Condensation

[HappyFace]

How do I stop condensation on the inside of my windows indoors? Its everywhere and ruining all the paintwork.

[dannydingbat]

Try rubbing the glass with half a cut onion, wiping afterwards with a cloth or paper towel. Saw it on TV and its a cheap enough way to see if it works.

[Clanad]

If you have that much condensation, you obviously have a problem with the amount of humidity is the house. Sometimes, a simple solution is to turn on a bathroom vent fan, if you have one. If you do, try it. Leave it on for 12 hours or so. It doesn't use much electricity. Barring that, you should try a de-humidifier. they work quite well excpet for the inconvenience of emptying the collection tank... Best of luck, by the way.

[Gnu]

The condensation inside is because the house has warm, moist air, which loses its moisture when it hits something cold. A de-humidifier will make the warm air less moist.

Putting the windows on a vent setting, or leaving some slightly open (at least when you are in) will increase the ventilation and reduce the moisture content of the air inside.

Certain things (showers, drying washing inside) add to the humidity and extra ventilation would be needed.

[Gef]

Trust Gnu. You need some ventialtion so open a window.

[joko]

i've heard cat litter in a tray near the bottom helps

[vejaypatel]

personally, i believe that if you have so much condensation that it's ruining paintwork, then surely you have a serious damp problem?
if it's not just moisture from showers & clothes drying or cooking, then you need to find a trustworthy expert to check for;
*leaky roof
*dodgy guttering
*plumbing leaks
for your bathroom you should have 6 - 10 air changes per hour of ventilation & just slightly less for you kitchen.
if you have a well ventilated, adequately heated, without any dodgy leaks then you shouldn't need a dehumidifier.

[Tim B]

Heat is everything and so is air movement. If you increase the heat and throughput of air by whatever means you will solve your problem. But, as said before if there is a water ingress problem it's best sorted first.

[havadryhome]

firstly 3 things must be adequate -

1 heating, 2 insulation, 3 ventilation.

Heating is important because it holds more moisture than cold air. As the air warms it helps water to evaporate into its gaseous state which is called water vapour. The amount of water vapour is referred to as the relative humidity.

Insulation is important because it helps the fabric of the building stay warmer and makes heating more efficient.

Now that the water is in its gaseous state we need to remove it from the building by VENTILATION. If adequate ventilation is not provided when the air cools down it will reach the dew point and release the vapour as liquid water.

This cycle needs to be broken and you should also know that if the condensation you can see is causing damage to paint work then there will also be interstitial condensation occurring within the wall plaster etc. I would suspect that you have black spot mould growing around the window frames and possibly behind furniture.

Dehumidifiers only work in the room they are in, are noisy at night so usually get switched off and are expensive to run. I personally think a positive input ventilation system would benefit your property and your health as damp conditions are bad for you. these system are cheap to run, virtually silent in operation and they do work!