Condensation

[stuarta]

Probably seems a simple thing but just trying to work out the general consensus with central heating and condensation.

We did have a 2 bed flat with no heating and the condensation was so bad we had to mop it up every morning. We have now moved to a 3 be semi with central and still have some wet windows. I appreciate that it's got colder outside but not sure if we should have the heating on. I have been switching it off the last couple days but just put it on now to see if it helps.

 

[AronSearle]

The internal surface temperature of the windows, compared to the inner air temperature and humidity.

If the room is warm enough, and the glazing good enough, it's internal surface temperature will be too high for condensation.

Your windows are probably not very good, so you need to lower the humidity levels, can be done by further ventilation, lots of topics on this so search the forum.

 

[ronniecabers]

Your window frames are probably fine, it will be the sealed units within the frames that probably are not very thermally efficient, and can easily be rectified by having the sealed units changed to Low 'e ' + Argon gas, as these are designed to keep the heat in , and thus keep the inner pane of the sealed unit warmer, so reducing the amount of condensation you will get ( but not eliminating it )....you would need to change all the sealed units in any one room though to see benefit in that room.
If finances are good , you could even upgrade those types of sealed units to a ' Low Iron ' Glass ( typically Diamant , which has lower levels of iron and therefore less of a green tint that you would see if you saw a pile of glass stacked up , and therefore in turn lets more sunlight through, increasing what is known as the G value ), use a ' warm edge ' spacer bar ( the bit the seperates the two panes of glass , this will reduce heat transmitted between panes of glass ) , ' Low E ' glass ( typically Planitherm ' softcoat ' which reduces the 'U ' value ) and either Argon Gas or Xenon Gas ( which are both heat retention gases and also lower the ' U ' Value , Argon Gas is more widely used then Xenon as its cheaper!, but note its not well known ) both gases will escape from the sealed unit in time....

Ventilation is a good idea to lower the amount of water vapour you have in the property though ....and is free!

 

[Rad1o]

You need to regularly ventilate the rooms.Fully open the windows and allow some air changes. Moisture will get trapped inside the house and condensate on the coldest surfaces. Trickle ventilation does not help, it only cools down the area around the vent.

 

[JohnD]

//www.diynot.com/wiki/Building:Condensation-in-Houses