Condensation

[Chuckles]

In my spare room of my flat, I get a lot of condensation round the window even though it's double glazed. If I don't clean round it regularly, it can lead to spots of mildew on the all above that are a bitch to scrub off.

Is there any kind of treatment that you can use to stop this coming back?

[lostkat]

We get it on most of our windows despite them being double glazed. Our house doesn't have a cavity though as it's well old, so there's always going to be a bit of damp in the air. The only way we can get rid is to leave the windows open slightly on the latch. It clears it all then, but obviously gets FREEEEEZING in the winter. People also use dehumidifiers.

[TinkerBell]

Open the window

[SidewinderINC]

Dehumidifier mate, I run one in my house, set it to "normal" and it'll run constantly for a hell of a long time to cut the humidity to that level, then it'll turn off and on automatically to keep the damp/condensation/humidity to that level.

And it makes it cheaper to heat the house as it's harder to heat a damp house

[phykell]

As has been said, opening a window will usually help as it's often just a lack of adequate ventilation. However, if you live in an older property with solid walls or a more modern structure with a fault in the damp course, or even wall ties, the chances are that damp will be a problem.

A dehumidifier is a brute force solution to the problem, though expensive, and can work really. Prevention is better than a cure as ever so make sure there are no faults with the structure first. Try opening the windows first thing in the morning and all ese fails, resort to a dehumidifier. I run two, one runs constantly to maintain a suitable environment for my piano, and the other is a huge, 60 litre per day unit which does the rest of the house.

SINC - paradoxically, it makes the dehumidification process more effective if you raise the heat

[SidewinderINC]

Originally Posted by phykell

SINC - paradoxically, it makes the dehumidification process more effective if you raise the heat

Very true

Although I find raising the heat just makes all the moisture travel towards the windows and form condensation/damp so without the dehumidifier I'd be screwed anyways

*shakes fist at shoddily built building* it's like it in ALL of them.

[Chuckles]

It's a purpose built flat round about 1970. All double glazed. I don't get any at all in the kitchen, bedroom or living room. Just in the spare room and some in the bathroom.

I wonder if the double glazing in the spare room isn't fitted very well.

I'll try a dehumidifier. Is one of those £50 jobs ok, or does it need something better?

[phykell]

Originally Posted by Chuckles

It's a purpose built flat round about 1970. All double glazed. I don't get any at all in the kitchen, bedroom or living room. Just in the spare room and some in the bathroom.

I wonder if the double glazing in the spare room isn't fitted very well.

I'll try a dehumidifier. Is one of those £50 jobs ok, or does it need something better?

Don't buy a cheap dehumidifier based on a dessicant material - they're a waste of money

Is your flat a ground floor one? Is there a roof above your flat? Damp patches might not be immediately visible but may still be bad enough to cause condensation and can be due to a break in the guttering or dampcourse.

[Mark]

Originally Posted by Chuckles

I wonder if the double glazing in the spare room isn't fitted very well.

Can you tell how old the double glazing is? If it's old, you could have a blown seal or saturated desiccant inside the unit. You can often tell when this happens because condensation will form between the glass layers.

[AboveTheSalt]

Originally Posted by Chuckles

I don't get any at all in the kitchen, bedroom or living room. Just in the spare room and some in the bathroom.

That's strange. In my old flat, I used to get the problem in the kitchen, bathroom and my bedroom. To some extent, I resolved it in the kitchen and bathroom by fitting powerful extractor fans. I never really entirely eliminated it in the bedroom.

As someone has suggested - the answer does seem to be - open the window.

Originally Posted by Chuckles

I wonder if the double glazing in the spare room isn't fitted very well.

I wouldn't have thought that the double-glazing would be a problem. I take it that nobody uses the spare bedroom?

Originally Posted by Chuckles

I'll try a dehumidifier. Is one of those £50 jobs ok, or does it need something better?

I suspect that you would need to spend more than £50 and whatever you do, don't forget to empty the water reservoir - I once did in a computer room and it made a right mess of the floor

Have a look HERE.