frost this week end.

[Penners]

I was horrified at the amount of condensation that had formed-- it was dripping off the sills onto the carpet as well. We did not have this problem before the ambient warmth from a heatstore

Unfortunately, Joss, it's the ambient warmth that's working against you. Warm air can carry more water vapour than cold air, so your nice warm house is saturating the air. It then comes into contact with the cold windows and precipitates.

Solutions? As FF says, your choices are less heating, less moisture (ie: breathing, talking, cooking, etc.), more ventilation, double glazing or a dehumidifier.

 

[Schoolmarm]

Joce, you need a thick curtain on your wine cellar.

Paper mache in the door holes.

Sausage draught excluders.

Rolled up kitchen roll poked in your bedroom window and/or home made secondary glazing.

Table putting on mega thick snuggly rug and pulling nearer to the rayburn.

The more doors we close here the less the air seems to rush about and freeze us.

 

[robgil]

you really need toopen a bed room window in the mornings , your body sweats a minimum of half a pint of fluid during the night and your bed soaks it up , if you dont air it the next day dust mites will find it an ideal feeding and multiplying ground.
another frost tonight is forcast and it was proper baltic this morning , i think my chilli plants are all frost bitten.

 

[jocelyn plummer]

Thanks Folks , I guessed your replies---- Yes, bedroom window open, always, also bathroom window , kitchen paper and Cath kidston sausages all in place, day time super warm clothes,-- we've NEVER had this problem before, even in chilly NN with the Aga . Washing machine etc all in separate well ventilated room ---- It's hard to stop breathing and talking though!!!! It's this house with its layers of solid floors, 3 in the dining room and 4 in the kitchen, some placcy windows. All our other houses were 'au natural' , not knocked about, original windows, wooden floors, slate roof, air bricks, , breathable paint, properly pointed outside.

 

[Penners]

Sausage draught excluders.

I recommend this type. Unwind and stuff under the door.

What a waste of good sausage.

 

[robgil]

you cant go putting a hula hoopers poo poo under your door.

 

[Moo]

You don't put it under your door, silly. It goes in front of the door.


And, by the way, you forgot the apostrophe.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Nice to know I'm not the only one suffering...it's so much warmer outside than in that it seems the best thing is to work in the garden, but I'm a bit broken at the moment with my back and a chest infection, not that I like to complain, you understand. At least I'm looking very fetching in the outfit Mr P picked out for me earlier.

Anyway, the door is done!

Cotton wool balls and blu tacked patch. But curtains, yes, I need 17 pairs of curtains. And 17 poles.

Lovely suggestions, 'marm. What does your dog make of all the closed doors?

 

[Schoolmarm]

She has her own chair in the kitchen, AND bed and a snuggly thing on the window ledge next to the chair so she can nosey through the window.
I sit at the table in the kitchen on my laptop.

If I stand up to go into the other rooms she either follows or stays snoring.
If I stand up and take one step towards the door leading outside, she is there in a flash.

If she wants the loo, she paws the door but I usually have the door open through the day, unless it is really dreadful, and I sit with extra clothes on.
If she wants to sit in the lounge with any tv watching people, she bangs on the door.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Oh, she sounds like such a treasure - so bright! Border collies are amazing.

My cat delivers such withering, contemptuous looks if doors are closed that you are forced to reach for the jigsaw immediately and cut a cat shaped hole.

Anyway, I just spent a successful hour with some bits of thick cream paper, the scissors and my bedroom window, with the only disadvantage being I can't open the window until Spring. But, a fire is blazing brightly in here and there are plenty of other sources of ventilation so I'm not worrying about damp.

And if you stand back a little you don't see this at all.

 

[Schoolmarm]

Our cats aren't impressed either!

That is a beautiful job and I hope it keeps the draughts out.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Thanks 'marm! It's a very windy day and I feel the difference already.

I bought some draught excluders from Dunelm yesterday - they're only £3.99 there at the moment ( I hesitate to recommend Dunelm after skier hughes' awful experience with them, but still - they're very good value).

But, as so often with things - the High St version won't fit the period property. They're a foot too short. Must ask Nigel how he would go about making some.

 

[Schoolmarm]

Ohhhh yes some of our doors are too wide.

 

[robgil]

you know you can get a felt or sponge strip draught excluder with a sticky side that will do the job and still let you open the window.
another frost last night , my chilli plants are now well and truly brown bread.

 

[JoceAndChris]

I'm sorry about your poor chilli plants Rob!

I don't understand how you could use that sticky strip stuff without taking the sashes out altogether? I don't know how to do that, the Victorian sashes with their original wobbly glass are too precious for me to experiment on.

The thing about the paper is that in some places I've folded it twice and in some I've wrapped it round a wadge of newspaper - so each bit is customised to the gap in question.

No doubt a professional job would be better.

 

[philpjuk100]

I think that"reddiseals" do a kit to proof sash windows,it is a strip of plush,velvety material that fastens to the frame.I do not have any experience of this but saw it at a show.I think it is pricey and belive you have lots of windows so maybe its a non starter,phil.edited due to crumbs under my shift key!

 

[AMc]

Sausage draught excluders.

I recommend this type. Unwind and stuff under the door.

You're doing it wrong, you unwind it into a frying pan, then transfer it into bread rolls, add fried onions and transfer to your mouth. Makes you feel fat and toasty for several hours. If you're feeling cold around lunch or tea time simply repeat the same process. Eventually you become so saturated with "insulation" you're unable to feel the cold having your own layer of blubber.

 

[robgil]

can you not open the window , fit the felt/sponge draught excluder to the frame where the window sits against it then close the window again?

 

[JoceAndChris]

Oh, I'm not sure Rob. Off to have a close look at another.
( but yes Phil, with 23 windows cost is a factor just at present - though one day we would really like to splash out on them all - and build another 5!)

Thanks for all the recommendations.

AMc :lol:

 

[JoceAndChris]

Rob - you could do the tops, bottoms and middles of the sashes, which would be a help, but not the sections at the side- which need a gap, in order to slide freely.