If I can't heat my house, how do I stop damp?

[babysoupdragon2]

We live in a 1930s semi.

Every winter we have huge issues with condensation on the windows, I have to do a daily window vac otherwise it spreads to the walls. This is despite ventilating the rooms well. No other damp causes.

The only thing we've found to help is to not let the temperature drop below about 15 overnight. But there's no way we will be able to pay for this this year.

Anyone have any suggestions?

I agree with the PP who says to remove soft furnishings too, this changed my life.

I have no carpet only lino.
And I put all my clothes into plastic storage tubs and then they don’t absorb any of the damp and didn’t smell.
I also put my duvet in the airing cupboard during the day.

Mines rented accommodation so I can’t change it but as a PP said it had a chimney that was boarded up and I think this is a big factor of why it’s so damp.

In our student house we put bowls of salt on the windowsill and the became they ended up looking like bowls of water in a day or so. We found it to be cheap and easy to do/clean afterwards

Window film (secondary glazing type rather than they type that is in contact with the glass). Works in Canada! Not sure about the UK. Only for windows you don’t need to open all winter, so not bedrooms. Here’s a pic of it working.

Ventilation is the answer. I live in an European country. The house is basically an uninsulated box on a high up hill, with no central heating. 9 months of the year, this is fine. In winter it is cold. Last year my bedroom was around 4°C for 3 months. However, the bedroom and bathroom windows are left open, just an inch or so, and we don’t get mould. The living room has a fire, so that’s ok. We also have a dog, which is not keen on being too hot, so the front door is left open a fraction so he can come and go as he pleases. It’s not much fun if we have a bad winter, but at least it’s short compared to the U.K.

Dehumidifier and no long baths/showers to prevent bathroom steaming up (quick sink wash only). Or if you do want a bath/shower get a small leccy heater and put it outside bathroom door (with door open) to dry out the excess moisture.
Dry clothes outside or laundrette.

I did that with bubble wrap and cling film . Managed to tape it so I could still open the windows.
not the most aesthetically pleasing. But made a massive difference

I've been concerned about this, too.

We live in a small 1950s flat which has issues with mould and damp all year round. We're on the top floor and the council has recently replaced the windows and roof and insulated the loft, but it doesn't really seem to make much difference. We do dry washing inside but the mould is in the rooms we don't dry washing in, too.

Heating helps a bit but we couldn't really afford to have it on much in previous winters - we won't be able to at all this year. I have health issues which mean I need to keep warm but obviously I won't be able to, which is also a worry.

we have a 25l Meaco dehumidifier and it is amazing. Costs 2p a min to run and helps dry the clothes!

We've got a PIV unit installed. Proof in the pudding this winter.

Dehumidifiers are great, amazing and horrifying how much water they suck out of the air. We have 3, needed them in our two storey old house with its small rooms (Victorian, solid stone walls), but just about to move to a new build so will keep only one to dry laundry. Currently renting a newbuild, cannot believe the difference, lack of damp/lack of condensation etc (along with many other benefits). Not had a winter here yet, and no need for heating, but even so now it's been rainy and cool all week (northwest), yet we've been perfectly comfortable and warm indoors. In the old house we would be wearing fleece, using hot water bottle etc. Will never buy an old house again.

I try to open the vent on the windows in winter but my husband just comes along later and closes them. He also closes any windows I leave open, even if it's just a tiny crack.

We get black mould in the bathroom even though the window has been open all summer, there are 2 of those mini damp traps in the room and there's an extractor fan that I leave on for hours after the shower is used. We use a window vac to dry up as much of the water as possible, too.

We live in Scotland so can't possibly put clothes outside to dry in winter. We tumble dry as much as possible but the rest has go be put on airers, or even radiators, inside.

I'm at my wits end. There isn't a huge amount of condensation but I worry myself sick over the black mould; I use a special cleaner for it but it just comes back.

We had the heating on a fair bit last winter and I'm terrified for the upcoming winter. Reading this thread with great interest!

2p a minute!!! So nearly a tenner a night. Was that a typo?

Your bedroom was 4C for 3 months????? I'd have died of hypothermia!

Our bathroom window has also been wide open all summer and yet we have mould above the picture rail and onto the ceiling. Why is that happening when we are ventilating so constantly

@TenoringBehind

That's great. You'd be surprised at the number of people who leave their windows open & exclaim at how much water their dehumidifier has collected!!

...and yet how wet their beams/carpets etc still are. Flood restoration is enlightening!! 🤣

@QuebecBagnet , 2 duvets. Only go in there to sleep, and get dressed. All clothes out on the bed beforehand as I used to do for the kids’ school uniform when they were young. Dry and dress in a few minutes, get to the living room with oil radiators and fire. It’s not fun, but it’s very short lived.

Also 1930s house with window condensation.

Its the hot/cold boundary in the uninsulated bay that causes ours. Downstairs brick bay seems fine out but bedroom upstairs is really bad. I got some insulated wallpaper from Homebase or Amazon and put it along the bay. That helps a little (also the heat goes straight back out the bay without it). Then every morning religiously the window gets wiped over and I open the windows a bit.

We don’t have it anywhere else though, but we did add a ton of insulation to the loft so maybe that’s stopping it elsewhere?

Oh and the 4° was only at night. Was around 14° in the day, unless the weather was really miserable.

I remember using a wick (thin rope) to drain water from the window into a bowl on the floor if that’s any help. Is that how the traps mentioned above, work?

Had a piv unit fitted last winter as a last resort to control awful damp in a North facing bedroom. Condensation problem solved. No more mold.

I do think they make the upstairs temperature a degree or two cooler, but dry air is easier to heat than damp air. And also I was very worried about the black mold where my daughter slept which I was cleaning off every week with HG mold remover

I realise the above is not a cheap option, but a long term investment/fix

@ChipsRoastOrBoiled we’re in Scotland. Our washing goes out on the line all through winter. My reckoning is that dropping the moisture in the clothes even by a little is better than having it in the house.
We have a thing outside that measures relative humidity so if it’s low, even if it’s not windy, we do the washing.

@Sooverthisnow We're in the west of Scotland and the amount of rain here is more than anything I've ever seen before when I lived in eastern England. Our washing would never dry. On the odd bright day I hang out the washing as soon as I can, but those are few and far between, sadly.

Yes! Sorry, 2p an hour!!!

That hydrometer doesn't look like it shows a dew point which is the temperature at which your current level of humidity would turn to liquid water as opposed to just staying humid air.