toilet tank sweat

watch the Ask Old House episode that airs this week... they address it.... In case you missed it... they got rid of the tank sweat by installing an "anti-sweat" valve. It mixes a small amount of hot water with the cold water that feeds the toilet tank.

This has been covered in this group recently. If your newsreader supports it, click on this link

news: snipped-for-privacy@nntp.nmkt.phub.net.cable.rogers.com

otherwise, search for the thread " Subject: Toilet Tank Question " by " Andre Denis " in this group for many great tips and solutions.

Grim

Condensation occurs when a cold surface (like your toilet tank) is exposed to humid air (like when you shower or bathe).

So you need to either warm the surface, and/or reduce the humidity.

To reduce the humidity in the bathroom, run the exhaust fan in your bathroom while you shower. Or open a window, if there is one. Or open the bathroom door slightly. If the exhaust fan is running but the bathroom gets humid anyway, then you ought to have it replaced with a more powerful fan.

The toilet tank surface is cold because of the cold water that fills the tank every time you flush the toilet. So here are ways to warm the tank, in increasing order of cost:

When you know you're going to be showering or bathing within an hour or two, just stop flushing your toilet tank. (If you have more than one bathroom in your house, use the toilet in one bathroom and the shower/bath in the other bathroom.) The cold water inside the tank will gradually warm to room temperature and a room-temperature tank won't have as much condensation.

Buy a toilet tank cover.

Insulate the inside of your toilet tank.

Install a mixing valve to mix a little bit of hot water into the cold water going into your toilet tank.

-- Steven L.

If you have a Lowes, Home Depot, or something similar nearby, they sell the glue and sheets of styrofoam in a kit.

Jim & Lil wrote:

One item not yet noted:

If your toilet has a leaky flapper valve, it will constantly be letting now cold water into the tank cooling it off. Try putting some food coloring in the tank and not use it for a couple of hours. If the bowl gets some of the coloring in it, then fix the leaking flapper valve.

After a few hours the water in the tank is already room temperature so it should not cause any problems at that time, unless the air is too humid, in which case you will need to address that since you are getting moisture condensing on everything else in the room.

If it only happens shortly after flushing, then the tempering valve will work.

I had mixing valves installed just under each of my toilets so that the fill water temperature is about 65 F. This solves the problem without reducing the available volume for flushing. If you have access for installation and any maintenance later this is the way to go.

RB

Jim & Lil wrote:

Go to the department stor eand get one of those fuzzy toilet tank covers.