toilet tank condensation

We had a new toilet put in a few months back. In the last week or so there has been a lot of condensation forming on the outside of the tank. So much so that it drips down onto the floor and there is some standing water. Not much but more than I like to see.

Any idea why this is happening? I assume that the water is really cold, being December and all, and that it's condensing just like a glass of cold water would on a hot day. This never happened with our old toilet. Any idea why it's happening now?

Anything I can do about it?

Reply to
engwar1
Loading thread data ...

It is usually in warm Summer weather that you get the condensation on the outside of the toilet tank. Your situation is the reverse of normal. Is there a lot of humidity in your house? Do you have condensation on your windows? Most of us have the heat on in Winter and the air inside the house is on the dry side which would normally absorb any moisture forming on the outside of the toilet tank. You can get kits of styrofoam at the hardware store that you glue onto the inside of the toilet tank and they provide insulation between the cold water in the tank and the warm air outside the tank and eliminate the condensation. Per

Reply to
Per Plexed

Sure.

Different weather conditions? A new humidifier in the house?

A $15 50 W aquarium heater in the tank, set for about 60 F. It won't run much.

Nick

Reply to
nicksanspam

maybe the previous tank was insulated. maybe you have a mixer valve upstream of the toilet that needs hot water increased slightly. maybe the bathroom exhaust fan is blocked or broken allowing increased room humidity. maybe your new toilet is leaking cold water into the tank so much that it makes the tank unusually cold. maybe you have increased usage due to guests or additional humnidity from their showers. maybe the leak can be found by you keep reading. "Toilet leaks can waste as much as four to five gallons of water per minute and cost you the consumer up to $100.00 per month in increased water and wastewater bills.

Follow these simple instructions to find out if a leaky toilet is robbing you of precious gallons and dollars.

Toilet leaks occur in two ways and are often very difficult to detect. The most common toilet leak and often hardest to detect is caused by a deteriorated or defected flush valve (flapper) ball at the bottom of the toilet tank. If the flapper or ball valve does not seat properly and form water tight, seal water will leak around it into the toilet bowl. Often, this leak will occur without being heard. To test for this type of leak, add a few drops of food color or place a colored dye tablet (available from many hardware stores or possibly your water utility) in the toilet after it has stopped filling. Do not flush the toilet. Wait about twenty minutes: if the food coloring or dye appears in the toilet bowl, the flapper/tank ball or drain seat is leaking and needs to be replaced.

The second most-common type of leak is caused by an improperly adjusted or broken fill (ball c*ck) valve. If the float is set too high or if the shut-off valve fails to close completely, water will continue to enter the tank and flow into the overflow tube. This type of leak can be seen simply by taking the tank top off and observing if water is flowing into the overflow tube once the tank is full. " quoted section from

formatting link
where much more help is also available

Reply to
buffalobill

I stopped reading here :-)

Nick

Reply to
nicksanspam

some water could be also be sneaking out the flush handle's hole if the overflow tube is too tall.

Reply to
buffalobill

Thanks for all the suggestions. We did recently add a humidifier to a nearby room as our son has a bad cold. If the condensation doesn't stop after we remove the humidifier then I'll look into some of the suggestions people have posted.

Thanks!

Reply to
engwar1

This happens in cold climates where the toilet is heavily used and/or additional moisture is being added to the air recently and water coming in to the toilet from outside is cold causing warm heated air inside to condense on the outside of the tank.

There are several ways to combat this issue, one is installing a mixing valve where a little hot water is mixed with the cold before entering the toilet. However this is often hard to do in existing construction.

May be able to insulate the toilet to prevent this from happening.

Reply to
MC

Insulate the tank to prevent the sweating. Various kits are available for this purpose. e.g.:

formatting link
I've never had to use one myself but others have reported some good results.

Reply to
Malcolm Hoar

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.