Damp and dehumidifiers

guys need some help.

Got a 4 bed house where although i have all the trickle vents open on the bedroom windows were still getting condensation in the mornings and early evenings..

will any of these smaller units work if I stick it in the upstairs hallway or will they only work in individual rooms?
 
enigma27 said:
guys need some help.

Got a 4 bed house where although i have all the trickle vents open on the bedroom windows were still getting condensation in the mornings and early evenings..

will any of these smaller units work if I stick it in the upstairs hallway or will they only work in individual rooms?
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First you want to figure out where the moisture is coming from..

Do you dry clothes inside? On radiators?
Does the shower/kitchen have extractor fans? Do they work/do you use them consistently?
Rented/owned?
 
looks mostly its general moisture from bathrooms/kitchen... its not a huge amount maybe a centre metre in the mornings but the house has quite well sealed but with little air circulation.

I will soon be changing both extractors in the bathroom and en suite as they sound like they are on there way out.

Been fine all day today and then run the kids a bath and now the bedrooms have a little on the windows.

was either thinking a small Dehumid for when we have baths/showers or install a PIV system in the loft.
 
Its not unusual to get some on the windows even with double glazing and goo airflow, its if it hangs about you have an issue

Its just the humidity being drawn out when its hitting the cold window.

Does it clear within a short period? If its baths causing it then I suggest having the door shut when bathing, and then again afterwards, with the window open for 5 minutes. After 5 shut the window and open the door.
Always best to isolate the damp to the area its being caused in and treat locally. Opening the window post bath to let the humidity out is better than letting it into the house and trying to capture it.
 
bloodiedathame said:
We had something similar in our old house, but the hot damp air was drawn into the loft, and it condensed on the roof lining, and fell on everything up there, saturating and ruining loads of stuff.
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Well, it wasn't similar at all, because the machine I'm recommending draws air FROM the loft, blowing down in to the house.

Sounds like you had a faulty extraction fan/extraction fan pipe if your attic was being filled with humid air.
 
HellDiverUK said:
Well, it wasn't similar at all, because the machine I'm recommending draws air FROM the loft, blowing down in to the house.

Sounds like you had a faulty extraction fan/extraction fan pipe if your attic was being filled with humid air.
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Should have explained better, the fan we had was piping cold air into the upstairs landing, there were vents in all the rooms that wen't from ceiling into the loft. The fan was moving air from loft to upstairs but it was creating a vacuum in the loft. Because the loft was sealed (no vent tiles) and insulation up to the rafters, there was very little cool air getting in, what was happening is the hot moist air was being pulled up through the vents in the rooms, cooling and then condensing on the roof lining.
 
bloodiedathame said:
Should have explained better, the fan we had was piping cold air into the upstairs landing, there were vents in all the rooms that wen't from ceiling into the loft. The fan was moving air from loft to upstairs but it was creating a vacuum in the loft. Because the loft was sealed (no vent tiles) and insulation up to the rafters, there was very little cool air getting in, what was happening is the hot moist air was being pulled up through the vents in the rooms, cooling and then condensing on the roof lining.
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That would be a problem, really your set up wasn't right for a PIV. The idea behind them requires the attic to be sealed from the rooms. Also, your attic should be ventilated.
 
enigma27 said:
guys need some help.

Got a 4 bed house where although i have all the trickle vents open on the bedroom windows were still getting condensation in the mornings and early evenings..

will any of these smaller units work if I stick it in the upstairs hallway or will they only work in individual rooms?
Click to expand...

Open your windows, especially this time of year and its free.
 
We have a lot of issues with damp in our main bedroom of our flat but thats because water is coming through the walls from a breakdown in the damp proofing between floors in the flat. Management company don't want to know so we just try and deal with it as best we can. In the winter we have floor to ceiling windows and they are always wet when we wake up in the morning and its cold. By wet I mean literally to the point where the water runs down the windows on bad days. We use a Karcher window-vac to get most of it off and I take perhaps 400ml off the various windows in the flat some days.

To the guy who is getting condensation when running baths, just do what others have suggested, keep the door closed while you are having the bath and afterwards and leave the window open. We don't have a window in the bathroom so I always leave the fan on for 30 minutes + after I have had a bath to clear out all the steam. It makes a massive difference.
 
Johno please? said:
Open your windows, especially this time of year and its free.
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Whilst this would be an ideal solution I really can't see it as being practical where the flat is a ground floor flat and the occupants are out at work all day every weekday.
  • Get up and shower
  • Go to work at 08:00
  • Get home from work at 19:00
  • Cook and eat supper
  • Possibly do some laundry which is inevitably going to be left indoors to dry
  • Listen to music, watch a video or whatever
  • Back to bed
  • Rinse and repeat
Condensation is at best an inevitable consequence of humans going about their daily activity and putting vapour into the atmosphere which then condenses on cold surfaces. Ventilation will help where the outside air has a lower level of humidity than the indoor air.
 
When moisture is starting to build up, is it more likely to be the extractor fan itself, or the pipes possibly being clogged up?

Have noticed our en-suite is starting to get a bit of moisture build up, but the fan itself while it does work is 10 years old now. Reckon it's worth replacing it, or possibly just trying to give a good clean etc?
 
As we are moving in to our new place at the end of March, we can get an idea on if condensation will be a problem.

If it is, we'll be getting a Drimaster PIV installed for sure.
 
stockhausen said:
Condensation is at best an inevitable consequence of humans going about their daily activity and putting vapour into the atmosphere which then condenses on cold surfaces. Ventilation will help where the outside air has a lower level of humidity than the indoor air.
Click to expand...

Uh huh, I deal with this issue quite a lot this time of year at work and apart from buying a dehumidifier, opening the windows is the only option, so its either that or have mouldy walls and window frames.
 
I recently got a Meaco 20L dehumidifier and it's been great so far. Even though we always have windows open, some of the bedrooms still get condensation and I was also getting efflorescence appearing on some of the walls, so thought it was time I bit the bullet and got one. This model seems to be rated highly and was a which winner I believe.

It is expensive, but has a replaceable Hepa filter, so can be used without dehumidifying as an air purifier, or both at the same time. Two fan speeds, which has come in handy for when I'm using it in the same room I'm in as the full speed mode it pretty loud. It seems to be doing its job as the last time I emptied it there was 5 litres of water in the container. I have just set it to 50 humidity on the humidistat and there is no longer any condensation on the window.
 
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