![]() To look at this in a scientific way, let's use some information from the Passive House Institute. So, at it's simplest, condensation on windows is the result of relatively warmer and humid air meeting a cold surface - but this is on a sliding scale. ![]() As noticed most often in the colder months of the year when it meets the cold glass of bedroom windows, as cooling air becomes unable to hold as much moisture, it condenses. The other factor to consider, other than warming cold surfaces to mitigate condensation which is the traditional route to reducing condensation on windows, is that it can also happen when there's simply too much humidity in a home. ![]() The reason we notice condensation most on glass is that it’s an impervious material – the water has nowhere to go so it sits there, waiting for us to wipe it off and running downwards until it does find a surface to soak into – which is unfortunately where the problems start to occur. Unless of course it's soaking into our t-shirt on a hot summer's day - but we're talking here about the miserable & cold kind that sits on the bottom of windows in winter and can even freeze up if we're really unlucky and the wood stove went out overnight! (Which is what inspired Harold Orr to design the Saskatchewan Conservation House, which in 1977 acted as a laboratory for the development of many previously unheard of building techniques that are now standard on the best performing houses in the world.) Where we notice it most in our homes is on windows, or on the sides of a nice chilled glass of chardonnay or a cold beer – with the exception that one denotes a pain in the butt, the other pleasure! Condensation on glass - no cause for celebration! So what is condensation? Condensation in its purest form is caused when humidity in the air comes in contact with a cold surface and it condenses from a gas to a liquid again. So, the question is – what should we do about condensation? How do we fix and prevent condensation in our homes? Condensation in homes – the basics Condensation can cause damage to homes and lead to costly renovations and repairs.Condensation is potentially detrimental to health as it allows for mold and mildew growth.Condensation won't disappear on its own. ![]() It’s that time of year when condensation on windows becomes a pain, we wake up in the morning, can’t see out, curtains are wet, there’s water on the window bottoms, and even worse it can affect the walls below windows causing mold and mildew in drywall and furniture.Ĭondensation is bad news in multiple ways – it indicates where a home has weak spots or thermal bridges in its insulated envelope, it points to problems in high humidity levels in the home – possibly coming from hidden problems in basements, crawlspaces, walls or ventilation systems – and some things are certain when a home has condensation running down the windows: ![]()
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