Dehumidifiers

[winjim]

We have a dehumidifier which we used an awful lot when we were washing cloth nappies every other day. My understanding is that provided you run it at a time when you would normally have the heating on, then it's essentially free as the heat it produces offsets the central heating requirement.

 

[mjr]

My understanding is that provided you run it at a time when you would normally have the heating on, then it's essentially free as the heat it produces offsets the central heating requirement.

Surely not, unless your central heating is one of those old inefficient warm air electric systems?

+1 to the ventilation and window vac approach. Just remember to completely empty it before putting it away for the summer.

In an old house, I used something like the Unibond moisture trap, but with granules which were cheaper and probably more effective (more surface area) but messier to refill.

 

[SteveF]

A bathroom will always have condensation after a shower.

We use a "Karcher window vac" to clean out the shower cubicle (very good), then open the window.

I was able to replace the extractor fan unit with a decent inline extractor fan positioned directly above the shower, amazing
how ineffective some of the fan units are.

Hopefully not derailing the thread...

Are the window vacs any good in general, am pondering one?

 

[mjr]

Are the window vacs any good in general, am pondering one?

They suck. which is good. I'm not aware of any problems yet (been about 18 months) and it's quicker than mopping up with a cloth. If you use it for rinsing windows after washing, the stuff that comes off can be pretty grim despite the window looking clean by that point.

 

[Cheddar George]

Are the window vacs any good in general, am pondering one?

Yes, they remove about two cups worth of water from the shower cubicle which would otherwise have to evaporate into the atmosphere.

Importantly for us it leaves the tiles and glass clean and streakfree, we live a very hard water area and the limescale is awful.

 

[oldfatfool]

We have new windows insulation etc and still get a lot of moisture in the bedroom, i run very warm and put out a lot of water dehumidifier takes the excess out cheap to run 4p hour i read somewhere depending on size. Wont dry out wallpaper but will find water from somewhere if left running as water in for eg the toilet bowl will evaporate over time to keep equilibrium for a given temp.

Also have one in the caravan and at this time of year itis a godsend, all that condensation would have to go somewhere and we are looking at 2+ ltrs a night.

 

[Accy cyclist]

Maybe having quite a few plants in my flat doesn't help? I don't leave them in standing water but they're quite big so i must pour about 5 litres of water onto them twice a week. A daft question but if i was to kind of starve them of water a bit, would they suck the water out the atmosphere and keep the condensation down?

 

[Globalti]

We don't suffer too badly from condensation because the house was built about 25 years ago so the insulation is better but after a shower I do go over the glass and shower walls with a rubber blade, chase all the water into the tray then chase it into the drain but this is more to discourage mildew, which is growing on the grout in places. We dont have extractor fans because we face west over open fields and enjoy good breezes!

 

[Levo-Lon]

Ventilation is key as stated.
You could try these, we use them as the house is old and has 9" walls, they are cheap and work.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01C6V5IVG/ref=s9_acsd_hps_bw_c_x_1_w

 

[Spinney]

Maybe having quite a few plants in my flat doesn't help? I don't leave them in standing water but they're quite big so i must pour about 5 litres of water onto them twice a week. A daft question but if i was to kind of starve them of water a bit, would they suck the water out the atmosphere and keep the condensation down?

No, they'd just die. They take in water through their roots, not their leaves.

 

[winjim]

No, they'd just die. They take in water through their roots, not their leaves.

Yeah but at least they'd stop transpiration.

 

[screenman]

A funny sight I saw once was a guy with a dehumidifier running in a newly plastered room whilst he had the windows open. Maybe he was a cyclist and did not want it to rain on his way home.

 

[MikeG]

Just to illustrate why glazing is the site of condensation.....

I have brand new xenon filled double-soft-coated triple glazing in timber frames, just about as efficient as it is possible to buy in Britain. These give an over-all U value of somewhere between 0.8 and 1.0* (not to be confused with centre-pane U values, which will be lower). This still means that the windows let out approximately 10 times the heat of the same area of the walls they are fitted in, and about 16 or 17 times the losses through a wall of a typical modern house built to current regulations. Imagine, then how much heat goes out of double glazing, and at the extreme, single glazing.

* Varies with the proportion of frame to glazed area.

 

[Sandra6]

I found using a dehumidifier to be very expensive, and it didn't do much for the problem of damp we had in the room.
If it's just condensation on windows, and you've made sure your room is well ventilated enough, try using the little sachets of silica gel you get in bags or helmets when you buy them. You can also buy an incar "bag" full of the stuff for about a tenner in halfords. They do actually work and absorb a lot of moisture.

 

[Threevok]

We never had any problems when we had single glazed wooden windows.

Since having double glazing installed ten years ago, problems with condensation dampness ensued

I am considering buying two of those extractors that recess into the upstairs ceiling (one for the landing and one for the bathroom) and suck moisture out of the house, into the attic.

They are cheap to run apparently, but not cheap to buy