Avoiding condensation in such cold weather

save_me_money_2

its apparently the coldest for 30years and it can only get warmer so dont worry too much,i would just hire a dehumidifrier for a month or 2 or buy one if its chaeaper:T

sarah_elton

richardc1983 wrote: »

10C is very very cold to be sat at a computer... I do worry for people who dont have any heating on.

Agreed, the legal minimum working temperature for people sat at their desks in an office is 16 degrees. Even indoor work involving physical exertion should be at 13 degrees +.

Of course, there's plenty of people who work outdoors who don't get the benefit of that!

BitterAndTwisted

richardc1983 wrote: »

You're brave, may I ask how old you are?
10C is very very cold to be sat at a computer... I do worry for people who dont have any heating on.

I'm in my mid-fifties but I'm not sure what difference it might make. Cold is cold, regardless of age but I admit I must hardier than I thought as I'm not finding it unbearable. Mind you, I'm wearing quite a few layers but don't need my fingerless gloves on. Yet. Temp has only dropped one degree overnight so I must be parasiting heat from my next-door and downstairs neighbours somehow.

Believe me, if I was earning a wage I'd have the heating on full-blast but I'm not at present, so needs must.

kataklysm

Ah condensation season... I sympathise, it's terrible in our house to the extent that it literally rains from the window frames and everything goes green. Our storage heaters were all broken when we moved in, so we have to use convectors until we can afford to fit GCH. In theory, it's easy to avoid: either don't create moisture, or allow that which is created to escape/evaporate. In practice, not so easy, especially with clothes drying, food cooking...

I've managed to solve damp problems in our bedroom by leaving a convector heater on overnight and opening the window very slightly at the same time (yes, even when it's -15 outside), hideously ineffiecient, but it solved the problem right away. Maybe it's worth investing in a £20 one for the kitchen (or ask your landlord to foot the bill).

I'm also trying to avoid cooking things that need boiling, by using the oven mainly, and when I am boiling, the extractor is on full blast and the window/front door wide open. Sometimes the kitchen is so cold, the tiniest amount of steam turns into billowing clouds of condensation in the air, so I try to ensure the kitchen is warmed up enough before cooking, sometimes by leaving all the hobs on full blast for 5 mins or so! Even if there isn't a breeze, the displacement of cold/hot air is pretty rapid, so keep windows open, two preferably to create a through draft.

Ok, so obviously none of this could be described as sound MSE advice but it's a stop gap until we can fix the obvious problems in our house. Frankly, it doesn't sound like your flat is entirely fit to live in, and that need to be reported to your landlord. Don't assume it's your fault, we all have to cook / live and 10c is ridiculously cold.

Still, it does seem ironic that in our drive to insulate every single draft and gap, we now have to fling windows wide open and heat the entire world to avoid a damp nightmare.:rolleyes:

kai_lani

Thanks Richard for the little lesson there. I've never played with dehumidifiers and am not a fan of aircon and the like usually so never really considered it, but your info, a bit of wikipedia and google and i might be convinced. And I don't know why, but Argos didn;t occur to me, that one you pointed to seems better than the deLonghi I was looking at.

I'm an outdoor instructor (mountains and kayaking) so the cold's not a problem for me, It's been -5 - -8 at work recently
Like i say, in the main the flat's OK temperature wise as I'm pretty good at the storage heater game, it's just this baltic kitchen, OK for being in to cook, not so much OK for the water but I'll get on top of it.

Thanks for the improvement advice guys, keep going as I am, and get a dehumidifier. I'm sure it'll be useful in the future too if only to improve drying kit in the garage.

sammyjammy

Kai are you anywhere near Bath at all?

richardc1983

Yes it will be very useful and is useful for drying clothes, dryer air means that more moisture can escape from the clothes.

It works in the same principle as air con, like a glass of ice cold water on a hot day you get moisture running down the side, the dehumidifier does the same but collects the moisture in the bucket.

You get a bit of mechanical buzz but if you put it in the room thats the problem or try the hall way and leave the internal doors open it should help a lot.

Again I cant stress enough you do need to get that internal temperature up, even if its just room you need to get it warmer as this is making the place damp also.

You can thank me by pressing the thanks button on any posts that you have liked.

Kind regards
Richard.

kai_lani

sammyjammy wrote: »

Kai are you anywhere near Bath at all?

Not now I'm not, but I did live nearby in 2003... I'm mostly all over Wales.

bristol_pilot

I would stop drying clothes anywhere in the house (even in the bathroom) as this activity puts an enormous amount of moisture into (relatively warm) air which then causes condensation when the moisture-laden air diffuses into colder areas of the house. Try to do less laundry generally and dry it either outside, at a launderette or in a drier (condenser type, or with an external vent). Eliminating drying laundry indoors will have the biggest effect. After that, you could try a dehumidifier - they are not expensive to buy or run (get one with a humidistat, they do not need to run 24/7). You could also try having baths instead of showers and avoiding cooking by methods that involve boiling water in pans. Normal activities such as breathing and boiling the kettle do not gnerate enough moisture to cause a condensation problem on their own.

kai_lani

richardc1983 wrote: »

Again I cant stress enough you do need to get that internal temperature up, even if its just room you need to get it warmer as this is making the place damp also.

What is a good temperature to be at? Lounge is between 20-14 depending on how late it is in the day, bedrooms a little colder but only a little. It's the kitchen that's the interesting one as there's no heatsource other than the cooker, and the window vetilation soon dissipates that heat.