window onto the patio. The solution, which I have to assume passed code, was simply to retain the bedroom window, even though it did not lead to the outdoors. So this house had an interior window.

ldjkfkdsjnv 2y ago

I rented a place specifically because one of the bedrooms has no windows. Easily one of the best quality of life improvements.

webdood90 2y ago
Great, until it's not. You have no escape in case of an emergency. The room probably wasn't technically a bedroom.
- renewiltord 2y ago
  I think the probability of that is lower than my probability of death on my motorcycle. So they're probably going to be fine. Everything is fine until it's not. The risk tradeoffs we disallow are ones where you need to be 1σ+ to be making the tradeoff because the crucial functionality there we provide is legibility in the marketplace.
- giantg2 2y ago
  That's easily remedied - axes and specialized entry tools can be used for exiting. Yeah, if it doesn't meet the legal definition of a bedroom, it can't be listed as one. That's partially why there are so few interior rooms - lower property value vs if it was a bedroom (but mainly consumer demand for windows).
  - eropple 2y ago
    > That's easily remedied - axes and specialized entry tools can be used for exiting. You keep an axe in your bedroom?
    - giantg2 2y ago
      My bedroom has a window, so no. If your bedroom doesn't have a window and you're concerned about another exit, then sure.
      - deleted 2y ago
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    - deleted 2y ago
      [deleted]
    - WalterBright 2y ago
      Yes. Seattle is earthquake country, and I want to be able to get out if the doors are blocked or jammed from earthquake or fire. It's a fireman's axe, as that job is what they're designed for. I also keep a fire extinguisher in the bedroom.
      - bombcar 2y ago
        I mean you’re also an axe murder, but that’s besides the point. ;)
        WalterBright 2y ago
        If you've ever handled a fire axe, you'd realize it makes a lousy weapon. It has a long handle, with a heavy head. The idea is it can build up a lot of momentum to crash through things like doors and walls. But the long handle makes it difficult to swing in a melee, and slow to swing, and once the swing starts it will be very hard to change its arc. Hence, your target can easily sidestep it. I suppose it would be good against plate armor, but not many villains wear plate armor these days. You also have to be careful with a fire axe to not chop your foot if you miss. I don't think I've ever seen a war axe/hatchet/tomahawk anywhere near that size. For self-defense in close quarters, a baseball bat is ideal. P.S. I am no martial arts expert.
- JumpCrisscross 2y ago
  > You have no escape in case of an emergency Nobody is exiting the 60th floor of a skyscraper through the window. We don’t even have ladders that go that high on firetrucks in New York [1]. [1] https://www.fdnysmart.org/fire-trucks/ https://www.fdnysmart.org/fire-trucks/ 95 ft, or about 10 stories
  - BobaFloutist 2y ago
    What, you don't keep a parachute under your bed?
  - bluGill 2y ago
    Which is why buildings higher than fire trucks can reach have different fire codes. Stairways are often a separate building within the building with a firewall between them - if the building starts on fire you can get down one of the stairs.
- ldjkfkdsjnv 2y ago
  High up in an NYC building, there is no escape regardless of windows. Also, my quality of life with good sleep is so high, its easily worth it
deleted 2y ago
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deleted 2y ago
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kbenson 2y ago

It's less about natural light than ventilation. If whatever ventilation systems the building uses breaks down, interior rooms without opening windows are a liability.

NoMoreNicksLeft 2y ago
This seems wrong... are people opening windows on the 60th floor? What about those buildings whose design precludes easy retrofitting to openable windows? I'm not being rhetorical, I'd like answers.
- kbenson 2y ago
  I figured looking up tall residential building and seeing what they do would be a good indicator of norms. The tallest Residential building in New York is Central Park Tower at 98 above ground floors: The residential stories have casement windows, within the curtain wall, that can swing up to 4 inches (100 mm) outward. In addition, some condominium units have motorized windows at least seven feet (2.1 m) above the floor.[1] The condominiums start on the 32nd floor, according to the same article. If building can't easily be retrofitted to allow openable windows, then I would assume they either can't be used for residential or they could try to get some sort of exemption if they can prove it's safe. I'm mostly going off what I know about building codes and what I've read previously on the topic when it's posted and it's delved into what the actual problems are in converting to residential. 1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Park_Tower https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Park_Tower
- JackFr 2y ago
  Opening windows on high floors is great -- you don't need screens cause most urban insects stay much closer to ground level. (Although admittedly I haven't opened any windows higher than 20)
quickthrowman 2y ago
Office towers do not have windows that open, aside from some very old ones might have windows that open. Commercial building windows in general do not open at all.

sokoloff 2y ago

I think in most places that bedrooms just need two means of egress plus possibly a specific ventilation requirement, which is most commonly met via a door plus a window, but could be met by two doors to two different legal means of egress (and an HRV/ERV if ventilation is required under locally adopted code).

whartung 2y ago

> I know bedrooms have to have windows so the fire department can pull you out of a burning building while you're asleep or whatever When we were looking for a new house we toured one that had a bit of remodeling done. What was done was the back patio was enclosed to turn it into a room. The detail was that there was an existing bedroom that had a window onto the patio. The solution, which I have to assume passed code, was simply to retain the bedroom window, even though it did not lead to the outdoors. So this house had an interior window.