Preventing condensation?

Puzzledbubbles

Hi All

Does anyone know how to prevent condensation on double glazing? We had this problem last year where the widows get quite a thick layer which then either runs down the windows soaking the sil, or just stays in the air and the wallpaper goes all black (was cleaning mould off this morning with tissues)

Problem is mainly in the bedrooms and kitchen, nothing in the living room or bathroom ironically .....

Willing to try almost anything to stop it from annoying me all winter lol

Thanks

Puzzled

Canucklehead

Good morning: improve ventilation, buy a dehumidifier....further advice here

Canucklehead

Puzzledbubbles

thanks is there a more cost effective option?

Only becuase im house sharing with mates and was hoping for a soluton that we could have in each effected room.

Puzzled

WestonDave

Most cost effective solution is to open a window.

KimYeovil

As Weston says, open the windows.

Remember, the point of double glazing and insulation is that once you put the heating on it can retain the heat and use less fuel to keep the temperature comfortable. It does not mean you should never open the windows or isolate the environment to try to keep the warmth from the morning for the evening session.

Puzzledbubbles

the windows are open in the day, closed at night, when i wake up there is the condensation, if i have the windows open at night, even a crack its freezing as we only have the heating on for a few hours each day and not over night or on in the morning.

thanks

Fire_Fox

Leave the bedroom door or window open overnight and leave the window open in the day - the water in bedrooms is from breathing so you can't exactly stop it at source! Wipe up thoroughly every morning, and dry the cloths outside the house. Whenever you are cooking keep the heat low and a lid on the pan, open a window or door when you are finished. If you are too cold having windows open then either use an electric underblanket with an overnight setting on your bed and/ or the dehumidifier already recommended.

naepace

I've felt your pain.We too had a major condensation problem, streaming windows, mouldy walls & wardrobes. Opening windows as you have found is not enough. Significantly modifying your lifestyle may also not be practical/possible.
We have found a solution though :j It is called a Positive Pressure Ventilation unit, the one I have is a drimaster heat from a company called Nuaire, it cost £280 + £100 for an electrician to wire it in (the heater in my fan required it to be wired into the socket ring rather than the lighting which makes it a little more difficult). Many other manufacturers/models are available. It basically pumps drier air from your loft space/or direct from outside into your home as the house is put under the slightest positive pressure it helps force the moist air out through natural leakage points in the house ie trickle vents.
The fan itself is very quiet, requires no maintanence other than changing the filters every 5 years. I went for the model with the built in heater as up here the air temp in my loft can get pretty chilly. Best of all it costs pennies to run, less than a fiver a year. A dehumidier will probably be around 25-30p an hour to run & in my experience not nearly as effective (I ran one solidly for the whole of last winter & it made little difference).
I am now condensation and mould free, despite, the shower going half the morning, 2 kids to bath every night, 2 sets of long hair hair-dried, clothes drying inside & pots boiling away every night.
I wish you the best of luck, drop me a pm if you want to know any more.

funkytrousers

Hi
Hi dont want to hijack the thread but I am in awe of the time and care taken by Dave Aldred and Dampdaveski among others.
I REALLY need some advice about condensation which is back again (with the cold weather) on the windows throughout and about 1 pint every 2/3 days drips off the cistern all year. There is considerable staining to the roof spars and droplets of condensation fall onto everything in the attic.
The simple fact is that we had almost NO condensation for the first 10 years we lived in the house. All of the major work i.e double glazing, re-screed floors, fitted kitchen, boarded attic floor etc were completed in the first year or two.
Just over 2 years ago our old back boiler system packed in and as we were eligeable for a HEES grant an advisor came and filled in the paperwork, also informing us that the grant would also cover Cavity Wall Insulation, a tank jacket, mains smoke alarms, low energy light bulbs etc.
It should have been obvious to the advisor that the tank would be removed! So "no jacket required" (subtle joke) the smoke alarms never materialised and the light bulbs are the wrong fitting.
The point to make here is that there was very little thought by the advisor and he was ticking boxes.
The heating system was replaced with a snazzy new combi boiler and the rads were replaced with 1 extra in the porch. The Cavity wall Insulation was done within a month or so and everything seemed OK until we noticed that a cupboard under the cistern was a bit whiffy. After the usual couple of nagging sessions I emptied it out to find it was SOAKING inside and there were white patches of something unsavoury. I had to dismantle and throw it out and cut the carpet back but I could not find a leak to explain the water ingress. Eventually with the two brains together, me and the mrs realised that as the windows were running with condensation, perhaps these 2 things might be related. There was so much water condensing on the cistern that the floor beneath was now soaking he floorboards.
At the risk of boring everyone I will continue in a later post, unfortunately things have taken a rather sinister turn !!!

funkytrousers

So to continue, the combi boiler and Cavity Wall Insulation were the only significant changes to the property. We had gone from NO noticeable condensation to a serious amount. Eventually, condensation leads to damp leads to mould growth and small patches of mould were on the bottoms of curtains around the window frames, on the £60 toothbrushes etc. Everything that was not dried after use was runied and the attic had started to drip onto our stuff we kept up there. There was a plastic storage box which contained some computer parts and a couple of car CD Radios/ autochangers from a couple of previous cars I had upgraded. The water was an INCH deep and I had to throw the lot out.
I have been trying for a year now to get a definitive answer as to why this has SUDDENLY happened but unfortunately the companies involved have made it as difficult as it could be to get at the cause (and therefore remove the need for all of this 'papering over the cracks approach to things). There was even a supposedly 'independent' report carried out by the Cavity Wall Insulation Agency CIGA. The Inspector pointed out several reasons why our house was not a good candidate for CWI and that removing it was the only way we could be pacified. This was at least a step forward. Unfortunately, one can only summize that somewhere between saying that and putting pen to paper he had realised that everything he said was wrong and that our house and our lifestyles were the fault. The way the written report differed from what he said, coupled with the complete disregard for facts and his heavy reliance on lies and supposition made his NEW explanation .... to be honest offensive. My wife and myself are absolutely incandescent with annoyance, CIGA being a governmental agency and all that......seems that no-one wants to be objective and this 'report' provides a justification to hide behind.
So here we are, bad weather upon us, dont know who to trust, there have been some really decent posts around and I hope SOMEONE can help shed some light on this PLEASE.

There is one main

funkytrousers

One more thing, the CWI installer sealed EVERY vent in the property, we dont have a fire at the moment, so they recommended sealing the main combustion vent but also in their infinite wisdom sealed the other two airbricks (without asking), one of which was into the cavity and the other vented directly into the kitchen. In the report, after the lies and suppositions it does say 'a general lack of ventilation' is the cause but somehow the sealing of every vent in the house was correct. This doesnt make sense to me but reading about condensation it appears that
HEATING, INSULATION and VENTILATION are the three factors involved.
So by a process of elimination and trying to avoid the pitfalls of using lies and suppositions which can only produce conclusions that are flawed,
HEATING replaced by a more efficient system, no fire (we didnt use it anyway but the back boiler was used about 4 months of the year.
INSULATION presumably this should be better as we now have more, the house was never cold before though.
VENTILATION we dont have any anymore. We do keep upstairs windows open a lot but this is an old habit from way before this sorry saga.
Anything wrong with my logic?
So can someone please try to shed some light on this for me, I have tried to keep it light but trust me it is awful having to put up with this (there are 2 small children in the house) and it is really getting on my toot.
HEEEEEEEEEELP!!!