Help! Never ending condensation

[jacketpotatobeansandcheese]

Hi,

Ever since we moved to our house a few years ago, we have had problems with condensation throughout the house over the winter. It's driving me mad!

We have a dehumidifier which isn't helping, we've insulated the loft hatch and we've recently added trickle vents to the windows. We don't tend to dry clothes in the house Etc. Nothing helps!

Before I completely lose my mind, I was wondering if anybody had any other ideas/suggestions?

Thanks

@Mentounasc also interested in your survey, might be an option for us.

I've painted our external wall with Wickes white anti mould paint. Looks like emulsion, but so far no more black mould on the wall since putting that on.

you mentioned dehumidifier was near the WC.

Is the damp worse near the bathroom?

How is the bathroom ventilated; how often; and for how long?

On which occasions do you drape wet washing indoors?

I left our 4 bedroom windows on the latch last night and there is less condensation today. I only left one (out of a possible 2) on the latch in the baby’s room and there is less condensation but more than in our room. I was worried baby would be cold but actually she slept better than normal! So might leave both on the latch tonight.

2 year old still asleep so can’t check her room yet.

There are no vents on our windows and they’re old so getting them replaced seems a good idea.

Work on the trickle vents starting today...... Tomorrow is the fancy bathroom fan installation. I’m hopeful, though asit was “only” £275 for the fan I hope we’ve spent enough!

The condensation is generally all over the house but definitely worse upstairs in the bedrooms (where the bathroom is).

Re hanging out washing, it probably once a week, uniform that can't be tumble dried Etc. I do put the dehumidifier on override when it's out which is the setting for drying clothes.

I must admit I'm not always very good at closing the bathroom door when showering but I did last night and kept the window open a good while as suggested by a PP.

Kept the radiators warmer later as well and there was only one line line of condensation on my bedroom window this morning. I can live with that!

I'm thinking of moving our thermostat. It's currently in the hallway near the kitchen so downstairs always reaching the set temperature faster than upstairs and clicking off. Consequently upstairs is always colder than downstairs.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you Somebrightmorning!!

Do you have good double glazing?

Our worst condensation is in the bedrooms, especially ours (two adults breathing). But the window vac sorts it.

Our double glazing is hit and miss I think. The people who had the house before us bought it as a refurb project. They replaced the windows and doors at the back of the house but not the front (which includes my room).

"I'm thinking of moving our thermostat. It's currently in the hallway near the kitchen so downstairs always reaching the set temperature faster than upstairs and clicking off. Consequently upstairs is always colder than downstairs."

That can be dealt with by "balancing" which is the ancient art of adjusting radiators so that some get hotter than others. It's a different topic though, so not for this thread.

Thanks Piglet, I'll do some research into that.

I really appreciate everyone's help!

@jacketpotatobeansandcheese

Out of my 52 previous posts on Radiator balancing, this one looks quite comprehensive:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/property/a2205419-New-radiators-not-getting-hot#50023831

Lol “ancient art” :)

You sound very practiced Piglet! I shall enjoy reading that thread later! Thank you.

Theprimroses /Claire: sooty, I should have said, I'm not in the UK. Here InGermany Energy efficiency surveys are quite common and are actually subsidized slightly by the government. We gotta damp specialist in to confirm that there was no damp in the walls and that the glazing was fundamentally sound (if somewhat outdated by today's triple-glazed standards). The woman who did the survey is an architect by profession who has extra training in energy efficiency consulting. We were really surprised by the results, which showed that the walls were the real weak spots rather than the windows or roof.

Bloody autocorrect! First word should have been sorry, not sooty!

Sorry, just returning to say check the seals round your bath/shower. If water’s running down the back it will be damp.

trickle vents now in. It feels nicer in there already. Crossing fingers for the new fan.

Tenant reports that the rate of reformation of mould has dropped since she started whacking up the heating.

looks like my new fan is a Nuaire product.
Hope it's good....