Condensation buildup in my Kitchen.

GiraffePencils

GiraffePencils

GiraffePencils

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Joined
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Edinburgh
Hello.

When I'm cooking I always get extreme condensation all around my kitchen, Walls, cupboard doors, windows.
I am assuming this is due to my kitchen being so cold all the time.

3 of the walls are external and there is no central heating in there and it's very narrow.
Is there any way to prevent the condensation?

Or will it take an ingenious heating solution to keep the room warm enough to stop condensation forming?
 
joey1211 said:
Open a window, external door? (Making sure a draught doesn't blow your flame out if using gas)

Lids on pans?
Click to expand...

Even just having the oven on creates condensation, we try and keep lids on and the extractor on while cooking.

could open the door but I was hoping for a solution which didn't involve wearing a full outdoor getup in my kitchen :p
 
Do you have an airbrick installed anywhere in the kitchen and do you open a window when cooking as the problem is caused by a lack of ventilation.

I had a very similar problem and cured it with a very good dehumidifier helped by the installation of an airbrick. We now get none.

At first we ran the dehumidifier 24/7 for around 2 weeks and were emptying it once a day (it's quite shocking how much moisture it removed!) but now we run it only in the daytime and empty it maybe once a week.
 
I don't believe there's an airbrick, It's a fairly old building.
I'm renting at the moment, so would be hesitant to purchase a dehumidifier.
If I was to put a good draught excluder on the kitchen door and opened the window do you think that would help the situation. (wrapping up in the kitchen's an annoyance but I can live with it.)
 
Opening a window certainly wont do any harm!

I'd still look at buying a dehumidifier its not like its tied to the property, they aren't massive and you can simply take them with you where ever you move to.
 
Nip up B&Q - You can get these condenser boxes. They're about a foot long, 3" square profile and have an upper tray with a vented lid. You put these crystals into the upper tray and leave the box on the side somewhere. Check on the box every couple of days and the condensation will have been captured, collecting in the lower box under the tray.
We use them in our place, as we're a country property with no central heating and they work great.

You can get 2 for a fiver, usually.
Do NOT eat the crystals!!
 
ttaskmaster said:
Nip up B&Q - You can get these condenser boxes. They're about a foot long, 3" square profile and have an upper tray with a vented lid. You put these crystals into the upper tray and leave the box on the side somewhere. Check on the box every couple of days and the condensation will have been captured, collecting in the lower box under the tray.
We use them in our place, as we're a country property with no central heating and they work great.

You can get 2 for a fiver, usually.
Do NOT eat the crystals!!
Click to expand...

Ooh they sound interesting, can you link to them or take a piccy please?
 
Those boxes will not help much for the level of condensation produced through cooking. Sure, it will eventually remove it but it would take a very long time.

I would personally just open a window. When cooking and for 30 mins after it or buy a proper dehumidifier.
 
Install an external extractor fan or trickle vents in the window.

If you're drying clothes indoors - stop that, no, we don't do that! If you saw how much water clothes evaporate as they're drying you'd think anyone was mental to dry them indoors.
 
Condensation is caused when relative humidity reaches 100% and the air can't become any more saturated. The colder the air is, the higher the RH is before any other factors are taken into account.

In addition to all the other tips, if there is a way to heat the room at all it will also help a lot.
 
I've got exactly the same problem as you but I don't have an extractor fan (I leave the window/back door open while cooking and have an air vent). I've got a dehumidifier being delivered on Friday, if it'll help your decision I'll let you know if it stops the condensation.
 
The dehumidifier we got is good, we had a terrible condensation issue in the kitchen (rented place with no extractors, not insulated with 3 walls and the roof to the outside). It's solved the condensation problem although it is power hungry, ours uses about 10units a day (thinking of pegging it back now that the initial soak up has passed so it just maintains it now, not that it really matters in winter as its effectively heating the house). It works pretty well for the entire lower floor of the house. We used to get masses of condensation on the front door windows (crappy windows) but that's gone too.
 
Last edited:
pitchfork said:
Install an external extractor fan
Click to expand...

This. A proper in-line centrifugal kitchen extractor fan (i.e. not one of those wall-mounted axial gnat's fart fans) will be able to shift 250m^3 of air per hour, compared to these £25 Manrose jobbies from B&Q that can extract something like 60m^3. They are also inaudible if installed correctly. Has the added bonus of removing kitchen smells, unlike dehumidifiers.

However if you don't have access to the void above this could be tricky.
 
GiraffePencils said:
I am assuming this is due to my kitchen being so cold all the time.
Click to expand...

No it's due to the humidity from cooking having nowhere to go.

As you are renting my only advice would be open the window while cooking, you won't need a coat and hat - you're cooking, it's hot. Close window when you finish cooking. The window even comes with a built in warning that you need to open it (it steams up!).

If it was your own home I'd say you could put a pair of air bricks in (need a pair, one on the opposite side of the building - so you do get a cold draught through the whole house, it's not a great solution but used to be the only way) or install an effective ventilation for the kitchen (your extractor is demonstrably not effective).
 
pitchfork said:
Install an external extractor fan or trickle vents in the window.

If you're drying clothes indoors - stop that, no, we don't do that! If you saw how much water clothes evaporate as they're drying you'd think anyone was mental to dry them indoors.
Click to expand...

Or just open a window a small amount while they dry?

To op: open a window, fixed.
 
Participant said:
This. A proper in-line centrifugal kitchen extractor fan (i.e. not one of those wall-mounted axial gnat's fart fans) will be able to shift 250m^3 of air per hour, compared to these £25 Manrose jobbies from B&Q that can extract something like 60m^3. They are also inaudible if installed correctly. Has the added bonus of removing kitchen smells, unlike dehumidifiers.

However if you don't have access to the void above this could be tricky.
Click to expand...

Do you know the l/s figures for the extractors you are talking about?

I bought a Vent axia lo-carbon quadra for a really good price on ebay. It seems to be doing it's job, but there aren't enough speed settings. It goes from 15l/s which is too little to 30l/s and then 60l/s, which is far too loud.

I'll use this to replace the crappy flush one in my bathroom if there is something better for kitchen use.
 
250m^3 per hour = 69l/s. It's also £55 and very quiet, but then it's in-line not axial and I guess you're paying more for a fan that can be wall-mounted.
 
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