The humidity in my house is ridiculous.

[WolvesOfTheCalla]

Moved into a Grade 2 Listed cottage in a conservation area about a month ago.

Unexpected inheritance from my Grandmothers sister - never married, no children, I assumed she’d leave it to my Grandmother who would sell it; have been a life long renter and expected to always be, have lived in plenty of shitty houses but never one with a humidity issue.

It’s around 80% in every bloody room. Single glazed, wooden frame windows that are first on my list to repair and eventually replace when I’ve figured out what the council will/won’t allow/what my budget is.

There’s other stuff too but it’s mostly cosmetic, she kept up with the building itself fairly well considering her age.

I've always slept like shit but this is something else; it’s like my hay fever has become year round. Itchy eyes, scratchy throat, sneezing etc.

A friend dropped off a small 2 litre dehumidifier which has been running in my bedroom (the smallest, has the most features and is beautiful) since 3pm. So far it’s gone down from 82% to 71% and the difference in the feel of the air is huge.

But there’s two big bastard bedrooms to deal with (1 DD in each) a decent sized bathroom, a fourth bedroom that wouldn’t even fit a toddler bed so it’s my teen DDs study room/my office, and downstairs is a living room, dining room, kitchen diner(ish - 2 seater table under the window), shower room, laundry/boot room.

What are my options here? I’ve got a £300 budget (and hanging fire for Black Friday), would prefer an energy efficient one (or two?!) with a smart app or similar so I can automate it, don’t care how loud it is as I sleep with white noise on the Alexa anyway, don’t care what it looks like either.

Google blew my head off and I’m extremely fucking low on spoons right now, between work(ing from home, which I hate), medical appointments for me and DD1, unpacking, driving to two schools each morning (school buses aren’t sorted yet), studying for my Masters, and discovering the many, many quirks of the property that I have many fond summer memories of but had no clue what a fucker it would be to live in I am wiped out and have no brain cells left.

We use the meaco 20l one,humidity in the house was 88 when I turned it on,if you close all the doors then you will need one for every room but I just put it on the landing with all the doors open.

It's been very wet lately and mild (warm air holds more water).
Also if you're anything like me, perhaps you haven't put the heating on yet (trying to save money), and maybe aren't ventilating as much as you should.
I don't ever remember my house (which I've lived in for 20 years) feeling as damp as it is at the moment. I'm struggling to manage it too.

I’m currently using this one. It actually belongs to my parents but we had an issue with a window seal in my sons room which left damp patches on the wall. We fixed the seal and the damp dried out quickly. We are still using it as the difference in how the air feels is amazing. Even the walls feel warmer.
we’ve had it on the landing with the doors open and I’m amazed how much water we’ve got out of it

www.appliancesdirect.co.uk/p/meaco20le/meaco-meaco20le-dehumidifier

@Nowheretoogo we have the same one and was 86 when we put it on. Now consistently sits around 55-60 - brilliant!!

@AlfiesGirl same here - been in this house 19 years but it’s been so mild we haven’t needed to put the heating on much but it’s never felt as damp in the air as it has done recently

OP join the "Traditional and Listed buildings advice" group on FB, you'll get very useful replies.

In a nutshell, old houses need to breathe and need to be ventilated.

I’m assuming you have at least one stove/ open fire. Light it/ them it makes a massive difference to old buildings.

I'd only do that if you've had it swept, else you could start a chimney fire.

I can vouch for the Meaco 20l

The filters are bastards to get hold of and about £30 for three.

You've got to keep the internal doors open

My 200 year old cottage has double glazing but the humidity is still over 70% and classed as 'wet' in most rooms. It's a culmination of lack of heating and all the cold and wet. It will improve when we start using the heating more, but I do feel we need the heating more from a damp than a cold perspective at this rate!

I've never heard anyone who's just unexpectedly been gifted a house moan so much!
Just get a few whacking great dehumidifiers in, get chimney swept, light stove, enjoy a lovely Christmas in your beautiful mortgage free home :)

You don’t need the HEPA filters in mine, theyre optional, the newer model I think maybe focussed more on the air purifying and the filter may be compulsory …I’ve got this model from last year

My house seems especially damp this year. I bought the Challenger dehumidifiers from Argos a couple of years ago and they are brilliant as well as cheap. I have one upstairs and one downstairs and I move them into a different room each day. Shut windows and door and let it do its thing for a few hours. It also helps warm the room up too.

If you've got single glazed old windows, I'm guessing you get a lot of condensation particularly on bedroom windows. A window vac (e.g. Kärcher WV 2 Plus Window Vac amzn.eu/aGKV9EH ) is great for getting the windows dry and helping prevent mould.

Otherwise, either a dehumidifier or getting a chimney operational. A fire really helps drive humidity down as well as providing the warmth.

This group is fantastic www.facebook.com/groups/1023449561785486/?ref=share

If it's been damp for a while and you're getting scratchy throat, I'd see if you have the budget for a mould investigation.

I run a Meaco in a very old, single glazed three bed house. When I turned it on 10 days ago the humidity was showing at 91% now, after 8 days of solid operation, it is sitting at 60% and not running constantly.

Another vote for the giant meaco one, it’s designed to dehumidify a house rather than a room if running with the doors open. We use it in our 3 bed Victorian house and it’s saved us from some much more serious problems. We have ours on the landing mostly.

Do what @ISeeTheLight suggests, it's a great group (waves). Problem is you've moved in during crappy old house weather. It's worth living there for a year to see how it all works through the seasons, then decide what changes you need to make (except for anything dangerous/falling off). But for now, clear the gutters, get as much air through it as possible, and definitely get chimneys swept before lighting any fires.

Agree with the karcher for the windows.

Small measures like having a squeegee in the shower and always wiping down, lids on pans etc are important. The moisture will be drawn to the coldest parts of the house

I have an old stone house, pre-1820.

To keep on top of the humidity, I open the windows every morning, even if it's just on the vent latch for at least 20-30 minutes. This is regardless of the weather.

I also use a dehumidifier on the landing with the doors open in the winter quite often for a couple of hours, and overnight if I have washing hanging up (I have a 20L Meaco one - highly rate them).

Always open the window in the bathroom when showering, even in winter.

I've double insulated the loft and have triple glazing. If you control the humidity then you'll probably find most rooms fairly tolerable temperature wise, even with the heating off. I can generally get away with no heating until late December/ Early Jan.

Do you have windows that you can permanently leave open a crack? Houses need to breathe, particularly old ones.

But deffo look at replacing the windows as a priority. I used to have single glazed windows for years. Really bad condensation every morning and in winter my net curtains would literally freeze to the pane. Let a load of cold in as well.

Invest in a large(r) dehumidifier. There are some good suggestions upthread.

The windows aren’t necessarily the culprit. In fact, fully insulated double glazed windows can, counterintuitively, result in MORE damp, because they keep moist air trapped inside (the air in your home becomes moist through things like cooking, showering, drying clothes and even just breathing).

Open the windows when it’s dry outside and close them when it’s raining.

Use the dehumidifier with as much abandon as you can afford. Once you’ve dried your house (e.g. under 55%) once out it’ll be easier to keep dry.

Open the windows when you cook/shower. If you HAVE to dry clothes inside, put the dehumidifier in the room with them.

We seem to be in "it's going to rain lots" weather at the moment, but open some windows on clear days. Try to get a draught through the house.

To help you get ahead of 'damp corners' get onto the internet or you local DIY/Poundland store and buy a job lot of those mini plastic white crystal moisture absorbers. They only cost a pound or 2 each.

The house needs to warm up and dry, but you can help it along.