Winter condensation can be a problem for the home owner in more ways than one. The most obvious is window condensation. We can’t miss this one, the older colonial steel windows are notorious for the collection of condensation. All windows will allow condensation to form. The fact is that we create a lot of moisture within the home due to the normal household activities of cooking, showering, laundering as well as the inhabitants of the home breathing.
This moisture can add up to 12-15 litres of moisture a day. What can we do to keep the internal moisture to a minimum – when cooking and showering we should always make sure we are using exhaust fans. Drying clothes – if you have a clothes dryer make sure it is ducted to the outside as these can create up to 6 litres of moisture on their own. Do not dry clothes inside the home on clothes hangers – if you need to do this do it outside under cover if you can. We can’t help breathing it is a fact for life however when sleeping if we can leave our bedroom doors open, this will make a marked difference with the air movement.
Knowing that some areas of Australia can be extremely cold during winter, leaving windows slightly ajar will help with air movement to alleviate the excessive moisture build up in the home. Allow for windows to be open sometime during the warmer part of the day to allow fresh air exchange throughout the home. The idea in winter is to keep home moisture to a minimum in the living areas. These are the minimal things you can do before you need to use mechanical means dehumidifiers etc to rid yourself of internal excessive moisture.
The main trick to ridding yourself of condensation problems is ventilation or if you like air circulation – the cheapest way is open your windows and release any built up moisture. So keep all your wet areas clean and dry and do whatever you can to keep your living area dry.
YOUR ROOFSPACE CAN ALSO BE A MAJOR CONDENSATION PROBLEM AREA DUE TO OVER INSULATION, NO INSULATION OR EVEN BAD BUILDING PRACTICE
So you need to have an effective roof ventilation system that will allow the ambient temperature to circulate the roofspace much the same as opening all your windows. Roof ventilation will alleviate the damage to the roofspace building materials, such as timber and saturated ceiling insulation which could become a breeding ground for termites, mould and Sick Building Sydnrome (SBS). See BLOG on this site “Warning ! Read Before You Design Your Next Housing Project”. Any moist heated air that escapes the home to the roofspace, will only create havoc in the roofspace. It is a common misconception that this lost air to the roofspace has value to heating the home, this is as far from the truth as pigs may fly.