Window condensation

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Discussion

sidekickdmr

Original Poster:

5,065 posts

205 months

Friday 31st October 2014
quotequote all
Evoluzione said:
Then you have a slight damp problem which you need to address, plenty of advice on that in the thread. Prevention being better than (dehumidifier) cure.
In what room were the windows in that were pictured?
Ok so I get this in 3 rooms, our bedroom, spare room (both of these are upstairs and the only 2 rooms upstairs apart from the bathroom)

And the lounge.

The lounge is new build and has no damp issues, but we do sometimes dry washing in here.

The upstairs bathroom does have a extractor fan, but no window.

So guessing I need to A) stop drying washing in the lounge and B) Get better ventilation in the upstirs bathroom?

DoubleSix

11,691 posts

175 months

Friday 31st October 2014
quotequote all
sidekickdmr said:
Ok so I get this in 3 rooms, our bedroom, spare room (both of these are upstairs and the only 2 rooms upstairs apart from the bathroom)

And the lounge.

The lounge is new build and has no damp issues, but we do sometimes dry washing in here.

The upstairs bathroom does have a extractor fan, but no window.

So guessing I need to A) stop drying washing in the lounge and B) Get better ventilation in the upstirs bathroom?
Yup and yup.

jas xjr

11,309 posts

238 months

Friday 31st October 2014
quotequote all
Weird how there is an even space around the condensation. Maybe with them being new there is some residue on there. Give them a good clean,and if the problem still persists polish a bit of washing up liquid onto the glass.that might do the trick

DoubleSix

11,691 posts

175 months

Friday 31st October 2014
quotequote all
jas xjr said:
Weird how there is an even space around the condensation. Maybe with them being new there is some residue on there. Give them a good clean,and if the problem still persists polish a bit of washing up liquid onto the glass.that might do the trick
Eh? Seriously?


FlipFlopGriff

7,144 posts

246 months

Friday 31st October 2014
quotequote all
Do you have heating and are these 3 rooms heated. We get this but the windows are single glazed so the window is cold from the outside and warner inside hence the build up. Is yours just too high water content? Are the walls damp/cold?
When were the windows fitted and was it like this previously? How old is the house? Have you done any other works after which the problem has started (appreciate you haven't been in there during winter so is there anything obvious that has been done prior to you moving in)?
Agree dehums aren't solving the problem but we had them for 5 years before we fitted heating (well proper heating anyway) to take some moisture out the air which isn't good for you.
I had pneumonia 3 times since we've been here, all prior to the heating being fitted so a cold an damp mixture isn't great.
FFG

sidekickdmr

Original Poster:

5,065 posts

205 months

Friday 31st October 2014
quotequote all
Yep heating is on throughout the house and its nice and warm at the moment.


Would fitting a small (opening) skylight in the upstairs bathroom fix the issue (would be nice to allow some daylight in too), or am I better off getting a high power extractor fitted?

or something else entirely?

DoubleSix

11,691 posts

175 months

Friday 31st October 2014
quotequote all
sidekickdmr said:
Yep heating is on throughout the house and its nice and warm at the moment.


Would fitting a small (opening) skylight in the upstairs bathroom fix the issue (would be nice to allow some daylight in too), or am I better off getting a high power extractor fitted?

or something else entirely?
I would look at fitting a powerful (ideally inline) fan.

bigdom

2,072 posts

144 months

Friday 31st October 2014
quotequote all
We have the same issue, albeit ours is on the outside.

I'm no window fitter, although I believe Argon filled K glass windows are directional, and could be fitted the wrong way around in the frames. I seem to remember it stating something on the side of the glazed units when they were fitted.

Evoluzione

10,345 posts

242 months

Friday 31st October 2014
quotequote all
sidekickdmr said:
Would fitting a small (opening) skylight in the upstairs bathroom fix the issue (would be good to allow some daylight in too)
I'd go with that for the bathroom problem, it'll cost much more, but will do a better job all round.

Edited by Evoluzione on Friday 31st October 12:44

condor

8,837 posts

247 months

Friday 31st October 2014
quotequote all
sidekickdmr said:
Ok so we do have a bit of a damp issue in one of the bedrooms, nothing more than a few 50P sized patches on the wall (just look slightly oily, not wet to touch)
Thanks
This part of your post doesn't seem to be addressed so far.
Is water seeping into the walls somehow? I'm thinking of leaking roof, blocked guttering, overflow pipe expelling water constantly etc.

C0ffin D0dger

3,440 posts

144 months

Friday 31st October 2014
quotequote all
bigdom said:
We have the same issue, albeit ours is on the outside.

I'm no window fitter, although I believe Argon filled K glass windows are directional, and could be fitted the wrong way around in the frames. I seem to remember it stating something on the side of the glazed units when they were fitted.
It's not so much to do with the Argon, most sealed units now have a reflective coating on them and that coating needs to be facing the right way to keep the heat in and cold out. So yes the advice on the labels should be carefully followed when fitting them (i.e. this side out)

Also if your windows have condensation on the outside then there is no issue, in fact it's a good thing. Ours do that sometimes.

From the Telegraph / Google:

Internet said:
The condensation on the outside does not indicate that your windows are of a poorer quality than your neighbours’. On the contrary, it means that your windows have better thermal insulation properties than theirs.
Your new windows keep more of the warmth inside the house, so there is less waste heat escaping through the glass to evaporate the dew, which, as you say, forms on everyone’s car windscreens. The more efficient the glazing, the greater the problem with external dew – something that double-glazing salesmen always seem to forget to mention.

furtive

4,498 posts

278 months

Friday 31st October 2014
quotequote all
What if you have condensation on the inside and the outside?

Evoluzione

10,345 posts

242 months

Friday 31st October 2014
quotequote all
C0ffin D0dger said:
most sealed units now have a reflective coating on them and that coating needs to be facing the right way to keep the heat in and cold out. So yes the advice on the labels should be carefully followed when fitting them (i.e. this side out)
That isn't strictly true. The Low E coating reflects heat only, it does that no matter which way around the unit is fitted.
Yes the label says fit it one way, but in practice it's undetectable from a heat loss point of view.

I used to be FENSA approved btw and went on their courses, they stated it wasn't a failure point for final certification.

C Lee Farquar

4,066 posts

215 months

Saturday 1st November 2014
quotequote all
You're creating more moisture vapour than you're removing. So you either need to reduce the amount you generate, ventilate better or use a dehumidifier or a combination of all three.

Drying washing is the first thing to monitor. A useful demonstration for the clothes washer of the house is to weigh your washing on the bathroom scales as it comes out of the washing machine, weigh it again once it's dried and aired. The difference in kilos is litres of water. Explain that drying a load of washing in the house is the same as throwing four pints of water at the windows. (and duck)


simonej

3,876 posts

179 months

Saturday 1st November 2014
quotequote all


That's what will come next if you have serious amounts of moisture in the air and fail to ventilate or heat properly! That's from my wife's rental property where they dried washing inside, never opened the windows and didn't use the heating much.

Edit: Sorry, just realised that's not the most constructive of posts; to resolve it required fixing a couple of leaks in the plumbing that the tenant never reported (any chance you've got some leaks?), installing a couple of extra radiators and making sure the new tenants opened the windows every now and again.

Edited by simonej on Saturday 1st November 07:18

simonej

3,876 posts

179 months

Saturday 1st November 2014
quotequote all


That's what will come next if you have serious amounts of moisture in the air and fail to ventilate or heat properly! That's from my wife's rental property where they dried washing inside, never opened the windows and didn't use the heating much.

Edit: Sorry, just realised that's not the most constructive of posts; to resolve it required fixing a couple of leaks in the plumbing that the tenant never reported (any chance you've got some leaks?), installing a couple of extra radiators and making sure the new tenants opened the windows every now and again.

Edited by simonej on Saturday 1st November 07:19

V8 Animal

5,914 posts

209 months

Saturday 1st November 2014
quotequote all
Evoluzione said:
That isn't strictly true. The Low E coating reflects heat only, it does that no matter which way around the unit is fitted.
Yes the label says fit it one way, but in practice it's undetectable from a heat loss point of view.

I used to be FENSA approved btw and went on their courses, they stated it wasn't a failure point for final certification.
This is correct.
If you have had K units fitted which looks like you have the K should be on the inside.
The outer pane being ste glass will then have condensation on the outside.
It's a ventalation problem you have try leaving inter all doors open to balance the heat trapped in the room.
It should disappear mid morning?

V8 Animal

5,914 posts

209 months

Saturday 1st November 2014
quotequote all
They look new windows and they should have slot vents fitted.
Try them on night latch should be condensation free then.

herewego

8,814 posts

212 months

Saturday 1st November 2014
quotequote all
During cold weather, rather than leaving windows open which would rack up the fuel consumption, the problem is better dealt with by minimising moisture input. Kettles, cooking, clothes drying, showers. e.g. check how long the shower is running for and is the bathroom extractor dealing with that moisture.

jeff m2

2,060 posts

150 months

Saturday 1st November 2014
quotequote all
Buy a cheap wall thingy that measures humidity.
Look at reading when you use the clothes drier!!!!

You will likely find you are up over 80%

Take temp of window pane with contactless thermometer.

Now do a search on "dew points"smile

Solutions are
1.Vent your drier to out side. In the states all dries are vented to an outside wall.
2.Open the windows in the room while the drier is running, close the doors to other parts of the house this will minimise fuel cost. Probably cost you zip as the heat from the drier will compensate.

Hopefully your thermostat is not in the same roombiggrin