Condensation

This is the time of year that many homes suffer from condensation. www.heritage-house.org considers how we can get rid of this problem without resorting to desperate measures!

One of the things we often see in old houses is water streaming down windows in winter and collecting in pools on the window ledge. This is because the rooms are not able to breathe - the air is not circulating and able to get away, and the warm, moisture laden air thus releases moisture on the windows. The commonest problems with old houses that stop air circulation are listed below:

• Installation of plastic (UPVC) windows with no ventilation
• Ventilation bricks blocked up
• Fireplaces blocked up with no ventilation
• Draught excluders around doors
• Lack of ventilation to cellars

By tackling each of these problems, air circulation will dramatically improve, and far from making the house colder, will actually make it warmer, because there will be a lot less moisture in the air. If you have a cellar, the best way to dry it out and stop the dank smell is to fit a ventilation grille to the door, with a little electric extractor fan (bathroom type) on a timer switch, which is fitted to the outside wall near the ceiling of the cellar. This operates for an hour or two a day, and draws warm, dry air from the house into the cellar, and pushes cold, damp air out from the vent fan to the outside. Read more at www.heritage-house.org/condensation.html.