Mould and condensation on bedroom windows?

[anothercold]

We live in a rental property, a Victorian terrace. This is the first winter we've lived here. Our bedroom windows are covered condensation every morning, but it gets really cold in the house so we prefer not to have windows open at night. Today I discovered mould on my toddlers window frame, behind the blackout blind. I've cleaned it with bleach spray and opened the windows and done the same in the master bedroom, but after a full morning with the windows open the condensation is still there on the glass. Sash windows if that makes a difference.

Is this normal? I've only ever lived in modern builds before this and never had this. How can we prevent it?

Yes I agree, I'm shocked at all this.

Leaky homes, roundthehorn.

If you didn't have central heating, you probably had open flues for gas fire fumes (usually the old chimney repurposed). You may even have had a permanent hole through the wall to allow outdoors air in, as an oxygen supply for the gas fire to prevent CO build-up.

With room-sealed gas appliances, double-glazing, and more airtightness, the background ventilation is disappearing and we're having to think more about ventilation (but do use fuel more efficiently).

Our house is a nightmare for this and it is a massive pain. We finally bought a Bosch window vac for about £50 this year that we use daily and that has really helped. The trouble with wiping down is if you then leave the wet cloth, that moisture you wiped still evaporates into the air and therefore remains in the room. With a window vac you can pour the water down the drain.

We've been here 7 years and it's a pain but you can keep on top of it:

Window vac after shower etc and in mornings when there's condensation. Wipe down if no time and put cloth downstairs in machine after wringing down drain.

We have to dry clothes indoors so we pop a dehumidifier by the clothes horse.

Open the windows for some amount of time everyday. Usually do this once kids are at school so the cold doesn't matter.

Regularly clean any mould that does appear before it can spread. HG mould spray/foam or Dettol mould spray both work well. Just spray on and sometimes can just leave it, or wipe down after a bit. Best to ventilate when you've done this.

Obviously some days I'm rushing and don't do those things but I work on the basis of trying to minimise the moisture as much as poss.

A lot of people get angry at landlords but for some houses this is just the reality and you have to just keep on top of it like vacuuming or cleaning the sink 😒

I've found just wiping down the shower screen/tiles with a rubber wiper has helped the bathroom dry out much faster after a shower.

It's all getting water down the plughole instead of into the air.

Opening windows is all very well but if the humidity outside is higher than inside it won't help very much unless there is a good through draft.

A window vac is a quick and easy solution to removing the water from the windows.

Meaco make both compressor and desiccant dehumidifiers and there is a guide on their website which give the pros and cons of both. In the UK you will generally be better of with a desiccant humidifier.

I'd agree with those saying to use a window vac each morning (and bedtime if there's any moisture on the window) they take the water away better than a cloth. And wipe the frame to make sure it's dry.

Have you got a good extractor fan in the bathroom? Steam from running a bath with no (or not very effective) extractor will make a big difference, assuming your bathroom is on the same floor.

I would look out for other damp issues, the condensation on my windows is no where near as bad now I've resolved other issues and reduced the humidity in the house.

How long do you run this for each day? Do I have to swap it between the two bedrooms?

A couple of times per day, maybe 15 mins at a time, for the bedroom. Yes you would need to swap it between rooms but it's easy to move. The water is in a container within the appliance, you just pull out the 'drawer' and it detaches and then you throw the water out (or water your plants with it!).

Dry clothes on a heated horse indoors, but there is a ton of condensation from doing that unless I run the dehumidifier, and leave a nearby window open a little.

Condensation on single glazed windows is a thing. It’s not your LL fault, it’s down to the technology available 100+ years ago. Many period properties are also in conservation areas and single glazed windows can’t be replaced with modern ones. Wiping windows everyday isn’t a very big job, just a couple of minutes to wipe down and wring out the cloth. Or you could run a dehumidifier. I’ve lived in period properties for years and just wiped the windows each day. You’ll get used to it.

Add a cup of table salt to the window sill.

How long do you run this for each day? Do I have to swap it between the two bedrooms?

Depends whether you leave doors open, and how quickly you want to impact a particular room.

You can leave it in a central position and let it slowly dry out the whole house (with doors open).

But I put mine in the room where I dry laundry, and just leave the door open when I don't have laundry on the go so that the whole flat benefits. That room suffers from rising damp because of a building issue, so win-win.

I set mine on the 50 or 60% humidity setting, and just leave it with power on and let the humidistat click it on and off all day.

Invest in a dehumidifier. My son is in the loft room and even though there was no mould, every morning his windows were actually drenched. Since getting once there isnt a drop of water on them. The machine is collecting 6 litres a night on average!