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Consider your home and the day-to-day
activities that take place in it;
the washing and drying of weekly
clothes, hot showers and baths,
cooking of food and boiling kettles.
All of these activities let off
steam and unfortunately there is
only one place for it to go - into
the air in your home. Since the
1970's there has been a drive towards
insulating homes, mainly to preserve
energy (keeping your bills down),
the addition of double glazing and
keeping warmth in. The downside
of this is condensation appearing
generally first thing in the morning
on the inside of your windows -
what chance has it got? The important
point to make here is that a small
amount of moisture can be ignored
- it's almost taken for granted.
But, if your windows are streaming
in the morning (even worse if it
carries on latter into the day)
causing rotting frames (not PVCu
may we add) and wet window cills,
curtains or carpets then you have
a problem!
A frequent question is - can double
glazing prevent this from happening?
And the answer is no, double glazing
can not entirely stop this. Condensation
occurs when warm air (with all this
moisture) makes contact with a cold
surface - think about your mirrors
steaming up when you have a bath.
Double glazing can greatly reduce
this from happening simply because
the inner pane of glass will not
be as cold as the outer pane or
indeed the surface of a single glazed
window! But it is impossible for
double glazing to prevent this from
happening completely. However, the
following points can help you to
further reduce condensation: -
- Moisture in the air
circulates easily on convection
currents
keep internal doors to kitchens
and bathrooms closed
however, keep bedroom doors open
during the day
curtains should really be a minimum
of 15cm (6") away from the
window with suitable space top
and bottom to ensure good air
circulation
- Heated warm air holds
more moisture than cold air
keep your heating system on low
during cold weather
marginally increase the temperature
in areas where condensation is
a particular problem
if possible, fit radiators under
windows to maintain the temperature
of the inner pane
- Provide a natural ventilation
(especially in worst areas)
open a window to its night ventilation
position (see security section)
fit a trickle vent in the frame
fit a ventilation/extractor unit
in the kitchen and bathroom
fit wall vents to provide constant
(and closeable) flow of air
In really bad situations use a
de-humidifier (but please remember
it needs to be left running for
a few days before any effect can
be seen)
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