as winter is almost here the condensation will be appearing on the walls & windows v soon!
i was wondering as i have a 3 floor victorian (ground/1st/attic) and a sizable ground floor extension what would be the best option?
2 small humidifiers (upstairs & downstairs) or 1 large one(landing maybe) ?
also i would appreciate if anyone can recommend a good brand & a decent price hopefully!

perhaps you mean Dehumidifiers...can't recommend one..ventilation is the key to combating condensation.

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Verwood Handyman
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Zahmed, depends on how much you want to spend, hiring might be a better option? http://www.speedyservices.com/quicksear ... ductType=1

SSM

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lolz yeh i meant to say dedumidifiers
i have tried ventilating with some succcess but as its winter its gets real cold as i happen to live in front of a big park with a big pond!
i would rather buy one for the long term as i might have to pay up anyway if i damage a hire one

Hi Zahmed

Have you got
- extractors in your bathroom & kitchen
- trickle vents on your windows
- fairly consistent heating (rather than on max and then off completely)

Don't know what your budget is but I think you should consider a possitive pressure ventilation system (eg. Enviro Vent - top of the range really). These systems exchange humid air from your home for dryer air from outside & use a heat exchanger to make it more efficient. This should be a more cost effective long term solution rather than dehumidifiers.


If you want to go with dehumidifiers I would guess that several in different locations would be better than one big one. I'm afraid I have no experience as to which ones are best. I would be interested to hear your feedback on dehumidifiers if you go ahead with them.

All the best,

Ben

How many people live in the house, what sort of heating is it (central, log burner, etc) and as above - do you have extractors for cooker/bathroom/showers and another one is clothes - how do you dry them (tumble dryer or radiators).

BG

hi,
do you have any experience with such systems? they seem abit expensive but as you said might be worth the money in the long term.....
i already have extractors in kitchen & bath & some trickle vents but not on all windows
im curious as to what the diff is between having constant low heat & a short burst at max temp?
are you saying the fuel bill will be the same for both options
bdw i have a central heating water system & clothes are usually dried indoors during winter (which i no doesn't help)

Condensation is caused by people, cooking, washing, breathing, sweating, drying things indoors, having indoor plants, fish tanks, small animals, children.
All the above produce water vapour that is attracted to cold surfaces, mainly windows.
Provided it only forms on windows and someone wipes it up...no problem.
As mentioned earlier, you can get rid of condensation by opening a window.
Water vapour is attracted to cold and areas of low pressure, usually the air outside is colder and drier than inside (but not always)
You may like to consider, you can open a window for say 10 minutes at no cost, other than the hot wet air that escapes.
You can buy a dehumidifier at some cost, run it at high cost and in so doing place an almost freezing surface in your home to attract and collect the water vapour.
If you turn the heating off or down at night, then the cooling air cannot hold the same amount of water vapour condensation forms on cold windows.
If you close the blinds or draw the curtains, you create a low temperature zone behind them, this again causes condensation on the windows.
If you keep the temperature in your home at a constant, you cause less condensation.
As it is nearly always coldest around 7am, you need to run the dehumidifier over night....they do make a noise.

Hi Zahmed,

If you heat for short bursts on max when the heating is off the temperature drops and the relative humidity goes up. (Hot air can hold more water vapour). I would strongly recommend keeping the heating on (at about 15) over night to keep moisture in the air rather than condensing out onto colder surfaces.

I have some experience with possitive pressure ventilation systems - they are wonderful, but a bit of a luxury.

I think you should have the heating on more consistently and look into a tubmle dryer. If you ever feel the weight of washing as it comes out of the machine you'll realise how much moisture you put into the air by drying indoors. Tumble dryers which pump wet air out of the house (ventilated) or trap the moisture in the machine (condensor); either way the water isn't in the air and on your windows.

Hope that helps,

Ben