Windows condensation - Suggestions needed
 

We have double pane windows in our almost 4 year old house. The inside
of the window has lot of condensation and water drops forming and
collecting on the window sill. Is this normal? My homeowners manual
says that this happens "due to good insulation" and it's not under
warranty?

Could someone please explain what I should do? Is this because of good
insulation or poor insulation? Is there anything I can do to prevent
this from happening?

Thanks.

Typically that happens when you have your humidifier set too high, or boil a
lot of water without using an exhaust fan.

You are setting yourself up for moisture and mold problems if you don't
control it. It is certainly not a warranty issue; they are supposed to make
the house tight. Better windows are less likely to do it, but you would
still have the humidity.

On 2 Feb 2005 14:01:38 -0800, wrote:

We have double pane windows in our almost 4 year old house. The inside
of the window has lot of condensation and water drops forming and
collecting on the window sill. Is this normal? My homeowners manual
says that this happens "due to good insulation" and it's not under
warranty?

Could someone please explain what I should do? Is this because of good
insulation or poor insulation? Is there anything I can do to prevent
this from happening?

Thanks.


It's happening because you have warm, humid (relatively humid) indoor
air coming into contact with cold windows/window frames.

Your available solutions fall into two categories:
Warm the windows up, or prevent humid indoor air
from coming into contact with them.

Clear plastic covering the window opening will trap air against the
window, eliminating the water problem.

Greetings,

Installing storm windows might help.

William


wrote in message
ups.com...
We have double pane windows in our almost 4 year old house. The inside
of the window has lot of condensation and water drops forming and
collecting on the window sill. Is this normal? My homeowners manual
says that this happens "due to good insulation" and it's not under
warranty?

Could someone please explain what I should do? Is this because of good
insulation or poor insulation? Is there anything I can do to prevent
this from happening?

Thanks.

If you have metal frame window and the water is condensing on the metal
frame, then one solution is to replace them with vinyl frame windows.

The other solution is to reduce humidity inside the house. Use bath fans
when taking shower, use kitchen fan when cooking, don't use humidifier,
reduce indoor temperature, ... I use to use humidifier in the winter. Then
one day I wonder, where has all the evaporated water gone to? Probably
inside the wall. So I stop using the humidifier and instead drink more
water.

I also read that an air-to-air heat exchanger, which lets your house breath
without losing alot of heat, helps reduce indoor moisture.

wrote in message
ups.com...
We have double pane windows in our almost 4 year old house. The inside
of the window has lot of condensation and water drops forming and
collecting on the window sill. Is this normal? My homeowners manual
says that this happens "due to good insulation" and it's not under
warranty?

Could someone please explain what I should do? Is this because of good
insulation or poor insulation? Is there anything I can do to prevent
this from happening?

Thanks.

wrote in message
ups.com...

We have double pane windows in our almost 4 year old house. The inside
of the window has lot of condensation and water drops forming and
collecting on the window sill. Is this normal?

Depending on the temperature outside, yes.
If you go much below zero Fahr. triple glazing
is your only escape. (You would not like indoors
a humidity low enough to prevent condensation.)

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

wrote in message
ups.com...
We have double pane windows in our almost 4 year old house. The inside
of the window has lot of condensation and water drops forming and
collecting on the window sill. Is this normal? My homeowners manual
says that this happens "due to good insulation" and it's not under
warranty?

Could someone please explain what I should do? Is this because of good
insulation or poor insulation? Is there anything I can do to prevent
this from happening?

Thanks.


i've been going thru the same problem for years. we had wooden double hung
windows w/ alum.storm windows. last year we installed Certainteed vinyl
replacement windows, only because i didn't need a permit and that any
rennovations involving new window installation required egress windows which
would not have been an attractive feature or space friendly for our floor
plans in our home. i've found that on extremely cold and dry days, the
moisture inside starts as soon as the sun goes down and that even running
the hot water in the kitchen can cause the windows to start clouding
quickly. i've resorted to keeping a couple windows cracked open slightly
throughout the house and try as hard as i can to keep the humidity level
below 35% (very difficult) and bumping the heat to 70-71 deg.F from 5pm to
about 10:30pm. on cold and rainy days, there is zero build up or when the
humidity level outside is great than the level inside the house. i also
found that ceiling fans in reversse mode help rather well too. on nice days
don't be afraid to open t he windows and let some fresh air in.

good luck,.....

mike................