Windows condensation - Suggestions needed

We have double pane windows in our almost 4 year old house. The inside of the window has lot of condensation and water drops forming and collecting on the window sill. Is this normal? My homeowners manual says that this happens "due to good insulation" and it's not under warranty?

Could someone please explain what I should do? Is this because of good insulation or poor insulation? Is there anything I can do to prevent this from happening?

Thanks.

Reply to
tedneeley
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Typically that happens when you have your humidifier set too high, or boil a lot of water without using an exhaust fan.

You are setting yourself up for moisture and mold problems if you don't control it. It is certainly not a warranty issue; they are supposed to make the house tight. Better windows are less likely to do it, but you would still have the humidity.

Reply to
toller

It's happening because you have warm, humid (relatively humid) indoor air coming into contact with cold windows/window frames.

Your available solutions fall into two categories: Warm the windows up, or prevent humid indoor air from coming into contact with them.

Clear plastic covering the window opening will trap air against the window, eliminating the water problem.

Reply to
Goedjn

Greetings,

Installing storm windows might help.

William

Reply to
William Deans

If you have metal frame window and the water is condensing on the metal frame, then one solution is to replace them with vinyl frame windows.

The other solution is to reduce humidity inside the house. Use bath fans when taking shower, use kitchen fan when cooking, don't use humidifier, reduce indoor temperature, ... I use to use humidifier in the winter. Then one day I wonder, where has all the evaporated water gone to? Probably inside the wall. So I stop using the humidifier and instead drink more water.

I also read that an air-to-air heat exchanger, which lets your house breath without losing alot of heat, helps reduce indoor moisture.

Reply to
peter

That "due to good insulation" us pure BS. It is not due to insulation. it is because of the moisture in the air is high enough to raise the dew point high enough that it is above the temperatures of some part of the window. The water then condenses on the window.

It may be condensing on the window glass or the window frame (especially if it is metal and lacks a thermo break as most cheap windows do.

It may be considered the result of cheap windows. If they are metal without a thermo break then I would say that was the problem.

It may be due to too high a moisture content in the house. It may also be due to some sort of drape or curtain keeping the warmer room air from getting to the glass and warming it a little.

Reply to
Joseph Meehan

Depending on the temperature outside, yes. If you go much below zero Fahr. triple glazing is your only escape. (You would not like indoors a humidity low enough to prevent condensation.)

Reply to
Don Phillipson

i've been going thru the same problem for years. we had wooden double hung windows w/ alum.storm windows. last year we installed Certainteed vinyl replacement windows, only because i didn't need a permit and that any rennovations involving new window installation required egress windows which would not have been an attractive feature or space friendly for our floor plans in our home. i've found that on extremely cold and dry days, the moisture inside starts as soon as the sun goes down and that even running the hot water in the kitchen can cause the windows to start clouding quickly. i've resorted to keeping a couple windows cracked open slightly throughout the house and try as hard as i can to keep the humidity level below 35% (very difficult) and bumping the heat to 70-71 deg.F from 5pm to about 10:30pm. on cold and rainy days, there is zero build up or when the humidity level outside is great than the level inside the house. i also found that ceiling fans in reversse mode help rather well too. on nice days don't be afraid to open t he windows and let some fresh air in.

good luck,.....

mike................

Reply to
JerseyMike

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