Avoiding mould without putting the heating on?

trrk

I wanted to save money by not using the heating this winter but my house seems to get damp and there is mould/mildew growing on some of the walls and my clothes in my waldrobe started to get mouldy. Any tips for avoiding this whilt still saving money (and CO2 emissions)?

stef240377

Was told by the council to use damp traps made of an old cup filled with salt. I had to use them as the only heating i had at the time up in the bedrooms was expensive panel heaters.

oldMcDonald

I've not heard of that before, stef - I will be giving that a go this year

If you have double glazing make sure the vents (if you have them) are open.

Make sure you open the windows for a short time each day to air the rooms. We had an awful problem with damp in the winter - mildew growing in the corners and on the walls and ceiling. I was loathe to open the windows and let out any precious heat, but it got so bad that I had to give it a try and it did really make a difference.

Keep an eye out on Freecycle, you never know what will come up. Last year we were given a dehumidifier, I only run it an hour or so but the difference it has made in the room where I dry most of the washing is huge. I know that Freecycle is a matter of luck, but there is always ebay or ask about - someone may have one they no longer use.

rosieben

I've just been moved from a very old property by our LA because of damp. I found that opening the windows every day really helped with the upstairs rooms and I used to leave my wardrobe doors open nearly all the time;

the downstairs rooms were much worse as there's no damp course in the building; if I'd had to stay there I would have bought at least one dehumidifier.

Kay_Peel

Open the windows and get a good blast of air circulating around the property.

tara747

You should probably heat the place too TBH. Are you planning on leaving the heating off all winter? Do you have a fire?

Dehumidifiers are great but cost money to run so it may not be much of a saving (plus with heat you get to feel the benefits!).

HTH.

rosekitten

Kay_Peel wrote: »

Open the windows and get a good blast of air circulating around the property.

agree with this above I open all the windows here
to air the place out every day and it does keeep
the mould away,we had buidlers in and they
reccommended doing this,it does seem to work.

cookie_monster

We just purchased a de-humidifier and we don't seem to have much condensation on the windows around the house when it is switched on. Will also try the salt method in the bathroom as the walls seem to have damp patches and mold on the walls.

valk_scot

Yes, ventilation is the free solution to this. Open the windows every day for as long as possible and always keep any vents open. Open doors between rooms and get a good through draught going.

Also, try to avoid creating water vapour buildup in the house. Open the kitchen window or door while cooking. Don't dry clothes in the house if humanly possible...line dry them instead. Try not to bring wet coats inside if you have a porch area to leave them in. Open the bathroom window as sdoon as you're getting dried after a shower or bath and let the bath water out asap.

If clothes in a wardrobe are getting mouldy, is it against an outside wall? Pull it away from the wall a little and insullate behind it, with some sherts of scrap corregated cardboard or something. Leave the wardrobe doors open to allow air to circulate and don't put clothes away unaired.

greenbee

tara747 wrote: »

You should probably heat the place too TBH. Are you planning on leaving the heating off all winter? Do you have a fire?

Dehumidifiers are great but cost money to run so it may not be much of a saving (plus with heat you get to feel the benefits!).

HTH.

Dehumidifiers generally cost a lot less to run than heating (particularly for those with electric panel heaters), and in very damp properties are significantly more effective in dealing with the problem than heating.

My dehumidifier is 200 watts, which is considerably less than any heater would be. OK, so it's more than a lightbulb, but it keeps the whole house dry, and once I've got the place reasonably dry I only need to run it occasionally. It has also meant I've been able to put the heating on much later than I would otherwise as a dry house feels less cold. And I no longer have condensation streaming down the (metal) windows.

MRSTITTLEMOUSE

greenbee wrote: »

Dehumidifiers generally cost a lot less to run than heating (particularly for those with electric panel heaters), and in very damp properties are significantly more effective in dealing with the problem than heating.

My dehumidifier is 200 watts, which is considerably less than any heater would be. OK, so it's more than a lightbulb, but it keeps the whole house dry, and once I've got the place reasonably dry I only need to run it occasionally. It has also meant I've been able to put the heating on much later than I would otherwise as a dry house feels less cold. And I no longer have condensation streaming down the (metal) windows.

Have to agree with you.We live in a very old house with realy thick solid walls and it's realy difficult to heat as the rooms are huge and have very high ceilings.
The first winter was a nightmare as I realy had no idea how I should be managing such an old property but after some research I found opening windows so there was a through draught for a couple of hours every morning helped enormously.However we did buy two de-humidifyers to run when we were cooking or had heating on.They cost very little to run and fill up quite quickly and we have had no problems since even when we've had to dry washing overnight.
I also use damp crystal units in the wardrobes and on the bay windows and they've stopped any mould.I have 23 of these throughout the house,which cost me about £15 a year for crystals but much cheaper than re-decorating and suffering mould.
We have to be careful as much in the summer when it's hot as we get loads of condensation then too with the thick walls and so we run the dehumidifyers overnight to get rid of the moisture and they cost very little I can assure you.