New DG windows and condensation INSIDE

moneysaver

Catsacor wrote: »

I learn a lot from your posts, Doozer, while you're here, may I ask your opinion on the dehumidifier units mentioned please ?
Sorry to interrupt your thread OP.

If you are still looking at a dehumidifier we have this one. https://www.johnlewis.com/meaco-12l-platinum-dehumidifier/p1105063


It keeps condensation down & is great at drying clothes indoor in the winter.
It is also cheap to run & very quiet, we would not be without it.


Meaco have a new model out but cannot say how it works. But if it works the same as mine I would buy it.https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07FN8RMHT/ref=sspa_dk_detail_1?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B07FN8RMHT&pd_rd_w=vPlOt&pf_rd_p=8e5be0e3-b258-4b06-8b6e-695b24f935a4&pd_rd_wg=PUWLv&pf_rd_r=0E0987EK057RNTBMMH8T&pd_rd_r=1434730f-119d-11e9-9711-3f27e21491c5


Moneysaver

Andrea15

pollypenny wrote: »

We have condensation problems in the bedroom if we're not careful. We keep the window open slightly and put those cheap desiccant pots on each end of the sill.

That does make it manageable. The windows are about 25 years old and I'm wondering whether it's worth replacing them. I gather argon gas should be more efficient.

Well, I had 25 year old windows with BIG gaps to the side and now with the new super duper argon filed windows the problem has become definitely worse (but only when ther temperature is subzero).

Doozergirl wrote: »

It'll be more effective than sleeping with the windows open! Condensation is caused by high humidity and the air being unable to hold the amount of moisture in it. If you reduce humidity then it goes without saying that you will reduce condensation. It isn't a fix though, it is treating the symptoms.

In order to be free of condensation, houses need to be warm and ventilated. Being warm increases the amount of moisture that the air can hold and warming the cold surfaces makes them less likely to attract moisture. Gentle ventilation will keep the air changing.

Opening windows makes areas cold. Unless you're doing something that produces excessive moisture, it's useless. Cooking or bathing is excessive moisture. Breathing is not.

A dehumidifier might be a relatively inexpensive way of dealing with the issue, but the key long term is really
a) checking that there isn't damp getting into the room increasing humidity.
b) adequately insulating the room and being sure to eliminate any thermal bridges that cause cold spots in an otherwise good space.
c) Managing ventilation. In a normal house that's usually trickle vents in double glazing, vents in any blocked chimneys and good extraction in moisture producing rooms - humidity sensing fans would be best.

Well, I have just invested in a humidity meter and noticed that when you have a bath the humidity level in the bedroom rises by about 15%, from about 50% to 65% (put it on the window cill with the curtains just slightly open. So obviously humidity does travel, depsite the bathroom is quite far away, Fannily enough, my kids' bedroom doen't have any problem of condensation.

moneysaver wrote: »

If you are still looking at a dehumidifier we have this one. https://www.johnlewis.com/meaco-12l-platinum-dehumidifier/p1105063

It keeps condensation down & is great at drying clothes indoor in the winter.
It is also cheap to run & very quiet, we would not be without it.

Meaco have a new model out but cannot say how it works. But if it works the same as mine I would buy it.https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07FN8RMHT/ref=sspa_dk_detail_1?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B07FN8RMHT&pd_rd_w=vPlOt&pf_rd_p=8e5be0e3-b258-4b06-8b6e-695b24f935a4&pd_rd_wg=PUWLv&pf_rd_r=0E0987EK057RNTBMMH8T&pd_rd_r=1434730f-119d-11e9-9711-3f27e21491c5

Thanks for that. Will have a look.

thebaldwindowfitter

Andrea15 wrote: »

Well, actually in the bedroom the heating is hardly ever on (can't stand a warm bedroom). Interestingly, in my kids' bedroom they have ZERO condensation. They have a different window and three velux. The room is very warm and the heating there is virtually off. The room is in the newer part of the house whith better insulation throughutm, though.

Don't have a humidity monitor. I suppose we could investigate the matter and see if we get anyhwere,

Also, interesting about that Karcher thing. Never knoew such a thing existed...

So in other words you are letting cool air into the room all day little or no heating on during the day in a room which you say isnt very well insulated then you are sleeping in there creating condensation .Can i ask you at this time of year do you turn your heater up in your car to clear the inside of the screen when its full of condensation or do you use cold air .
Hot air rises it is rising into the said room where you letting it meet cold air from the window vents by night you are sleeping in there giving off more vapour just as night draws in and goes colder hence your condensation on the cold spot ie your window

Andrea15

thebaldwindowfitter wrote: »

So in other words you are letting cool air into the room all day little or no heating on during the day in a room which you say isnt very well insulated then you are sleeping in there creating condensation .Can i ask you at this time of year do you turn your heater up in your car to clear the inside of the screen when its full of condensation or do you use cold air .
Hot air rises it is rising into the said room where you letting it meet cold air from the window vents by night you are sleeping in there giving off more vapour just as night draws in and goes colder hence your condensation on the cold spot ie your window

Indeed. It just annoys me that the problem is now worse.
My bedroom should be reasonably insulated (or at least we have achieved the best we can hope for), so even though it is scarcely heated it is not a fridge. Now there will be, say 15-17 degrees. It used to be WAY colder.
My kids' bedroom is naturally warmer, despite it gets even less radiator time.

thebaldwindowfitter

as i have said above you need to have some heat in the room to help with the condensation and not keep letting more cool air into the room

Andrea15

thebaldwindowfitter wrote: »

as i have said above you need to have some heat in the room to help with the condensation and not keep letting more cool air into the room

Are you saying I should keep the vents shut? Or perhaps I should make the curtains lighter? They are made of a blackout layer and a traditional curtain. I could lose the blackout for now.

In all honesty I don't think I would want the temperature any higher it is plenty warm as it is now for a bedroom (and a temperature of 15-16 during the night doesn't seem unreasonable...)

coffeehound

Andrea15 wrote: »

Are you saying I should keep the vents shut? Or perhaps I should make the curtains lighter? They are made of a blackout layer and a traditional curtain. I could lose the blackout for now.

In all honesty I don't think I would want the temperature any higher it is plenty warm as it is now for a bedroom (and a temperature of 15-16 during the night doesn't seem unreasonable

It’s the combination of open trickle vents and closed curtains that is making the inner pane very cold, and so it attracts the humidity in the air. Humid air rises, so it will tend to end up in bedrooms.

If you want the vents open at night then yes lighter curtains or leaving them open a bit as suggested above might help.

In winter I prefer to keep the home shut tight overnight, and then throw the windows open first thing in the morning to flush the humid air out. Then one or two trickle vents open during the day.

.

ghol

We had very similar issues: condensation on windows, mould growing on the wallpaper in the bedroom (unheatable), bathroom and kitchen, on the back of wardrobes and wall cabinets. Humidity was over 70% most of the time, and as wall temps fell below 14° C when moisture condenses, we had big problems.

We had three small children under five. People said it was very bad for the baby's health. Our landlord said we just needed to air the rooms more. We did our best, but you can't air all the time in winter, especially not with a baby. We even had hypersensitive visitors who could sense the moisture and mould (we couldn't) and didn't want to stay...

Each year in autumn, my wife would say she wanted to move out before we faced another winter like the last. But there was nothing quite like that 100-year-old mansion set in spacious grounds, so we were reluctant to move.

But a Trotec dehumidifier for €130 solved all the problems. After drying each room in turn, we then left it on AUTO in the bathroom, and suddenly we had no more problems in the whole 100sqm flat. In winter, we could hang washing up overnight with the machine running, and it was dry by the morning (we mostly hung it outside from spring on); during baths or showers the machine came on automatically and gradually sucked all the water out of the air.

Through this we recognised that our showers and more probably the laundry had always been our main problem. We had thought the moisture was coming up the walls from the fairly humid cellar. Then suddenly we had no mould any more. Our cheap hygrometers (€1 from China) in each room confirmed that the humidity was now almost normal (below 60%).

I was prepared to pay whatever the extra electricity cost (thinking tumble drier), and put a meter on the dehumidifier. To my utter amazement, it was only a few pounds' worth a month! And suddenly our flat was (almost) as nice in winter as in summer.

So get yourself a good dehumidifier, I tell people! Scrap your tumble drier and save £££s! I wish I had known that before...

Andrea15

We have no had condensation issues in the last couple of weeks, but it has never been cold...
I have invested in a humidity detector and in the bedroom the humidity oscillates between arounf 53-55% to about 62-63% depending on what we do.
Ah, I have closed the vents.
Latterly I have started opening the windows and indeed the humidity level does go down when fresh air gets in.

Andrea15

ghol wrote: »

We had very similar issues: condensation on windows, mould Scrap your tumble drier and save £££s! I wish I had known that before...

I don't have one, but out of curiosity: I am not sure I understood whether you have one, dispensed with one or you thought of getting one to avoid hanging wet laundry in your flat.