To think more cold houses will mean more damp houses?

[NamelessNancy]

Lots of talk about delaying turning the heating on, dropping thermostats, heating people not the home. Whilst to a degree (no pun intended) that's all doable, if combined with things like drying washing indoors, won't it cause a lot more damp? Obviously I don't think we need to heat out houses so much we're wandering around in t shirts with snow on the ground outside but it's still going to be necessary to heat the buildings rather than just the inhabitants. I'm a bit worried that people are going to not only suffer with being uncomfortably cold this winter but it will mean more are exposed to damp, mouldy living conditions. No answers I'm afraid (would appreciate some if anyone else does?)

Yes, it will.

Yes it will, especially given the standard of most housing stock.

I know with my house I'll need to keep it above 19 degrees to ensure the damp stays away, and be very careful with ventilation. That and keeping on top of maintenance jobs. We have a new boiler, so I'm hoping that will make a saving.

My next door neighbour has a shoddy landlord and the damp just means it never get warm.

Agree it will unless something is done to counteract it such as running a dehumidifier. But then what are people supposed to do if they can't afford heating 🤷

I said this to my friend who is planning on not putting her boiler on over the winter. She will shower at the gym.

She says her house won't get damp 🤷‍♀️

Exactly - it really is a catch 22 isn't it? Lots of talk which implies people need to toughen up and just put another jumper on but it really isn't that simple. Seeing living standards eroded like this is shocking.

We fitted a positive input ventilation system a couple of years ago. We get no damp or condensation at all now.

Yes but heating over 19 sounds a reach. Your house must have serious issues if you have to keep it at that temperature. Ventilation also helps. Much of the uk housing stock was not built to be centrally heated, after all!

Yep. I've been trying to explain this to DP when he says we just need to wear more layers in the house. I've put my foot down though and said the heating will need to go on at some points to prevent damp.

Yes. There comes a point where I have to put some heat in the bathroom or it’s just permanently damp. I open the windows after every shower, some days and some temperatures if isn’t enough. It needs heat to dry the walls etc.

Yeah, and added to that wet washing drying indoors as people aren’t putting their tumble dryers on. We don’t have outside space to dry. I’m not convinced those heated air dryers are the be all and end all.

It might actually work out cheaper to just pay for the damp to be treated.

Yes I live in an older house that is prone to damp if k don’t ventilate and heat properly, I’m worried about how the winter will be

I think more guidance on airing out houses on fine dry days would be helpful, it takes about ten minutes to "change the air".

We have a victorian terrace and as I grew up in them I know to leave the air bricks alone and that venting is an important part of the build.

Also not drying washing on radiators! The heated airer has actually worked brilliantly as I use it in a well ventilated, high traffic area with no issues.

My bathroom otoh is a nightmare now the kids are teens and have much needed daily shower.

I think this every time I see a thread about setting the thermostat to 15*c

I had a damp report done - the guy who did it said homes should be kept at or over 17*c to stop mould spores germinating.

If ppl can't heat their homes sufficiently, they will need to be mindful to air their properties well & dust regularly to stop mould & the musty odour.

It's like we've gone back 100 years, but hopefully modern built properties will be more resilient to damp.

Really? Have you lived with damp?

we are in a better flat now as we bought last year (still have to be very careful with ventilation) but our last rented flat, the damp was awful. It spored mould up all the walls and it got into our clothes, bedding etc

Not an expert (feel free to correct me!) but when damp is caused by condensation I think the best treatment is to heat and ventilate the house isn't it? Maybe with a dehumidifier thrown in to the equation too.

@aramox1 yes, old victorian terrace, and to be fair I only put the heating on during the day, haven't had any problems so far, so I can see me dropping the temperature down until we start seeing problems.

Whilst Victorian houses weren't built to be centrally heated I'm not sure they were necessarily the healthiest places to live. I'm pretty sure lung health wasn't great back then and don't really fancy going back to that personally.

Yes I have thought this as well. All these tips for coming yourself warm this winter whilst ignoring the fact that houses needed to be heated and ventilated to stop condensation building up and causing mould. I have only just got on top of getting rid of the mould out of my house and I'm not about to let it get mouldy again.

Yes this is correct. I had a damp survey on my house and whilst some of it downstairs was due to the damp course failing, upstairs was down to condensation. The Surveyor said that houses need to be heated and ventilated to stop it forming. So we have a positive input ventilation system installed and make sure it's heated in the winter.

I think if you've never experienced living in a damp mouldy house it must be hard to imagine how totally grim it is. We used to have an old Victorian house probe to damp. Agree with a pp that a positive input ventilation system was like magic BUT it did blow cold air in which noticeably dropped the temperature and needed to be countered by upping the heating a little. Also not a cheap fix to install. Swings and roundabouts again!

Yes this will happen.
we have two corners of the house highly prone to condensation and mould growing - it’s a battle every winter.
we have been told by two separate engineers to keep the house warm 24/7 (i.e. heating on at night) and to have windows open part of the day every day (and heating on as well).
simply not affordable now.

Yes and the problem is a lot of the little things you can do to help insulation (eg draft excluder in window frames, chimney balloons) also cut down on background ventilation or make it more difficult to air.

This is definitely going to be an issue. Never mind patronizing government advice about turning your radiators down, I think people genuinely do need advice on how to avoid damp in colder houses because we are not used to the practices you need to avoid it.

Alternatively everyone can just have several dehumidifiers running all the time- that’s still cheaper than heating.

Victorian houses also had the fireplaces intact and not borded up. They've been changed ventilation and heatwise.

I live in a council house