Exessive Condensation

[ByronBlack]

I'm getting a very amount of condensation on my bedroom window (on the inside), all my other window are fine, it's just this one. The room is north facing, and we don't have the heating on overnight.

So, any idea's on why this might be happening, and how to fix it? The condensation is so bad that of a morning we can't see out the window and have to clear it all with a cloth..

 

[OLD]

Does the window have a trickle vent, warm damp air you are producing can vent and dryer air will replace it , double glassing also helps the glass being at a higher temperature not at the due point but ventilation is the most effective.

 

[Anonymous]

More ventilation will help.
It's better to have condensation on a window where you can see it and wipe it off, rather than getting damp mouldy walls, so I wouldn't worry too much. DG would reduce it a bit but transfer it to cold walls instead so I wouldn't bother with it.
Trad windows usually have no seals so water can drain down and out, so they work as a de-humidifier.
Check to see if condensation draining down the window can run off to the outside. If there are any seals it might help if you remove the one at the bottom of the light.

cheers
Jacob

 

[ByronBlack]

Thanks for the suggestions.

The windows are double-glazed, of the uPVC variety (Horrible, I know), i'll check regards to the trickle valve/ventilation and report back.

 

[Woody Alan]

BB

I had this trouble in a previous property. The only way to "reduce" it is a combination of factors. The warmer air is, the more moisture it holds therefore when air is cooled it will lose thatt moisture usually becoming visible on the coolest thing which is your glass. this doesn't mean you are not getting any condensation on the walls it just means you can't see it.
Ways to help prevent it. Assuming you have upstairs it's probably cooler up there, so when you generate warmth downstairs it does a good job of carrying the warm moist air upstairs whilst a cool draft comes down. You need to make sure that when you cook that all moist air is extracted during and afterwards for a while. likewise have a shower/bath extract the moist air, but don't keep the bathroom door closed allow it open a little and have an airvent in the bedroom to pull the air from the bedroom into the bathroom and out the extractor. Doing this will help prevent a build up of moisture which when you go to bed at night and the heating drops and you start breating that moist air out you are adding to the problem that the air is saturated and cannot hold any more moisture so it looks for the coldest thing to dump it on. So yes ventilation but make some of it more managed and you'll be surprised the difference it will make. We always have our window open on trickle in the bedroom, and still get some condensation on a very cold night though.

Alan

 

[ByronBlack]

Alan, thats some great tips, and makes sense. Our kitchen currently has no extractor (not sure why the previous occupants didnt fit one) so that might be making matters worse..

 

[Paul Chapman]

Byron,

In my experience, condensation is a difficult problem to solve because it seems to depend on a number of factors. My previous house was built without cavity walls and the condensation problems were terrible - couldn't put a wardrobe against an outside wall without problems, including mould inside the wardrobe :shock: Lots of condensation on the windows as well. We tried lots of things, including that polystyrene stuff on the walls under the wall paper but it never made much difference. However, when we had a loft conversion done, comprising two bedrooms and a shower room, a lot of the condensation problems in the rest of the house improved :? :? I was never quite sure why this was - maybe something to do with the increased volume of air in the house or the materials used in building the loft conversion :? :?

My present house was built properly with cavity walls and we get no problems at all

Hope you manage to get it sorted.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[Adam]

We had condensation problems when the extractor fan over the shower wasn't venting properly. The previous owner had a pipe in the loft, and it was kinked. Once I straightened it out, everything improved. In parallel, I starting leaving the small window on the first "security" catch, so open a tiny amount all year round.

Just worth checking any bathroom/shower vent is working OK.

Also, check your gutters and for broken tiles, no chance of water getting into the cavity walls is there?

Adam

 

[ByronBlack]

oh, seems like a real can of worms here.. looks like i'll have to carry out a mini-survey and do as you all have suggested!

I don't think we have any vents in the bathroom - none that I can remember seeing (we've only been in a short while) and the kitchen certainly doesn't. The loft I don't is insulated too well either. But, I do know we have decent cavity wall's - Adam, i'll have to check about the leaking, I don't think we have any problems as our full survey came back with nothing in it, but it's worth looking.

Cheers for all your pointers..

 

[Adam]

I'd suggest an extractor fan in the bathroom as a minimum, near the shower, or bath depending which gets the most use. With a follow on for some minutes after the switch goes off, to catch all the moisture still in the room after a shower.

Adam

 

[engineer one]

the whole thing about condensation is lack of air flow.

in most older houses there was or is a vent brick in many rooms. too often people block these off or remove them "to cut down drafts"

what people forget though is that moving air does not condense. and it does not need to move very fast.

unless you house was built after about 1975, it was designed in the main for coal fired heating, and this required drafts within the house to allow for proper combustion and movement of the hot air. the mass introduction of double glazing and draught proofing has in fact caused more problems than any thing. you should have at least a small vent in each room open ALL YEAR ROUND, even when snowing, to help the air equalise in temperature and moisture content.

are you sleeping with the bedroom door open or closed, have you noticed any difference between the two??

as jacob said, better on the window than the walls, and i would check that the drain channels in your double glazing are clear and working. i recentlly found the channel around my bathroom window, single glazed, full of water,
it could not escape. so i put vinegar and water in the channel and let it soak for a day or so. now problems since, with the water draining as it should. actually you might find that the silicon gel within the window unit has died, or the air seal is broken somewhere. worth looking at.

paul :wink:

 

[superunknown]

We have had a terrible condensation problem. We have only been here for about 8 months now. I think modern double glazing and over-the-top insulation has caused a lot of the trouble.

We helped the problem a lot by doing a lot of the above Keeping windows on vent, keeping the air moving round the house etc and we also purchased a dehumidifier. This has been amazing and a great help.

 

[Anonymous]

We have had a terrible condensation problem. We have only been here for about 8 months now. I think modern double glazing and over-the-top insulation has caused a lot of the trouble.

We helped the problem a lot by doing a lot of the above Keeping windows on vent, keeping the air moving round the house etc and we also purchased a dehumidifier. This has been amazing and a great help.

Yer can't go over the top with insulation - the more the better!
If anything it'll reduce condensation in general by keeping temperature up.
You need ventilation, esp bathroom, kitchen and bedroom.
I wouldn't bother with a de-humidifier either - much cheaper and healthier to open the windows a bit more.

cheers
Jacob

 

[llangatwgnedd]

Check your loft space since my oldest has had extra insulation installed in the roof space, it is now soaking up there and staining the ceiling, and he is waiting for a roofer to put six slate roof vents in.

Gone are the days when a chimney breast was the lungs of a house

 

[mailee]

Byron, tell SWIMBO to leave you alone and buy her a good book to read in bed each night, besides you have to conserve your energy as your still building that workshop of yours. :lol:

 

[Escudo]

If you ask me its too much heavy breathing ........if you know what I mean.

 

[engineer one]

either that or too much snoring :lol: :twisted: :roll:

paul :wink:

 

[ByronBlack]

Well, i've followed some of the tips, and left the window open a wee bit last night, and lo and behold this morning virtually no condensation, we also kept the windows slightly open in the kitchen and bathroom during cooking/bathing etc.. and seems to have worked.

So I think it's a case of getting some proper vents installed.

Mailee - the workshop is virtually finished other than the insulation and boarding out so I can now enjoy my energy of an evening - well, until she starts demanding the greenhouse to be finished yesterday

So, from the posts on this thread, it seems that my condensation problem is because i'm a heavy breathing *** addict with a snoring problem - nice diagnosis fellas

 

[RogerS]

So, from the posts on this thread, it seems that my condensation problem is because i'm a heavy breathing *** addict with a snoring problem - nice diagnosis fellas

Wot...you as well? :lol:

 

[mel]

BB
you could try a dehumidifier
not as expensive as the used to be
force air circulation and collect the moisture