Hi can anyone help i have new windows fitted July, all silicon went yellow , feels cold at windows and doors and condensation appears inside when temp drops out side creating damp and mould growing , fitter told me I need to buy dehumidifier which I have still same I also have a thermo scanner room temperature sits at 20 and when next to bottom of window its 9 degrees ,my credit card took the money back from company , they are due to try sort them but I still don't even have a receipt from previous payment ,can I get new installer to remove their windows and tell them to jeep them
Cold windows condensation (1)
- Thread starter Mark2805
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Yes even when trickle vents open condensation still comes , I have had no issues before and lived in same house 18 years and 2 sets of windows later , my neighbours no condensation, also feels lot colder in house and when I aim the thermometer at window bottom showing huge difference ,thanks for reply
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This is becoming more of an issue ...
As woody says , new windows WILL NOT solve condensation. Condensation is caused by water vapour from living ...EG cooking , boiling the kettle, baths ...breathing. Trickle vents do not solve condensation either. Condensation can only be dealt with by addressing what is causing the water vapour ... or by ' purge ' ventilation EG opening a window ( not ideal in winter i know but the best method ) , or by extractor fans or by expensive recirculation methods . You will get a differing temp at the new windows as they are not as thick as your walls and you also get ' convection ' around windows due to your heating ( which leads to people thinking there is a draft )but you differences do seem a little extreme. My guess, and i stress guess, as i have not seen the installation is possibly a lack of capping cavities , or not using expanding foam to fill any gaps around the window . I removed some windows years ago from a house that the window was 20mm smaller than the opening and the gap had been covered up by plastic trims inside and out ...but nothing between the trims, just air, the customer did say the room always appeared cold.
I'm not going to go into the pitfalls of not using a Fensa/Certass registered installer, all i will say is registered installers go through inspections , on their fitting and surveying quality...
As woody says , new windows WILL NOT solve condensation. Condensation is caused by water vapour from living ...EG cooking , boiling the kettle, baths ...breathing. Trickle vents do not solve condensation either. Condensation can only be dealt with by addressing what is causing the water vapour ... or by ' purge ' ventilation EG opening a window ( not ideal in winter i know but the best method ) , or by extractor fans or by expensive recirculation methods . You will get a differing temp at the new windows as they are not as thick as your walls and you also get ' convection ' around windows due to your heating ( which leads to people thinking there is a draft )but you differences do seem a little extreme. My guess, and i stress guess, as i have not seen the installation is possibly a lack of capping cavities , or not using expanding foam to fill any gaps around the window . I removed some windows years ago from a house that the window was 20mm smaller than the opening and the gap had been covered up by plastic trims inside and out ...but nothing between the trims, just air, the customer did say the room always appeared cold.
I'm not going to go into the pitfalls of not using a Fensa/Certass registered installer, all i will say is registered installers go through inspections , on their fitting and surveying quality...
Thanks for reply just strange I have lived here mist my life and never once had issues with condensation , I also got a meter that tells me humidity below 40 so again think that's well in normal range my dehumidifier been running for 2 weeks now and not got any water so that makes me think cold air meeting hot , also my windows only do this when below certain temp if I had moisture in air surely that would be every day I get this or am I wrong they are going to seal windows again if that fails I was going to ask them to remove a window sill inside to check installation , thanks for help
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From what you are saying it does sound more like a fitting issue to me. Is it every window they have fitted? Is it just condensation around the edges of the glass or are the windows ' running' with water? Was it old single glazed windows removed?
some points, don't get too waylaid by humidity, although it is relevant. That implies you are at fault and not the installer
think: where is the cold coming from?
1. if the frame is thermally broken then the inside of the frame is cold because of the outside getting cold and transferring the cold through its poor construction. Ask yourself: if the glass and frame are the same temperature, then why? if not then why not? follow the path of the coldness.
2. if you have a brick house then it is very likely the installers did a quick bodge job. Your aluminium touches the cold exterior brick. Voila. that's how the inside of your frame gets cold. (In newer houses the subframe will likely be wood which is better as it is much less thermally conductive). Did the installers put some form of insulating layer around the entirety fo the frame? sure they used expanding filler for the gaps but everywhere there were no gaps I bet the frame touches brick.
3. remember also that taking the temperature at the inside/bottom of a window could be susceptible to the convection of cool air down over the window as it sinks down to the thermometer.
4. re earlier comments "Condensation is caused by water vapour from living" - that is NOT completely correct, the air around us ALWAYS has some degree of humidity, the problem is that colder air cannot hold as much moisture so if the temperature falls the moisture pops out of the air and becomes visible as water (on a cold surface), that's kinda how clouds form as well
. thus if the air temperature fall BECAUSE of a local cold surface (window frame) then it is the cold window frame that is causing the condensation.
think: where is the cold coming from?
1. if the frame is thermally broken then the inside of the frame is cold because of the outside getting cold and transferring the cold through its poor construction. Ask yourself: if the glass and frame are the same temperature, then why? if not then why not? follow the path of the coldness.
2. if you have a brick house then it is very likely the installers did a quick bodge job. Your aluminium touches the cold exterior brick. Voila. that's how the inside of your frame gets cold. (In newer houses the subframe will likely be wood which is better as it is much less thermally conductive). Did the installers put some form of insulating layer around the entirety fo the frame? sure they used expanding filler for the gaps but everywhere there were no gaps I bet the frame touches brick.
3. remember also that taking the temperature at the inside/bottom of a window could be susceptible to the convection of cool air down over the window as it sinks down to the thermometer.
4. re earlier comments "Condensation is caused by water vapour from living" - that is NOT completely correct, the air around us ALWAYS has some degree of humidity, the problem is that colder air cannot hold as much moisture so if the temperature falls the moisture pops out of the air and becomes visible as water (on a cold surface), that's kinda how clouds form as well
. thus if the air temperature fall BECAUSE of a local cold surface (window frame) then it is the cold window frame that is causing the condensation.
Last edited:
The poster posted this close to three years ago and was last seen on here 15 Feb 2021some points, don't get too waylaid by humidity, although it is relevant. That implies you are at fault and not the installer
think: where is the cold coming from?
1. if the frame is thermally broken then the inside of the frame is cold because of the outside getting cold and transferring the cold through its poor construction. Ask yourself: if the glass and frame are the same temperature, then why? if not then why not? follow the path of the coldness.
2. if you have a brick house then it is very likely the installers did a quick bodge job. Your aluminium touches the cold exterior brick. Voila. that's how the inside of your frame gets cold. (In newer houses the subframe will likely be wood which is better as it is much less thermally conductive). Did the installers put some form of insulating layer around the entirety fo the frame? sure they used expanding filler for the gaps but everywhere there were no gaps I bet the frame touches brick.
3. remember also that taking the temperature at the inside/bottom of a window could be susceptible to the convection of cool air down over the window as it sinks down to the thermometer.
4. re earlier comments "Condensation is caused by water vapour from living" - that is NOT completely correct, the air around us ALWAYS has some degree of humidity, the problem is that colder air cannot hold as much moisture so if the temperature falls the moisture pops out of the air and becomes visible as water (on a cold surface), that's kinda how clouds form as well
Still informative though.The poster posted this close to three years ago and was last seen on here 15 Feb 2021
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