How to beat condensation

samkirk9

Hi there... we've known for a long time we have an issue in our bedroom with condensation (due to all the mould forming on the windows - pleasant I know), but have just put a hygrometer to see how bad the issue is in the bedroom. Last night it recorded 85% humidity (safe levels are between 40-60%). We have followed lots of advice in the past but nothing seems to work... the bedroom is a ground floor Victorian flat, north facing and so is very cold so the thought of opening the windows to increase ventilation isn't appealing, especially in winter. I've put pots of salt around and have another (probably the equivalent of a pot of salt) dehumidifying device but am reluctant to get a dehumidyfier as it will be noisy in the bedroom. Even the radiator in the bedroom doesn't really heat it up unless we leave it on all day which seems a waste. Any adivice gratefully received.

ariba10

Have a read of this.

http://www.harfordsonline.com/downloads/condensation%20info.pdf

christineperseus

get the air moving around - run a (silent) fan - will help.

maninthestreet

If the radiator isn't heating up properly, then you need to get that seen to.

RedFraggle

We had a similar problem in our bathroom because it was the cold spot in the house. We found that leaving the door wide open, so there wasn't a temperature differential between that and the rest of the house made a huge difference.

WestonDave

If the room is cold it will cause a condensation problem - cold air holds less water than warm air so it will dump it as condensation. Add to that your nice warm moist breath all night as you sleep in the room with no means of it escaping outside, and you have a perfect recipe for condensation.

Solutions are to either stop producing moisture in the room - probably not a viable solution if you want to sleep in there, make the room warmer (so get the radiator checked - sounds like it might be a system balancing problem if that one is taking a long time to warm up) or increase ventilation - open the window to allow drier outside air in to reduce the relative humidity - this is probably worth doing in conjunction with getting the heating fixed. If you can't get the radiator fixed it might be more effective to get an electric oil filled radiator or similar to keep that room warmer, which will then enable the window to be open very slightly at night whilst you are sleeping in it.

samkirk9

Thanks for all your comments and advice. @ maninthestreet and WestonDave - the radiator works fine and gets very hot - I just don't fancy leaving it on all the time (which is what it takes to heat the whole room in the depths of winter) when we're only in there for 8 hours a night. It's just a big room. The windows are actually quite drafty and you can feel the cold air... I suspect we'll have to get a dehumidifier. Thank you all.

abankerbutnotafatcat

We've recently bought a dehumidifier, more as a preventative measure than anything as we also have a Victorian property and it has a semi basement so we were worried about damp.

The dehumidifier hardly makes any noise and you could leave it on in the daytime when you're not in the bedroom.

Our lower ground floor is noticeably fresher feeling in the few weeks we've had it.

Martyn_H

Do you have DIY secondary double glazing installed? That would help with the mould.

alex21

samkirk9 wrote: »

Thanks for all your comments and advice. @ maninthestreet and WestonDave - the radiator works fine and gets very hot - I just don't fancy leaving it on all the time (which is what it takes to heat the whole room in the depths of winter) when we're only in there for 8 hours a night. It's just a big room. The windows are actually quite drafty and you can feel the cold air... I suspect we'll have to get a dehumidifier. Thank you all.

I have suffered with condensation in a north facing house for 15 years. I tried everything that you mentioned to no avail and lived with wallpaper coming off, mouldy clothes and ceilings. I finally bought a dehumidifier for £190 which I thought was a lot but I researched thoroughly and it seemed the best. To start with it ran constantly and removed sooo much liquid!! Now we are on the intelligent economy phase. Mine is not too noisy at all. You have different setting and if mine was on the quieter one I could sleep perfectly well. In fact sometimes I have to look at the monitor to see that it is actually running. It does a 3-4 bedroom house. We are in bungalow so it sits in a corner of the hall. The makers recommend leaving doors ajar and windows shut. I hated ventilating with open windows when it cost so much to heat and then I had to let that heat out. Early days yet but so far a fantastic improvement and I wish I'd done it years ago. It is reckoned that I won't need my heating as high either as the resultant air minus the moisture is supposed to raise the house temp by an average of 3 degrees. I know there are loads on the market but the one I got is great and worth every penny.

th101

alex21, which dehumidifier did you buy?