Damp Question

[DampityDamp]

We have a damp house, could only afford one dehumidifier so that’s currently in the worse room where we’ve had fabric turn mouldy so had to chuck stuff out.

Question is, our bedroom says it’s 19.5. We have a baby so obviously don’t want it too high.

So if it’s 19.5, why does it feel damp and cold? The pillows and duvet on the bed feel damp and cold to touch.

I don’t want baby to overheat but also am worried about bedding, clothes and other furnishings going mouldy if we don’t turn the heat up in that room. And it doesn’t feel warm at all even if it says it’s 19.5.

Any ideas?

Temperature and humidity are different things. It can be very warm, but still humid, like in tropical climates, and that’s your dampness. Moist air feels colder than warm air, so at high humidity it will feel cold even if the air temp is relatively high.

Are you still opening windows to vent out the moist air? You absolutely must do this - avoiding dampness and condensation needs both heat and ventilation.

Thank you. Yes trying to open windows when it’s not raining!

How long do they need to be open for each day?

Also does that mean baby won’t feel warm at 19.5 then? If I feel the air is cold?

I’m afraid I don’t know anything about looking after babies - I look after old buildings, which is where I get my knowledge from. It’s hard to know how long to leave the windows open for - if you can get a weather station or clock which shows you both the temperature and the humidity in the room, then you can monitor how long it takes to drop. Aim for between 40% and 60%. Certainly ventilate a bedroom for a good while each morning, after you’ve been breathing out water vapour all night.

That’s great thank you. At the moment our rooms seem to be sitting at about 60% humidity.

So by opening windows but keeping heat on that’s more likely to keep the damp away? It just feels like you’re heating the outside 😂

This is an old damp house unfortunately. I’m not sure if you can ever fully get rid of damp?

Humidity is high everywhere at the moment, the important thing is to ventilate well so that stale air is replaced with fresh, and minimise adding more humidity in the home by using your extractor fans in the kitchen and bathroom if you have them, putting lids on cooking pots and not drying wet washing indoors.

Moving furniture away from external walls will help moisture dissipate better too.

Doesn't sound right. 60% RH normally feels pretty dry in my place.

What sort of dehumidifier do you have ?

How much water is it pulling out of the damp room ?

Are you putting it in there and closing the door ?

I've just checked and the room I'm in is 20° and 58% RH in an old stone cottage, so not far off your figures @DampityDamp and it feels very dry. When indoor RH is high it's noticeable as any waxed wood feels tacky, but my soft furnishings/bedding have never felt damp.

You just need to keep on top of it by heating as much as you can afford, let a bit of air in and get a window vac to dry the windows in the morning. You can probably open your windows a crack but still keep them locked and that shouldn't really affect the temperature too much unless it's really cold as in frosty outside, but will help with air flow. Windows don't need to be wide open.