Single glazing condensation help ?

[emmalavaine]

Hello people,

I’m wondering if anyone can weave any magic on making condensation disappear on my single glazing ? During this colder weather, I have to ‘hoover’ the windows every morning with my Karcher & sometimes again if I haven’t had the heating on. Some of the sills are waterlogged each morning & it can’t be doing the windows any good. We own a 16thC grade two timber frame house with a 19thC brick addition. We have removed any concrete floors & replaced with timber & uncovered the original brick & pamment floor too. We believe the rendering is mostly lime but with some historic cement patching in areas (not sure to what extent).

Any advice is very welcome, thank you.
Emma

 

[Sam W]

We added a positive input ventilation fan (PIV). They suck air in from the roof void and blow it into the main house through the ceiling, ours is fitted above the top of the stairs.
Before fitting it we had to do the same as you, hoover condensation from the windows every day, as soon as it was fitted, no more condensation 95% of days. When it's really cold outside there is still a little, but not enough to cause problems. It's also stopped mould forming on the ceilings and on clothes hanging in cupboards.
The PIV was easy to fit, is cheap to run and makes very little noise. We have a Nuaire Drimaster, but other brands are available. One of the best additions we've made to our house

 

[Zebra]

I find a dehumidifier is reducing the condensation.

 

[emmalavaine]

Thank you both for your great ideas. I’ll certainly look into them.

Much appreciated,
Emma

 

[Cubist]

We added a positive input ventilation fan (PIV). They suck air in from the roof void and blow it into the main house through the ceiling, ours is fitted above the top of the stairs.
Before fitting it we had to do the same as you, hoover condensation from the windows every day, as soon as it was fitted, no more condensation 95% of days. When it's really cold outside there is still a little, but not enough to cause problems. It's also stopped mould forming on the ceilings and on clothes hanging in cupboards.
The PIV was easy to fit, is cheap to run and makes very little noise. We have a Nuaire Drimaster, but other brands are available. One of the best additions we've made to our house

Hi Sam,
I've briefly considered installing a PIV in this old place but, as condensation here is typically fairly light and short-lived, I have never committed. One of my concerns though was that such systems also reduce the overall performance of the heating system. Have you noticed any degradation in yours and been able to determine the power inout trade-offs?
Cheers,
Cubist

 

[Sam W]

Hi Sam,
I've briefly considered installing a PIV in this old place but, as condensation here is typically fairly light and short-lived, I have never committed. One of my concerns though was that such systems also reduce the overall performance of the heating system. Have you noticed any degradation in yours and been able to determine the power inout trade-offs?
Cheers,
Cubist

I can't point you at any figures, but subjectively a drier house feels warmer and we think we use the heating less as a result.

We use our heating sparingly and try to shut the doors when it's on, which minimises the amount of air movement induced by the PIV. The warmth should also encourage evaporation of any damp that is firming. Once the heating is off and the room has started to cool, we'll open the doors with the aim of letting the PIV blow fresh, dry air in.

This sounds quite regimented, but from a practical point of view involves me repeatedly telling the children to shut doors when the heating is on, without this reminder they quickly open all doors again and the PIV can do its thing

 

[fernicarry]

I found that condensation on the windows was greatly reduced when we installed the central extractor. It trickle extracts from the kitchen downstairs and bathrooms upstairs as well as boosting when it detects high level of humidity. Exact opposite of Sam's PIV, but the main point is to get air moving continuously. Doesn't matter whether it passes over the glass on its way in or out, just that it does. Assuming that your windows are the point of least resistance in terms of air-tightness, which they probably are.

That was certainly the case for the first couple of winters, to be fair so far this winter there has been quite a bit of condensation. Not at the levels that makes me want to get the window vac out which was previously a daily routine where I was removing pints of water. I think the last few weeks we've had some pretty wild temperature swings which could explain. A few milld days letting the air hold more moisture then the next day its 10' colder so it gets dumped out again. Welcome to your new climate.

PIV is pretty simple to implement and I like the idea that you can add a bit of heat to the incoming air, either passively from solar gain in the roof space or with a small electric heater. I've toyed with the idea of combining both. If the input is quite well separated from the extract then it could work. The point about closed doors is well taken though, ours are generally left open by just under one cat width.

Currently recovering from 4 days without gas boiler. Internal temps dropped to single figures despite the wood burner burning wood almost continuously. Really not looking forward to a world where we're not allowed to have gas.

 

[88v8]

I have to ‘hoover’ the windows every morning with my Karcher & sometimes again if I haven’t had the heating on.

Cold air can hold less moisture and it will condense on the coldest element.

Remedy... heating.... dehumidifers... open fire/stove.... Karcher.

I have to hoover every morning, but now we've lit the woodstoves the humidity is reducing and the condensation is reducing likewise. Come autumn, our RH is about 70%, but now after just a few lightings we're down to 56% I noticed this morning, and it feels a lot warmer even at the same temp and the hoovering is greatly reduced.

To an extent, condensation and single glazing are inseperable pals, but open fires will greatly reduce it.

Ivor

 

[emmalavaine]

Thank you Ivor,

Got the dehumidifier on now so let’s see….woodburners & central heating are ramped up a bit too so fingers x.

 

[emmalavaine]

Hello again,

Can anyone recommend a good dehumidifier brand/model please ?

 

[Zebra]

There are two types. The refrigerant type and the dessicant type. The refrigerant type is around 200w and can be a bit noisy, makes the same noises as a fridge. The dessicant type is quieter and I assume lower wattage, but also less effective.

 

[a twig]

I've had one of these running solidly for ~2 years with not even a blink. Options for water going into an internal tank (which you empty manually) or piping it into a drain somewhere

Ebac Powerdri 18Ltr Dehumidifier Unit - Screwfix

Order online at Screwfix.com. Powerful, semi-professional dehumidifier with infinity humidistat. Ideal for removing excess moisture during building projects, such as drying plaster or paint and dealing with minor floods and water ingress. Select a target humidity level and Powerdri will do the...

www.screwfix.com

EDIT: Just checked the receipt, I purchased it in 2017, so make that 5 years not 2! Time flies!

 

[LadyArowana]

We got a dessicant wheel one for a garage as they are recommended for low temperature places. It worked well there, dried the place out after some leaks. As it wasn’t needed in the garage any more we moved it into our under-pavement vaults instead of an old refrigerant type. Big mistake, huge. The thing had an inbuilt heater function we couldn’t turn off, and which wasn’t needed in the warmer vaults, it ate a lot more electricity than the other one. The continuous drain function was also a pain, as you had to have the reservoir in place in order to get the unit to run and getting a hose ( not supplied ) to stay on the nozzle and out through a tiny cut out at the side was very difficult. We ended up putting the old one back!

In contrast our indoor one ( a Meaco refrigerant one ) is much less bother.

 

[emmalavaine]

Thank you all, really appreciate it. Will get on it asap. The condensation is much worse this year than the last couple

 

[88v8]

We have

Hello again,

Can anyone recommend a good dehumidifier brand/model please ?

We have two Ebac 2650.
Refrigerant.
On nearly 24/7 last six+ years.
Bought second-hand, like this.

Tip... don't bother with the 6-month filter replacement, just a gentle vacuum.

Ivor

 

[emmalavaine]

Thanks Ivor,

Just purchased the 18L & so far so good. Gut the humidity down from 80% to 6O% in a few days & seams to be helping (keeping fingers x)

 

[88v8]

Thanks Ivor,

Just purchased the 18L & so far so good. Gut the humidity down from 80% to 6O% in a few days & seams to be helping (keeping fingers x)

The RH in our sitting room - the only room with a meter I can read without my specs - went below 50% last night, and dramatically less condensation this morning, even though it's snowing....

Ivor

 

[tobydog]

What a nice surprise this morning. Although I'm used to using the Karcher on our windows everyday around this time of year, with some very soggy moments over the past week, this morning I didn't need to use it at all. Even our main bedroom, where puddles can form on the sills, there was nothing to clear. It was still an icy night but these dry winter periods are very welcome when they arrive unless I suppose, like me, you have a sore throat and dry cough. Struggling to swallow when you wake up is a big giveaway of a no Karcher morning. Clouds and silver linings!!