Inward opening doors are generally regarded as safer because the hinges are on the inside, so no one can tamper with them. Exposed hinges are a security weak point and makes it harder for burglars to gain entry. If the hinges are easy to move, the room becomes less secure making you feel more vulnerable at night.
Safety. Inward-opening doors are the safest option. In the case of fire, it's easier for rescuers to smash their way through a door that opens inwards. Having the door open into the room will also prevent the possibility of opening the door into the face of an unsuspecting caller on the other side.
There is no code that tells you that your bedroom doors need to swing in for a bedroom. But it is usually not a good idea for them to swing out. as you mentioned the doors present an obstruction in spaces. In hallways it might even be comical to wind your way around 7 open doors from both sides.
While there are areas of the country that may vary, there is no universal building code that forbids the use of residential exterior doors that open outward.
Unless the closet is fairly large, it is best to have the door swing out into the room rather than into the closet. A door that opens into a small walk-in may block access to items, requiring you to close yourself into the closet to get to your clothing on the wall behind the door.
Plan for your closet doors to swing outward or slide from side to side. Doing so will eliminate wasted space on the inside of your closet. When adding a door that swings outward, consider the location and swing of your entry and bathroom doors so that they won't end up bumping into one another.
When a mob of people rushes an exit, it's very hard for somebody to open the door inward -- everyone pushes up against the door, and there is no room for it to open. For this reason, an effective emergency exit needs to open outward, moving with the force of the mob.
Florida has one of the most stringent building codes in the United States, as all exterior doors must open outward if you live in South Florida. Outward opening doors provide you with an added layer of protection, as an inward swinging door only has a latch and a deadbolt to prevent it from blowing into your home.
Add to the confusion the different standards for public buildings, where you'll find most doors open outwards, which is a safety measure in case a busy building needs to be evacuated quickly. Crowd pressure on an inward-facing door can prevent it opening at all, so a simple push-out door is the easiest emergency exit.
Keeping your bedroom door closed can help with noise reduction, privacy, and safety from potential intruders. On the other hand, keeping the door open can help with air circulation, temperature regulation, and monitoring of pets or children.
Keeping your bedroom door closed can slow the spread of a house fire, as well as reduce toxic smoke levels. Having the right kind of fire extinguisher nearby can help. But when it comes to fire-related deaths, it's usually not the flames that are to blame. Smoke is actually more likely to cause suffocation and death.
Closing your bedroom door before you go to sleep will substantially improve your chances of surviving a fire in your home. According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), the number of home fires decreases when people go to sleep.
The front door usually opens outward, which is opposite of in Western houses. This is because Japanese people do not wear shoes in the house, they take off and line up their shoes at the entrance. If the door opens inward, the shoes will be in the way and could cause you to be not able to open the door.
The reason your front door swings inward is very purposeful. Even simple door designs have hinges and hinge pins to allow the door to open and shut. These hinges are a bit of a security weak point, and are placed inside the home to make it harder for would-be intruders to gain access to your home.
Safety Reasons
Many believe that doors which open outwards are safer as it allows for easier escape access.
The hinges will only be visible from the inside of the home or building. Therefore, burglars and other nefarious individuals won't be able to easily remove them. They won't be able to see the hinges, so they won't be able to pop out the pins holding the leafs together.
If more than 25% of the windows and/or doors in a pre-Florida Building Code home are being replaced and the windows/doors are NOT impact glass, the windows/doors are required to have opening protection (such as shutters).
Outswing doors are more protective of the home's interior in heavy climates. Wind and water have more trouble infiltrating them due to the threshold design, plus basic physics. Inswing doors, on the flip side, are more susceptible to wind and water because of their design.
Fireregulations. In case of panic to exit a building, doors opening towards the mass of people trying to get out would not be able to be opened. In Finland the front doors must open outwards because of safety: in case of fire or other emergency the door must open so that it's easy to exit the building.
The most common way to install French doors is so that they open outwards, but it is possible to have them open inwards instead if you are short of space in your garden.
There is no right or wrong way. If there are no obstructions in the room, you may want to reach for the leaver in whatever way feels most comfortable.
Step 1: An interior door's swing can be modified by turning the hinges in the other position and notching out the jamb as needed for the hinges and strike. Step 2: An exterior door's swing could only be changed by removing a sizable piece of the frame since the weatherstrip groove would be on the wrong end.
But when it comes to front doors to your home, they almost always open inwards. But do you know why? Interestingly, it's generally the case that public buildings have doors that open outwards for safety reasons. If there was a large group of people trying to get out, there would be a struggle to get the door open.