Avoiding condensation in such cold weather

kai_lani

bristol_pilot wrote: »

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)...

Appreciate what you're saying and as I say, I do the main drying at the launderette, it's just I can't do the launderette after cooking and need to make some effort to dry out the towels to minimise the wet stuff still in the flat - we're talking 3 damp tea towels, the outdoor kit that's wet stays in the garage and then usually goes back on, still damp and a whole lot colder brrrrrrrrr................

Jowo_2

Many housing associations and local councils publish leaflets on their website advising their tenants how to reduce condensation and prevent mould - a google of these terms should unearth their info leaflets. Also, the landlordzone website has comprehensive information on mould and condensation and have a good .pdf document on this if you search there - it's aimed at landlords but very informative for tenants, too, to understand how defects, building design and tenants lifestyle contributes to mould and damp.

richardc1983

kai_lani wrote: »

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.

Reccomended office temperature is 21-22C this is the temperature most people are comfortable with.

If your cosy and warm enough at 20C then thats fine.

During the day try to keep the room your sat in at 20-22C and your bedroom temps reccomended temp is about 18C.

I have heard many people say they wake up cold if the room is any colder than 16C.

kai_lani

Quote:
Originally Posted by richardc1983
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.

Sorry, re the temperature, I meant what's a good internal temperature to avoid the damp you mention here.
I understand comfort temperature, and as I say, good bedding, hot water bottles and stuff are great, I just want to avoid damp damage/mould in that kitchen and maybe the lounge if that particular temperature is a possible damp catalyst.

richardc1983

kai_lani wrote: »

Quote:
Originally Posted by richardc1983
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.

Sorry, re the temperature, I meant what's a good internal temperature to avoid the damp you mention here.
I understand comfort temperature, and as I say, good bedding, hot water bottles and stuff are great, I just want to avoid damp damage/mould in that kitchen and maybe the lounge if that particular temperature is a possible damp catalyst.

It depends on the relative humidity in the first place, this is where it gets quite technical

At different temperature the air is more capable of holding more water. The warmer it is it can hold more water in the air the colder it is the less it can hold.

So the key is the warmer the better.

SInce you dont live in your kitchen I would just keep the internal doors open to it and perhaps leave the window on the catch and make sure you use a fan heater or something in there half an hour before you start cooking so that its warmish in there.

Fire_Fox

Heat does not magically get rid of condensation, more water is held in the air but will still settle on the coldest surface unless you address the source of the water. Dehumidifiers do seem to be the most practical way to achieve this in a flat. There is no point in wiping walls down only to dry the towels in the bathroom and release the same water back into the air - use kitchen roll and throw or flush it away.

kai_lani

@FF

point taken on the towels
second time mentioned by someone now it's sunk in a little...

oh for fewer external walls! or better insulation...

Fire_Fox

kai_lani wrote: »

@FF

point taken on the towels
second time mentioned by someone now it's sunk in a little...

oh for fewer external walls! or better insulation...

Damp air, condensation and mould is a problem in many flats as they just don't have the natural ventilation of houses (windows to one aspect only/ front doors leading onto internal corridors/ internal bathrooms and halls). Even if you didn't have cold spots on the walls, the water would simply settle on the window glass instead as you'd still have high humidity. It's the water/ ventilation that needs addressing not the insulation as most flats are fairly well insulated by their neighbours.

richardc1983

Heating doesnt alone, you are correct, but without knowing the actual relative humidity the user may not have a damp problem, it could just be the fact it is an unheated kitchen.

50% humidity at 22C is comfort, 50% humidity at 10C due to unheated kitchen could be the reason they have this issue.

The user says it only happens when they do cooking, most peoples kitchens get wet windows in this weather when cooking I know I do but I dont have a damp problem.

The fact the kitchen is 10C means the walls will be also and the moisture will condense whereever it is cold, be it windows or walls.

If the user said the walls were streaming all the time and the windows in other rooms were streaming all the time then I would say its a damp issue, I personally think its just a heating issue as the user ventilates but without heat its pointless.

A dehumidifier for the kitchen will help remove the moisture.

http://www.jshumidifiers.com/

Give this company a call, they do dehumidifiers and humidifiers but they will send you out a free digital thermometer that will tell you humidity and min max temps,

This is the way to find out if you have high humidity most homes will be about 50 - 55% if they are centrally heated at this time of year, that is the comfort level.

kai_lani

Hmm... relative humidity matters at different temperatures - gotta get my head around this.

AFIK there's no damp problem at the moment, and I'm not sure how quickly condensation due to cold temperatures will become a damp probem. I'm trying to be a good tenant and improve the situation if possible, keep it the same if not.

The heated bathroom clears the shower room/steam room very quickly with the window open wide through shower and around 20 mins after (but window's open most of the time anyway). The unheated kitchen also has windows on catch most of the time and wide when cooking but never seems to clear as well as the bathroom. Early morning, it's great when noone's been in there for AGES, but through the day just seems to struggle.