I noticed the bathroom door was sticking this morning, not something that has troubled us over the winter, so why now in March is it suddenly sticking?
Because I am no different to everyone else and sometimes I don’t follow my own rules (and I get lazy!).
In winter it is easy to see the effects of excess moisture as it condenses on our windows and this drives us to use a dehumidifier. As the weather warms up in Spring we get less condensation on the windows and we are more likely to open the windows to clear any condensation because the draught from the open window will not be as cold as it is in winter. With less troublesome condensation to deal with we see less of a need to run a dehumidifier and it spends more time turned off.
But just because we cannot see the moisture on the windows does not mean that it is not there and with the windows that bit warmer we no longer have a reliable indicator as to whether the relative humidity is too high.
Well actually we do – the dehumidifier.
If the dehumidifier had been left on then it would have turned itself off when the relative humidity was acceptable and then turned itself back on when the air needed drying. In my case the tank filled up with water, the dehumidifier turned off and for reason I did not get round to emptying the dehumidifier for three or four days. These three or four days were long enough for the bathroom door to start jamming.
So why did the door start to jam just because the dehumidifier was turned off?
The door is made from wood and wood likes to be in equilibrium, with its surroundings. This means that as the relative humidity increases the door ‘breathes’ in more of this moisture so that its own internal relative humidity is the same as the air around it. If the door takes on more moisture then this makes it bigger and of course if the door swells up then it starts to jam.
So the solution is for me to run the dehumidifier and to leave it turned on because even if there is no condensation on the windows other things still need looking after because the door is symbolic of all of the other organic materials in the house that will be taking on the Spring moisture – books, pictures, clothes, tools, furniture etc., none of which I want to start showing signs of mould growth.
So I will try and follow my own advice and leave the dehumidifier on and for those who are new to dehumidifiers and damp try listening to your door, it could be telling you that you have humidity problem this spring.
