Condensation issues in new Aluminium conservatory

Aylesbury_Duck

I can't see how poor fitting can cause condensation. Your problem is a combination of humidity and temperature. If the conservatory is open to the house and is at the temperature you state, you are wasting a small fortune on heating because heat from your main house is just disappearing out of your conservatory. You need to allow all the groundwork and plaster to dry out thoroughly, which requires heat and ventilation, neither of which it sounds like you have. You need a period of heating the conservatory with vents/windows open to allow the moisture to escape, preferably backed up by a dehumidifier.

Travelette_2

When you say keep the kitchen door closed do you not have it open plan to conservatory then?
Is there a door between kitchen and conservatory?

Aylesbury_Duck

Travelette wrote: »

When you say keep the kitchen door closed do you not have it open plan to conservatory then?
Is there a door between kitchen and conservatory?

Who are you asking? If it's me, yes, I have a door between my kitchen and conservatory, but I wouldn't worry about what other people have. It's not going to improve your situation. You need to give your conservatory time to dry out properly, which means it needs to be reasonably warm and well ventilated, not to your kitchen, but to the outside world. Unless you know you have rain coming in from outside, the moisture you are seeing is either coming from drying concrete and plaster or from activities in your house like cooking, bathing and drying washing. It has to be able to escape.

MallyGirl

Travelette wrote: »

Thanks Mally girl for your reply.
Has your condensation gone completely now?
Can I ask what type of heating you've got in there?

yes - all gone now, but it was 3 years ago. We have hot water pipes set in the concrete floor in the orangery - the kitchen has varnished floorboards and no heating at all.

We also have dogs that constantly leave the door open so it does get well ventilated, whether we want it that way or not. We have automated vents in the roof lantern which are temp controlled as well so on a hot day they will open too. I think ventilation is the key.

martinsurrey

keith969 wrote: »

Condensation occurs when air temperature falls below the dew point i.e. 100% humidity. Raising the temperature increases the amount of moisture the air can hold, so humidity decreases. So yes, a warmer kitchen/conservatory would give less condensation. But that humidity level is still very high - you need ventilation to lower it, and find out where its coming from - if existing plaster then you may have to put a dehumidifier in, if you can't leave the windows open.

Lets assume the rest of the house is at 23degrees and 50% relative humidity.

As that air flows into this ice box (I mean aluminium conservatory) it cools to 12 degrees, that air will now be 99% relative humidity.

and my guess is that the frames of this thing are at about 5-8degrees, well below the dew point of normal house air.

mae

Hi just wondering if you managed to get your condensation problem resolved?

We are thinking of having a reverse pitch aluminium conservatory fitted onto our kitchen and having it open to make the kitchen more of a social area.

We are just at the research stage so I wondered if you had any advice and if you would recommend (not the company the conservatory) despite your issues?

Thanks

bozzy18

i know someone who had aluminium frame windows installed and had condensation problems since and apparently it is something to do with the fact that aluminium being metal; with cold air outside and warm air inside; produces higher level of condensation on the frames that you would not get if it were pvc.