Trickle vent effectiveness

[marsaday]

I have a funny problem in a house i let out. It is in the bathroom and the toilet is now accumulating condensation within 5 minutes of wiping it down. My morning there is a pool of water at the base of the toilet.

I have changed the toilet for a new one and have finally narrowed the problem down to the condensation.

They have 6 kids and the shower is used a lot. there is an extractor fan, but they never open the window due to the kids jumping out apparently. So ventilation is not that good considering the amount of water vapour being created.

So I wondered if fitting a trickle vent would help with my problem.

If so is it just a case of drilling out 4 holes approx and fitting vent over them?

 

[Gazman16]

Pretty much drill as many 12mm holes as the width of the vent will cover.
You may run into metal reinforcing that could hamper your plans if it is a large or dark colored PVC window.

Drill half way from the inside and half way from the outside or the holes will end up all skewy.

What sort of extractor is fitted? It may be worth upgrading it to a more powerful one that scenes humidity rather than one that just comes on with the light.

 

[marsaday]

Thanks for info. The humidity fan idea is a good one.

 

[dishman]

Trickle vent wont do much. You would be wasting your time and effort.

You are getting condensation because the bathroom is very humid and warm and the toilet cistern is very cold so it provides a perfect surface for the warm moist air to cool quickly and condensate.

The solution is a much more powerful bathroom extractor fan to remove the humidity from as close to the source as possible. One that just goes on and off with the light may not be good enough.

As someone suggested, get one with a humidisat, as that will stay on until the required humidity is reached.

There are some websites that allow you to search and filter out the wide choice available based on the size of bathroom and position of fan etc. This will make your selection easier. But one with a humidisat it a must in my opinion.

Just to point out, as the toilet bowl is very cold usually, it will be difficult to stop condensation on it completely. But a good extractor, correctly positioned will help.

 

[foxhole]

They probably don't use the existing fan.
Bathroom should have a permanent full size vent.