Ongoing window/condensation problems....

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Hello guys,

my original THREAD was regarding a different issue, but has now turned to an issue with my windows, hence my reason for starting a new thread in the relevant section.

Unfortunately the problem of condensation seems to be getting worse.

The conditions were:

Last night - Raining, Rooms/House Temperature was approx 21C. Just 45mins of cooking with extractor on full.
Woke up this morning - Outside Temperature - 6.5C and the windows look like:

View media item 100352

My main suspicion now is that the WINDOW GASKET has failed because the condensation always starts from the bottom and works upwards.

I think that the cold air is getting past the failed frame gasket and cooling the window down on the inside, which in turn with warm air from the room is causing this condensation.

Another reason for suspecting this is because during cold weather, I can feel cold draft from the windows.
 
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Air is coldest near the ground hence condensation starts at the bottom, simple lack of adequate ventilation.
 
Condensation always starts at the bottom. as others have said coldest air is lower down and cold air holds less water.

Presumably the windows are not double glazed?

So how to fix? In the 'good'(?) old days open fires needed drafts to work properly and so would cause a natural flow through of air which naturally dried the internal air.
So keeping the extractor fan on and past when cooking has finished will help. So will opening a window...
Even breathing puts water vapour in the air...
When windows are closed a De-Humidifier will help the most.

Do you have a 'Heat Cabinet' (the mobile gas fire that runs on 'Blue' gas cylinders)? They are a mojor cause of condensation in houses so do not use it.
The reason being is that one of the products of burning the gas is water vapour, for every cylinder of gas burnt it produces that volume of water.
That water has to settle somewhere - in this case condensation on the windows.
It's time for a window vac...
 
If the mist is on the room side, forget about the gasket for now.

Your use of colours is a bit irritating.
 
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Thanks for your replies everyone.

My apologies for the colours.

We've already got quite a few vents and windows are open a couple of hours a day during cold weather and most of the day during warm weather.

My windows are double-glazed. The kitchen & bathroom have a fairly new extractor and they both are used. I don't have a mobile heater as I use central heating.

One thing I don't understand is that if activities such as cooking / bathroom are causing condensation, then why is there no condensation on these room windows?
 
Which room is this condensation in? If you cook with doors open then the water vapour will move throughout the property to the coldest point. If the main confdensation is your bedroom , then do you sleep with the door closed? as you are trapping the water vapour from your breathing in the room so it condensates on the cold pane

One thing to bear in mind .... water vapour will setlle on cold spots .. at the moment your windows. If you have cold spots on your walls it will condensate there instead, unfortunately you need to try and eliminate as much water vapour as possible through use of ventilation and dehumidefers
 
Hi ronnie,

We cook with the doors closed and the kitchen extractor switched on. The condensation strangely is in some rooms, including bedrooms, one living room, but not at all in kitchen, bathroom or the lounge. I can agree that the bedroom doors are closed due to privacy, but instead of leaving them open, is there any other solution? Can I put in a vent instead?
 
I would say you aren't getting condensation in the kitchen or bathroom , due to doors being closed and the use of extractor fans..you are removing the excess water vapour....

You could retro fit trickle vents to the pvc, but i've never been convinced these work well for condensation. Your pvc windows should have a ' night ' latch on them , a second position where you can lock them closed albeit 1/2 inch open BUT both of those options will also allow cold air into the property , negating some of the benefits of double glazing , unfortunately the same goes for any vent you use, even an extractor , as it will ' pull ' out the warm air. Purge ventilation is the quickest way to get rid of excess vapour , or as I have found it my boys bedroom a dehumidifer works really well. I have two teenage boys that share a room and a small £25 dehumidifer removes most of the excess vapour , as they to sleep with the door closed
 
I would need a large dehumidifier to extract the full house moisture though....any recommendations?
 
Unfortunately I can't recommend any particular make or model , I just use a cheapy in the boys room , do it room by room, those rooms you don't use you could leave the doors closed over night but open a window slightly in the day in all rooms , except rainy days, as that will increase the humidity in the house! The other thing to take into consideration is actually how warm you keep the house, the warmer the house the more water the air can hold before it starts to condensate, so in theory ( as I have no concrete evidence ) the warmer the house the less chance of condensation( Just look at your car windows in sprimg/Autumn/ Winter for example compared to the warmer months of Summer )
 
I had that sort of issue with my house a few years back, it got
worse the colder it got.
I found it was a lack of insulation around the window.
Your house like mine had wooded windows originally and when they were
replaced with p.v.c they haven,t put and insulation in like a cavity closer.
 
Actually catlad, that does make a lot of sense. Could this also explain the cold draught??? I usually feel this draught behind the curtains during cold spells.

How can I get this checked and fixed?
 
Actually catlad, that does make a lot of sense. Could this also explain the cold draught??? I usually feel this draught behind the curtains during cold spells.

How can I get this checked and fixed?

Don't be fooled by that cold draught you think your feeling, unless you have an obvious gap it could just as easily be convection you are suffering from and it was briefly touched on at the top of the thread, basically as the warm rises it cools and falls back to the floor, it's then heated by your radiators (probably below the window) and the cycle starts again, by holding the back of your hand to the window you get the feeling of air movement but it could just be convection, funny things these windows

As for the condensation, do you dry clothes on radiators.......be truthful?
 

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