Is Condensation on Vinyl Flooring a Thing?

MoodyMand45

My brother works down south in the week and returns to his house in the midlands for the weekends!

He keeps his heating off and everything else apart from the fridge/freezer from Monday to Friday and cranks up the heating for Saturday and Sunday.

When he puts his central heating on the vinyl floor becomes damp enough to make you think he had a leak until the heating goes off and for the moisture to disappear. Could this be condensation because it has only happened since his gas fire broke and now he is using a convection heater to warm the room. The flooring was fitted by a professional company three years ago without any issues until now.

No condensation forms on the windows however!

I wondered if it's the effect of the cold floor hitting the heat, He is using a dehumidifier to try to move moisture instead of opening windows and letting the heat out.

Because the heating stays off in summer it is not an issue then.

Anyone heard of this before?

Slinky

If there's no heating at all in the property for a long period, and it gets properly cold, then he turns the central heating on, then yes, condensation on the floor could well be an issue.

We had condensation pouring off the rafters in the loft when OH had left the heating on single digit temperature for a week in the winter and we went in and turned the heating up. Once the house had got proper heat into the fabric of the building, it stopped.

WIAWSNB

Hi MM45.

That is weird, and doesn't make much sense.

If it's a solid or completely uninsulated floor - any idea if it's solid or suspended? - then it will be cold. Then it could be that his 'presence', with all the natural moisture that produces - breathing, washing, cooking, showering, etc - produces moisture which is suspended in the warmed air, but also condenses out on the coldest surfaces, in this weird case, the floor.

I'm surprised it doesn't affect the windows as well, as that is usually the most obviously cold surface where you'll see condensation.

I can only guess that it's a suspended floor, so has near-freezing air in the founds underneath, and the vinyl floor will add zero extra insulation to this. Does it feel properly cold to the touch? I'd have thought it would be quite unpleasant comfort-wise?

But still weird.

Any idea of the type of floor? And what type of vinyl flooring - glued-down planks?

WIAWSNB

When he's away, does he leave the rooms ventilated - Ie all the windows cracked open to 'vent' position? If not, worth doing.

If it isn't ventilated, then there's a chance that there is damp getting in, say through walls, and is building up inside, in the building fabric. The CH being turned on will then release this and bring it into the warm air, and this will then look for the coldest surfaces to condense out on. But again I'd expect the windows to show this up first.

Mystery.

grumpy_codger

I don't see any physical explanation for this phenomenon. When you you switch the heating on, temperature rises and relative humidity drops. There is no any reason for new condensation that wasn't there.

Naturally, we see condensation when the temperature drops (or if humidity rises at the same temperature).

Emmia

What happens if he leaves the house with some heating on -to say 15°c whilst he's away? Does the floor have condensation on then?

Does he have humidistat extractor fans in the bathrooms and kitchen to help remove excess moisture automatically when it occurs? Or can he ventilate the place.

twopenny

When the temperature drops the colder air can't hold moisture so it's quite possible that it collects at the lowest point ie the floor and when the heating goes on it starts to condense on the non absorbent surfaces and then evaporate.

Could the heating not be on the lowest setting?

Emmia

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6654630/is-condensation-on-vinyl-flooring-a-thing

Is he draining the pipes down before he leaves each time? Does his home insurance policy have a minimum temperature the empty house needs to be heated to, to avoid the risk of pipes freezing and bursting?

WIAWSNB

It really don't make sense.

MM45, how soon after turning on his convector heater does this moisture appear?

How many rooms does he heat?

And is this mysterious floor one of these heated rooms, or an unheated one?

A very long shot - you say his gas boiler is defunct - this doesn't supply UFH does it?

Until the mystery is hopefully solved, could you recommend to him that he sets as many windows as possible to cracked-open 'vent' position, and leave the internal doors between the affected rooms open when he is away?

kinger101

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81877806#Comment_81877806

I think the key thing is that when the house is occupied, there's a person cooking, boiling the kettle, taking showers and breathing which can increase both relative and absolute humidity.

So on a floor that doesn't heat as quickly as the rest of the house, water will condense there.

Same reasone we see condentation on windows in winter.