Waking up to wet windows in the winter is never nice, however it is a very common problem for lots of people in the UK. As the temperature outside drops, we experience more condensation, making our homes feel cold and damp. Here we give you our top tips for reducing the amount of condensation on your windows in the morning. It is important to point out that these tips won’t remove condensation completely but they will help to reduce moisture levels in your home.
Disclaimer: If you live in a house with single glazed windows, you will find it significantly harder to reduce the amount of condensation on your windows. An expensive but worth while solution would be to invest in double glazed windows.
1. Make sure your extractor fans work
Having a working extractor fan in every bathroom and the kitchen is an important factor in keeping your home clear from condensation and high humidity levels, which can lead to mould and damp. To make sure your extractor fan is working, turn it on and hold a single piece of paper up against it. If the paper sticks to the extractor fan, it works! If the paper falls, the extractor fan is not good enough, and we would recommend fixing or replacing it ASAP. Sometimes extractor fans just need a good clean, so its worth trying that first!
During every bath or shower, and every time you cook, make sure you turn your extractor fan on and leave it running for a good while. This will reduce the amount of moisture in both your bathroom/s and kitchen, helping to the reduce any build-up of condensation. For the best results, keep your bathroom door shut whilst the extractor fan is running.
2. Open the windows after a bath / shower / whilst cooking
To give your extractor fan a helping hand, after every bath or shower, keep the bathroom door shut and open the bathroom windows. This will speed up the drying process and allow excess moisture to escape outside. Do the same in the kitchen to deal with the moisture there to.
3. Keep the lid on your saucepan when cooking
This may seem like a simple tip, but it can help! When cooking, keep the lid on your saucepan/s as much as possible to prevent all the moisture from boiling water escaping into the kitchen. Also try to simmer rather than boil the water. Regardless, cooking will create a lot of moisture, so keep your kitchen door closed to prevent the steam from moving around the house.
4. Dry your washing in one room
If you don’t own a dehumidifier or a tumble dryer, its best to dry all your washing in one room on a clothes horse. Spreading washing all over the house increases the humidity level in lots of areas, keeping it in one room with the door clothes will be much more beneficial. Better yet, if you can, dry your washing in a bathroom with the extractor fan on and window open.
A few smaller tips to consider:
5. Mop up any condensation that does appear to stop it from re-evaporating during the day, and coming back at night.
6. Keep your windows open when exercising indoors.
7. Do not use canister gas heaters, they give off a huge amount of moisture.
8. Use a dehumidifier!
Leaving lots of windows open during winter does cause cold draughts and throws the air that we have paid to heat to the outside. As heating is so expensive these days many people prefer a different solution.
Of course, the best solution to permanently reduce the amount of condensation in your home is a dehumidifier. Dehumidifiers are designed to remove excess moisture from your entire home, stablaising its humidity level, and therefore preventing the build-up of condensation (as well as lots of other benefits). Leaving a dehumidifier in a central area, with all internal doors open, will make sure you wake up to clear, dry windows every morning. Hundreds of thousands of homes across the UK are using a Meaco dehumidifier and have experienced first-hand the difference it has made to their homes.
Why not have a look at our brand-new range of dehumidifiers, the MeacoDry Arete® One range? It consists of two dehumidifiers, a 20L and 25L version, designed for 4/5/5+ bedroom houses. Not only will they prevent
condensation build up, but they will also prevent damp and mould, dry your laundry faster, reduce your energy bills and purify your air. If you live in a smaller home or flat, take a look at our MeacoDry ABC range of dehumidifiers.
Featured in this post: MeacoDry Arete® One and MeacoDry ABC range.
7 Responses
Hi Chris,
Thanks for the suggestions. Would you suggest closing doors to the two unused rooms (they can get very cold which spreads cold to other areas, and are also prone to mould in corners) or keeping them open? We heat minimally during the day and have heating on 21-22 Celsius from 6-12 in the evenings.
Our small room is the room that is very cold (as its above a garage) and prone to mould. Would you suggest drying washing in there is a good idea? Would we need to have the heating on at the same time as running the dehumidifier?
Any other suggestions welcome.
I have been using my Meaco dehumidifier for about 3 months. We run it in the hall which is usually around 18-19 degrees Celsius. My concern is that the humidity reading never drops below 65 even when running for several hours. We air the flat daily and only have 2 adults living here. Windows are double glazed and newly fitted. The flat is a 1970s build maisonette in Bournemouth, with only one flat below us. We find mould forms very quickly if the flat is not aired daily.
Pree,
The important thing to make a note of here is that the relative humidity of the flat will largely be a result of the amount of moisture you are putting into the flat from bathing, washing, cooking and drying laundry. When you air the flat, whether this helps to reduce the relative humidity or not depends on how warm you have the flat, if the heating is on low or just for a few hours a day then opening the windows will probably increase the room humidity.
Our advice would be to make sure that the filter on the dehumidifier is clean so that air can flow through the dehumidifier, let the dehumidifier run 24/7, make sure that your extractor fans are clean and running and dry washing on a clothes horse in a small room with the dehumidifier running in Laundry Mode.
Hope this helps.
Chris
I have 2 meaco dehumidifiers. One condenser type in the kitchen where it also works a treat for drying washing out over night, and another one of the non condenser ones in the porch. It is a single wall and gets quite cold so this type works best here zero mould for 2 years now and we only put it on for an hour a night!
Excellent advice
Thanks Brian!
Agreed Brian!