Failed Double Glazing/Mould. Please Help.

adamslinger

If you want to spend your money wisely then I would suggest looking at a long term solution rather than a temporary fix. This will cost you a lot less in the long run.

A dehumidifier will get rid of the excess moisture but as soon as you turn it off the humidity levels will spike again. You really need to control the relative humidity levels and keep it constantly between 45-60% to prevent condensation.

If you do a Google search for 'condensation control units' this might help you - they cost less than £10 a year to run and can control the humidity levels throughout your home.

WestonDave

societys_child wrote: »

That's why I asked the question (did you notice the question mark?)
Is the warm air "dry air" and where does the water go?

. . .and that's why I said I thought it was the OPs biggest problem . . .

The water "condenses" - basically there is a heat exchanger in the drier which sucks in cold dry air from the room, which then goes into the machine and is heated. That cools the hot wet air which has come from the machine. Cooler air holds less water than warm air so the water it can no longer hold condenses out and is usually collected in a removable container in the machine. (Incidentally if you use a steam iron its a free source of scale free water!). You then tip the water away at the end of the cycle. The air that comes out into the room is generally warm and relatively dry.

Richie_C

WestonDave - I will take on board everything you have said. In regards to the condenser dryer its downstairs in the kitchen, from now on we will keep the door closed while we are using it.

In the bathroom with is downstairs next to the kitchen we always open a window after we have a shower for a good hour, we do have an extractor fan which doesnt work. I will get an electrician to sort this out. Also the bathroom is at the back of the house on the ground floor extension so is as far away from our bedroom as possible so I don't think that's the problem, but will still take the following steps.

The only thing we hang on radiators now is a tea towel in the kitchen radiator. We used to hang clothes on the radiators to save us on the electricity costs of a tumble dryer but saying that I wont be doing that any more. The only reason we did this is because its our first winter in a house and I don't want to vastly overspend on energy (even though we are in credit by a fair amount).

I am ringing British Gas today so they can come and see if we have cavity wall and loft insulation installed.

We will also start sleeping with the windows slightly open at night.

In regards to our heating it comes on from 6-8 in the morning and now in the evening from 18:30 to 22:30 and the temperature in the house is around 20 degrees.

Last night when I used the hydrometer for the first time the humidity in the living room and bedroom was 70%. I left the hygrometer in the bedroom with the dehumidifier for a good 5 hours and it look the humidify down to 55%. Now as a test I turned it off over night and when I woke up this morning the room was at 85% humidity. Also after a good 5/6 hours of use the humidifier was half full so it takes in a fair amount of water.

Am I right in thinking the time I have the heating on and the temperature I put it at is a correct temperature? It's not too hot or too cold? We have a fancy wireless thermostat which allows us to set up times for each day of the week as to when the heating kicks in. Now I need to contact the manufacturer about this as we don't have a manual for it and there isn't one on line, so setting this up correctly may help in regards to the heating.

adamslinger - I will look into condensation control units today as well.

I think my main worry is that it could be damp but I'm not sure I don't think signs show its damp but I really know nothing about these sort of things.

WestonDave

Hi Richie - in essence you seem to be doing a lot right or will be. One of the problems that you are encountering is that as we tighten up our homes against draughts to save energy we are inadvertently sealing in a lot of moisture. Back when we all had draughty windows and open fires with an open chimney, the air changed in homes a lot more frequently. Now we think any cold air coming in is a waste of energy (correctly) so try to stop it - but we need to recognise that all human activity creates humidity, and that excessive humidity causes condensation and mould. You can minimise that by avoiding cold which causes the condensation - but I'm sure you can see that there is an obvious limit as you can't heat your house to an infinite degree.


As background there are modern eco houses coming on stream which are extremely air tight - however they are designed with heat recovering ventilation systems which extract the moist air(typically from bathrooms and kitchens), pass it through a heat exchanger to recover the heat and pass that heat onto dry fresh air from outside - that then being pumped into the living rooms and bedrooms. That's fine if you are building new as you can incorporate the air ducts etc as you build - harder to retro fit although we are about to try! The problem many older houses are finding is that they've achieved something like the air tightness of these houses but without the ventilation being sorted.


Your problem is unlikely to be structural damp - condensation damp is in my view going to be the next big issue for our housing stock after the energy inefficiency has been resolved. Like energy efficiency its going to be a learning curve for many of us - it took me a while and some research to realise why my well insulated and closed up house was getting mould in various places!

Richie_C

Thank you for the words of wisdom. It makes me feel better that its probably not a damp problem but a condensation damp problem.

Just rang British Gas and according the energy report which was done on the property last year when the previous owners started selling it, it states the house is a solid brick construction which makes sense as it was built in 1900. The ground floor extension already has cavity and roof insulation and the main loft has 200mm about 8" of insulation which the chap on the phone told me was more than enough. He said they could only do anything unless the loft insulation was less than 100mm.

From now I will start to make said measures. In general the house isnt a cold house. I've booked some local companies to come and give us cross quotes on replacing window glass and to make sure they actually need replacing.

I've also bought 4 more hygrometers so I can place them through the house to see how the humidify varies and see where the high humidity spots are.

Finally I will look at condensation control units.

cyclonebri1

Richie_C wrote: »

I'm also buying a moisture metre as this will hopefully tell me if the exterior wall has damp.





I really hope its not damp as it will most likely be expensive to repair.

I

Ritchie, stop right there.

You don't need a damp metre of any sort, checking for damp V condensation is very easy for the cost of a plastic bag.

Pick a spot on the wall that gets affected.
Dry it very carefully , hair drier is a good idea.
Now, you need a piece of heavy polythene. something clear and with no holes, about a foot square.

Tape this to the wall with gaffer or duct tape and leave until morning. Ensure it is sealed all around.
If you see condensation on the inside of the poly, you have damp, otherwise it's simply condensation, a lifestyle issue.;);)

thebaldwindowfitter

your heating pattern is causing condensation you are basically heating the house up and then when the heating goes off the house is cooling the room you are sleeping in you and your partner as has already been said give off vapour .You would be better of having your heating on 24hrs a day but turn down to 17 degrees

societys_child

WestonDave

and is usually collected in a removable container in the machine.

I know the science thanks, just wondered where the water went. You say, it's usually collected in a container, what happens if it isn't?

cyclonebri1

societys_child wrote: »

WestonDaveI know the science thanks, just wondered where the water went. You say, it's usually collected in a container, what happens if it isn't?

If it's a condensing drier it always is, non condenser extracts it to the outside, along with all the energy you put into drying.


You do have to manually empty the collection tray, guessing modern machines either shut down or indicate when full, our old NC drier keeps going for ever so not had a condenser yet.

Richie_C

Will this make our heating bills skyrocket if its always on?

Also this morning I've noticed mould coming back on the side wall in the living, this is the same wall that has the problem in our bedroom.

Basically the wall in the living room/ dining room gets mould and feels a bit sticky to touch in the corners and its in the corners that this happens. Then upstairs we have 2 bedrooms which share the same wall. Now our bedroom is at the front and gets the mould but doesn't have that sticky/ damp feeling we just get mould in the corners and the next bedroom doesn't get any mould as its never used.

My only other concern is that outside on the wall we are having problems with it looks like the render is peeling as if waters getting into this. Could this be causing the problems with this wall? Or am I just being overly paranoid and the problem is that I need to keep the house at a constant temperature?

The thing is according to a little thermometer I've got it says the house is 18 degrees and that's without the heating on. Could this be wrong? Do I need to make the house warmer.

I'm starting to get a bit stressed about this as I'm thinking the worst and that its some sort of damp.