The Total Water Vapour Created by a Person
If a person does the following over the course of a day:
Drinks 8 Cups of coffee or tea
Boils one pan of water for 10 minutes
Takes a shower
Uses the dishwasher
Washes and dries 2KG of clothing
Breathes normally
They will contribute approximately 2.5KG of water – the equivalent of 10 glasses of water – into the air. WITHOUT GOOD VENTILATION in the home this forms into condensation which will settle on windows, walls and other cool surfaces and can quickly lead to damp and mould.
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We constantly strive to seal ourselves into warm surroundings and to keep down fuel costs when we are inadvertently increasing the level of condensation. Double glazing in windows maintains the temperature of the inner window pane and makes it less likely that condensation will form.
However, the moisture remains in the air until it meets another cold surface or is moved outside the house by ventilation. Before double glazing, the draughts from windows acted as adequate ventilation, thus the effects of condensation were not always noticeable. When the new draught proof sealed units or secondary panes did their job and successfully sealed off the draughts, the condensation became more evident.
Controlling condensation means striking a balance between the way you heat, insulate and ventilate your home. Replacement windows will improve the insulation but will usually also reduce the amount of ventilation. This can be enough to aggravate an existing condensation problem or create one where there was none before.
Unfortunately, there is not and easy answer to the problem.
If a person does the following over the course of a day:
Drinks 8 Cups of coffee or tea
Boils one pan of water for 10 minutes
Takes a shower
Uses the dishwasher
Washes and dries 2KG of clothing
Breathes normally
They will contribute approximately 2.5KG of water – the equivalent of 10 glasses of water – into the air. WITHOUT GOOD VENTILATION in the home this forms into condensation which will settle on windows, walls and other cool surfaces and can quickly lead to damp and mould.
..
.
.
How does tenant behaviour contribute to causing condensation?
We now heat our homes to levels previously unthought of and, since energy costs soared, do our best to seal them up to prevent precious heat loss, encouraged by the Governments “ Save It “ campaign. This well meaning and expensive programme has promoted draught proofing, yet inadequate ventilation is one of the main reasons for condensation problems.We constantly strive to seal ourselves into warm surroundings and to keep down fuel costs when we are inadvertently increasing the level of condensation. Double glazing in windows maintains the temperature of the inner window pane and makes it less likely that condensation will form.
However, the moisture remains in the air until it meets another cold surface or is moved outside the house by ventilation. Before double glazing, the draughts from windows acted as adequate ventilation, thus the effects of condensation were not always noticeable. When the new draught proof sealed units or secondary panes did their job and successfully sealed off the draughts, the condensation became more evident.
Controlling condensation means striking a balance between the way you heat, insulate and ventilate your home. Replacement windows will improve the insulation but will usually also reduce the amount of ventilation. This can be enough to aggravate an existing condensation problem or create one where there was none before.
Unfortunately, there is not and easy answer to the problem.
