Adequate heating Adequately heating your home can help to reduce condensation and damp, so keep temperature levels consistent, especially in those rooms that you may not use often. A heating thermostat can be useful for this. Avoid using paraffin heaters as these tend to create excess moisture.
Sometimes condensation can be greatly reduced by changing what you do in your home. Try these easy tips for reducing condensation: Keep your heating on low all day in the cold weather. Wipe your window sills every morning.
What Causes Condensation in Cold Weather. Indoor humidity is exacerbated by traditional heating systems such as radiators and fireplaces. During the winter, households are more likely to rely on these traditional heating techniques to remain warm, resulting in increased moisture production and transmission in the air.
If a house is not heated on a chilly day, then the amount of moisture the air can hold will fall. At 10C, water can hold around half of the amount, and the rest of the water vapour produced will form as condensation.
The World Health Organisation guidelines suggest 21 degrees in a living room and 18 degrees in the bedrooms, falling lower at night and when you are out. You don't need to keep your home at these temperatures all the time, but you should aim to bring it up to these temperatures at least some of the day.
Condensation is caused by warm moist air coming into contact with cold surfaces such as windows and walls. It happens mainly during the colder months, regardless of whether the weather is wet or dry. Condensation is completely normal and is the most common cause of dampness in the home, especially in colder rooms.
Heating your home by using your central heating system or chimney will reduce the relative moisture as higher temperatures can hold more water. This will keep the moisture under control as it will counterbalance the excess moisture in the air that is mainly produced by modern living.
By opening the window we make the heating system work with maximum power. Although the radiator will become hot, the heated air will immediately escape through the window. It will therefore be a good practice to lower the pre-set temperature during ventilation.
Firstly, the colder temperatures lead to some walls in your house becoming cold themselves. These cold walls attract moisture which condenses into a liquid on their surface. At the same time, houses will typically be less ventilated because you want to keep your living space warm.
Condensation forms when warm, humid air contacts a cold surface. Moisture is in the air all around us and warmer air can hold more moisture. As air cools, it contracts and its moisture condenses.
Raise the temperature of cold surfaces where moisture condenses. Use insulation or storm windows. (A storm window installed on the inside works better than one installed on the outside.) Open doors between rooms (especially doors to closets which may be colder than the rooms) to increase circulation.
Turn up the Radiators
Increasing the temperature in your room, particularly overnight and in the winter, will prevent the build-up of condensation on your windows and walls. This is because condensation occurs when water condenses on a cold surface.
If warm air cannot escape through an open window or air vent, it moves around until it finds a cold surface where it cools and forms condensation. Condensation forms more easily on cold surfaces in the home, for example walls and ceilings.
Condensation is the moisture formed when warm, humid air encounters a cold surface. At night, almost all year round, the difference between indoor and outdoor temperatures means that condensation is always a possibility.
Warmer Surfaces
Warmer air holds more moisture and only condenses when it comes into contact with a cool surface. Due to this, it is important to keep surfaces warmer. By eliminating the cold surface, it can be stopped from becoming a condensation magnet.
If you wake up and find condensation on your bedroom windows, a great way to clear away the condensation is by mixing a home-made solution. Simply mix two cups of water and two cups of white vinegar, then add a couple of drops of washing up liquid.
Ventilate so the moist air leaves the house – always use the extractor fan when you're cooking, showering or bathing, leave any window vents open, and don't block off any other vents. Make sure air can circulate by leaving gaps between furniture and the wall.
Keeping windows and doors shut throughout the winter months can have negative effects. Ventilating the home by opening the windows for even just 20 minutes a day can drastically reduce the effects of condensation and dampness in homes.
As a gas condenses to a liquid, heat is released. The molar heat of condensation (ΔHcond) of a substance is the heat released by one mole of that substance as it is converted from a gas to a liquid.
The first lesson is that warm air can hold more moisture than cool air. We learned that when the warm air touches a cold surface, it rapidly cools and deposits some of the moisture it can no longer carry. This appears as condensation on the surface which, in the home, is usually a window or outside wall.