double glazing, window types

[sweetheart]

I am wondering if anyone can offer their experience of what is the best type of window to fit in a bathroom / toilet?

Mine need replacing ( have gone milky -yes! a result, have been waiting for this chance). However, the current ones are small ( around 2ft wide and 4 ft length and they are fixed with a small opening window across the top ( two because bathroom was once two separate rooms -toilet and bathroom and someone knocked the wall through).

I am not sure if to replace like with like or to get ones which open at the side or even across the bottom.

The room, like most of my house ( no troll remarks please, fed up with them) tends to suffer from condensation and the little windows do not shift the steam very quickly even when fully opened ( and freezing ) in winter.

Could anyone suggest the best thing to do with bathroom windows? My last house had two side opening windows but I am not sure if a bottom opener pushing out would be better - or something else?

If anyone has experience of this, I would be grateful for advice. I am getting the DG man in for quotes and I would like to know what I want to get first (obviously).

Thanks.

[John Rumm]

You can replace the sealed units independently of the frames... (I appreciate this may not be the solution you want though!)

Top opening seems to be the most common option. Allows ventilation without compromising privacy.

Humidistat controlled extractor would be a better bet for dealing with this. You just need some trickle ventilation from the window then.

Could you open out the two windows into one larger one?

[Terry Fields]

I did read somewhere, quite some time ago, so don't have the reference, that side-opening windows offer the best exchange of air.

However, there are other considerations, one of which is privacy. But, in my view, I believe that weather conditions where you live are the major factor. Looking at the BBC's weather page, the humidity levels for the centre of the county at their lowest on this sunny day were 82 percent, and tonight that climbs to 98 percent, even though it'll be a partially clear night with no rain. The best you can hope for next week is a 'spot' low of 70 percent for an hour or two.

With this in mind, trying to dry out a bathroom with cold, humid outside air means you're on a loser. What you need is warm, dry air. Presumably the condensation in the bathroom is due to showering/bathing and not just being a 'cold spot' for the house. I'd suggest that after every time the shower is used the enclosure is dried of liquid water (I use a micro-fibre cloth followed by a bamboo cloth) and the room ventilated by leaving the door open and the window closed to let the warmer, drier air of the house do its stuff - and dry the towels somewhere else as it holds moisture and merely adds to the bathroom humidity load while drying.

Someone else has suggested an automatic humidistat, which will help by removing humid air using a sensor to switch the unit on and off as necessary. On foggy days it might run all the time.... Failing that, a good draught-free extractor fan will help.

Sorry this doesn't directly answer your question about windows, apart from suggetsing they stay closed except on warm dry days, but the real problem is the external high humidity and low temperatures.

[ARW]

Wear a loose fitting dressing gown and some sexy underwear and ask the DG man for a discount if he can fill up those annoying draughty old cracks.

[Roger Mills]

Is that because of the high sea to land ratio in that part of the world?

[Jeremy Nicoll - news posts]

Nobody else can really answer that for you. Issues that might affect the decision are for example

- whether the window is a ground-floor one or higher

- whether (if the frame opening is big enough) you might one day have to climb out of it, eg if there's a house fire - if so you probably need a side opener with "fire escape" hinges - whether you're going to have the window open when you're not in the room; whether you want to be sure that no one outside could fully open it & climb in; I believe that some burglars have popped small children through amazingly small hopper windows...

- if you or someone else were cleaning the outside of the window from inside the house, whether you'd be able to reach all the surfaces with only some styles of opener

- where the handle will be, depending on the opener style - and if that would be reachable if eg you were in a wheelchair or just old and frail (I made one of my bathroom windows a top- hinged, bottom opener so anyone can reach the handle)

- whether passersby or neighbours could see too much if the window blew fully open at an inopportune moment

- prevailing wind direction & strength: side opening windows are more likely to blow open if the wind catches them at the wrong angle

- if there's anything outside you'd like to be able to see through a partially open window... In my first flat there was a big tree in a neighbour's garden that I could see when I was lying in the bath and had the window open; I really miss that tree!

[Lobster]

On 09 Mar 2014, "sweetheart" grunted:

Could you clarify: are you saying the existing windows are already double- glazed, but have condensation (ie 'milkiness') trapped between the panes?

If so, then by far the easiest/cheapest way to sort this is to get new sealed units (ie the glass bits) for the existing window. Something to approach a local glazing firm with, rather than one of the usual national suspects.

[harryagain]

Humidity problems are best tackled at source with extract fans, not forgetting replacement air has to come in. You can fit your own windows DIY for a quarter of the price of these fancy firms. You may find your windows are standard size and new uPVC windows can be bought off the shelf, again much cheaper.

Your house sounds like it is badly insulated.

[Harry Bloomfield]

Terry Fields explained on 09/03/2014 :

Side openers clear a room faster, because they funnel or capture the outside air flow, the wind or breeze.

The best way to clear a room is with mechanical extraction - an adequate sized electric fan, controlled by both pir and humidistat. They work best with all doors and windows closed, providing there is a reasonable gap under the door or other single source for air to enter. One route in, one route out works best.

We used to suffer terrible mold on the walls. Insulation and proper ventilation completely fixed it.

[ARW]

It's a bugalow - the OP has nothing upstairs.

[Jeremy Nicoll - news posts]

Sounds delightful!

Hmm.

[Roger Mills]

There was a kid a school whom we called 'Bungalow' 'cos he had nothing upstairs, and another whom we called 'Harpic' - clean round the bend!

[charles]

the latter isn't very original: Read Nevil Shute's "round the Bend" published in 1951!

[Roger Mills]

Maybe that's where the idea came from - it wasn't long after that!