Is anyone else having mould problems due to not using their heating?

[Charlize43]

I've had mould problems before on external walls but it seems more prevalent since I tried to avoid putting the heating on this year due to the cost. Trying to dry clothes indoors takes much longer for them to dry and I'm noticing a great deal of moisture building up on the windows.

AIBU - Not to put the heating on when drying clothes. In the long run, this going to cause a much bigger problem with mould and damp.

YANBU - Just keep washing the mould off with bleach or distilled vinegar and put a jumper on if you are cold. Wash your clothes less often.

Is anyone else experiencing this?

If it's a choice between eating and heating - eat

Any other choice - put the heating on, the cold and the mould and the bleach are all harmful to your health

I get mould around windows due to condensation and the heating helps, as does opening the windows but this is not ideal when it's freezing outside and expensive to put heating on. I purchased a window vacuume that sucks up all the water off my windows and would thoroughly recommend. Much better than trying to wipe it all dry.

I let clothes air dry on a rack due to wanting to save money but always tumble dry towels and bedding. If you don't have a tumble dryer maybe a weekly trip to a laundrette to use a tumble dryer could be an option? When my washing machine broke I was blown away how fast and easy it is to get everything done at once in a laundrette due to the machines being so good.

No, but we do have a large Meaco dehumidifier which costs very little to run and works brilliantly. I attribute the lack of mould entirely to this as I know parts of my house have very high moisture readings in the walls and we really need to redo the damp proof course (the joys of old houses).

They aren't cheap so I'm not sure how helpful it is to suggest (it took us months to save for ours a couple of years ago) but they've completely solved the issue for us here. We have no condensation at all on windows, no mould on any walls and placing washing next to it is a game changer, it dries it very quickly.

No mould here but I open the windows properly for an airing for an hour or so every morning. I wear a gazillion layers to keep warm whilst I do this.

The mould is due to moisture.

Can you dry clothes in the bathroom witn windows open wide? They will dry, even its not warm. Any time its dry out, putthings outside if at all possible, and allow for it taking a long time - if you have a timer on your washing machine, set it so the laundry finishes at 6am and get it straight out to dry, and only bring it in late

I have had condensation every day for a couple of weeks downstairs. Upstairs has been fine as run a dehumidifier 24/7.

I put the heating on for the first time yesterday.

This morning the condensation was terrible, half way up windows! And even some upstairs too.

I read somewhere once that a heated room holds more moisture, so if it’s cold outside condensation can be even worse than not putting heating on.

Not sure if that is true. I don’t know what to do for the best

Unfortunately, annoying as it is you probably need to open the windows when drying clothes - the moisture has to go somewhere.

Here to second the meaco dehumidifier - no it wasn’t cheap but our back windows were literally running with condensation, and developing mould. It’s completely cleared it and washing dries overnight. I do also open the windows for an hour every morning and sometimes chuck the heating on afterwards, again for an hour, if it’s particularly cold afterwards.

I have terrible mould each winter in my front two bedrooms, but atm it's not appeared yet. We're waking up each morning, karchering the windows, and opening the window, to then be shut when the curtains are closed at dusk.

Not put the central heating on yet.

The washing is hung on the airer downstairs, in the living room which has a vent (back boiler). It hangs for a few hours, then anything still damp goes in the tumble drier for an hour- ish.

@BesidetheseasideXxx please tell me more about the window vaccum? Where from and how much?

There was an article in the Sunday Times yesterday, saying there has been a huge increase in mould problems as people delay putting the heating on.

It's all about ventilation....open the windows daily, if you can bear it, and move furniture slightly away from external walls. Lids on pans, close bathroom doors when showering, and yes, get a dehumidifier for the room where you dry the laundry.

I also find using the spin cycle on the washing machine, ideally twice, means the clothes need less drying when they come out.

Me too - I forgot to add that one 😁

Salt absorbs moisture from the air. Put salt into old takeaway containers windowsills and replace when damp.

You must leave windows open or get a dehumidifier. It makes me so cross when people are doing their sad face stories in the media yet every bloody window is shut and there's wet washing hanging everywhere.

We leave every bathroom window on the catch, and the kitchen ones. That way, there's no mould build up.

My bathroom is dreadful for this. Mould spots on the ceiling.
I open the window (wide) after every shower but it's still the same.
I forgot to open the window last night after eldest showered. Figured it wouldn't be too bad as I've finally cracked and the heating came on this morning so it would be dry and warm.

Oh my god. When I went in, there were literal pools of water on the windowsill and on top of the cistern and the bath mat was drenched. It was as if he'd sprayed the shower head around the room for half an hour (actually entirely possible 🙄) and that's after 10 hours.

Heating isn't going off again now (on timer) but the window open is the game changer

That another one I missed - my little bathroom window stays open at all times, and everyone opens the big window following a shower. Door shut while in shower, then shut again while the steam clears afterwards
(I don't have an extractor fan)

The trouble is that warm air holds more moisture than cold air (relative humidity) so weirdly, the warmer your house then the more possible moisture it can contain.

The best way is to do as as suggested above and open the windows for a good hour each day and get a dehumidifier.

I think you will find that in a few days of having the heating on, the window condensation will reduce. Your house will be very damp from not being heated so it will take a while to properly dry out.

My heating is on from 7 am to 10 am but set at 18° so is only just kicking in as it’s been mild. I’ve had condensation on my bedroom windows a couple of times this week which I’ve not had in previous years when I was heating the house to 20°. As my house is built in a damp area, I have worked hard to eliminate mould and I’m not sure if I’m going to continue with having the heating set low. I worry that any remedial work needed to get rid of mould will cost more than my heating bills!

I do boost the heating slightly in the evening if I feel cold and I’ve noticed that when my heating is set to the lower temperature of 18°, it takes a lot longer after I boost it to reach a comfortable temperature. So I am not sure I am saving any money!

We own a small flat which has tenants in it and for several years we’re plagued with issues around mould and condensation despite quite a bit of work to improve things. We then installed a ventilation system which runs on low all the times and there hasn’t been a single issue since. Worth every penny.

I have quite a bit of damp and mould on some of our external walls, the lounge, kitchen (around the doors and windows especially), my daughter’s bedroom and the master bedroom! Our house is 200 years old, expensive to hear so we don’t put the heating on much because we just can’t afford at the moment. My Dad always goes on about the damp issues being due to lack of heating and our house is cold, but to be honest it’s manageable, we wear warm jumpers, we have a log burner in the lounge so we use that every night, however it only heats the lounge and the master bedroom. My Dad’s obviously not short of money as his heating is on every day for hours, as well as having a fire on in their sitting room, and the whole house is so warm (30 degrees+), but to me that’s unbearable! My daughter also doesn’t find it comfortable as she gets so hot there and her cheeks go red!

It’s almost December already so we’ve got this! Half way to Spring when it’ll be warmer! Maybe over the Christmas period we’ll have the heating on during the day so we have a nice toasty Christmas! It can be mine and my husband’s Christmas gift to each other!!

We have our small windows vented all day (or half day if windy like today) and down stairs over night too and we have heating on in the bedrooms and the stove downstairs. I also dry any condensation on the windows every morning. We have an old north facing house and we get mould all the time if I'm not very careful.

You can't dry clothes indoors with no heating now surely? It must take forever. Just heat one room if that's all you can afford and dry the washing in there - the kids room if you have kids or your bedroom if not and spend your time in there rather than the sitting room as much as possible.

We don’t have an existing mould problem. We’ve always been lucky and despite always drying indoors in winter never had problems.

I have recently bought a small dehumidifier to put near the airer when drying washing and the small tub ones with crystals in on all the window cills to make sure we don’t get a problem going forward.

I make sure all the vents in the window are open and wipe the condensation from the windows each morning.

We have a couple of corners in the high part of our stairwell where we have always gathered mould but it does seem worse this year. It’s right next to a single paned glass window so is colder than the rest of the house.
our bathroom is a big damp mouldy hellhole mess and it has always been this way, we had new windows and an extractor fan and it made zero difference. It is so damp the actual plaster is mouldy. (Bathroom being refurbed imminently!)
one thing I am also noticing is that fond of our doors are sticking and I am certain that is due to moisture generally in the house. I am drying all washing inside so it’s inevitable and with it raining constantly fit the last week, everything’s just wet isn’t it?