Thin Glass and condensation.

[TheWiper]

Hi, I'm new to this forum so apologies if this is in the wrong place or has been covered before.

I live in a 100year old house with the original wooden windows (National Park he say 'no' to plastic). Each window has eight panes 210 x 240 mm. of extremely thin glass which are badly scratched and need replacing. The thin glass also gives me at least 24 perfect condensers in each room!

Since a campaign to warm the house up a bit (it was not the warmest!)with draught excluder on the windows, loft insulation, log burner instead of open fire, taking out the constant warmth of the old Rayburn and using the oil central heating more we have now got a condensation problem.

The use of a de-humidifier keeps things almost at bay, a quick wipe here and there rather than major puddle removal.

Fitting double glazing is possible but will mean a lot of routing and even then I will only be able to fit the thinnest of units. I am quite happy to do this if nessecary.

So my questions are...
Is the thin glass likely to cause problems even when the humidity is 'normal' or am I in fact lucky to have the condensation on the windows where it can be wiped rather than the walls?
If replacing the glass will fix things, which glass should I use?
Is double glazing best considering the small size of pane?
Should I go the whole hog and ruin the look of the windows with secondary glazing units?

Sorry to have waffled a bit, just wanted to give as much information as possible, now it's over to the experts!

 

[JohnD]

have you considered secondary glazing?

 

[AronSearle]

Hard to say if slim double glazing would eliminate it. Given the conditions as you describe them I would certainly expect it to reduce significantly.

The effectiveness of secondary glazing somewhat depends upon the air tightness of the window, as otherwise condensation could just occur on the secondary glazing rather than the window.

No perfect solution really, other than to demolish crappy old buildings

 

[Gazman16]

Slim double glazed units are not the best idea, Have a google on them. Unless DGU's are fitted into a correctly designed frame they will not last long, Maybe a year or maybe 5 if your lucky. And altering the frames to give the correct rebates, Ventilation and drainage would most likely be impossible.

It might be worth asking the National Park about "Residence 9" windows. They are PVC but have been designed for a traditional appearance (they are stunning!). They are being allowed in some conservation areas and even grade 2 listed buildings but Im not sure about the national park.