Window Condensation Cures?

Great answer and article Moose!

One comment on the recommended humidity vs. outdoor temperature chart. Depending on the insulation value of the window and door system, the humidity recommendation can be revised. I have triple pane windows, and occasionally have -10° F winter temps. We do not have condensation with 30% RH.

The better the insulation, the higher the humidity that can be set. The worse the insulation, the lower humidity setting will be required for condensation control.

If the mobile home has aluminum frame windows, the cold metal can be susceptible to frost in addition to severe condensation. Some type of added layer, storm window, and/or insulation will be needed to solve the problem

"This year the windows started to get extreme condensation on the inside"

Maybe it need some paint. Have a look at the outside skin of the walls. It may allow the walls to get damper than they used to be.

Well every one had great ideas,but it turned out to be a small pin hole in the hot water heater pipe,under the house.It created steam,thus condensation.

Thank you all for showing interest

Thanks for telling us how you solved the problem!

Obviously, the "out of sight" humidity source was letting you know it needed to be repaired. Glad to know the problem can be fixed.

My parents live in a bungalow near to the see and thus suffered from damp air. Add this to cooking and showering and we are putting a great deal of moisture into the air. Humidty gauges are very cheap, and we are happiest at about 50% RH.

Insulation and better double glazing will help, but the cheap solution is a small de-humidifier. I have several in different places, and they start at less than £80 GBP here in the UK.

The advantage is that in winter when you need them most, they cost very little to run since with a coefficient of performance of 2.8 or better they are a very cheap form of heating.

I do not know where your parent's mobile home is in the world, but European windows for caravans and RVs are double (plastic) glass. There is a hole that is there to allow the pressure to be the same as outside and a small plastic "Bung" to stop this happening for the rest of the year. Is it possible that the holes are simply open, that the plastic bung is missing?

A further thought is that they have a major problem with moisture getting into the inner walls. This will cause black mold and is a serious health hazard. A simple moisture detector meter's probes applied to all the inside surfaces should detect the area affected. The panel will have to be opened, resealed and all damaged insulation replaced.....I hope for their sake that is NOT the problem........expensive.....that is the main reason such vehicles are sold....of course the owner does not say this in his ad!!!

Not allowing the air to be replaced often enough when cooking for example, in Europe you must have roof vents that even when closed, allow a certain amount of air out.....have these vents been sealed up in some way?

The only other alternative that comes to mind (assuming that the build laws are similar to Europe) is that the permanent floor openings that allow fresh air into the caravan have been sealed up in some way.......very dangerous and totally illegal.......in Europe at least!! If true, make sure that they are all unsealed and can operate as designed to replace the air on a regular basis.....

The proble is either damp and/or ventilation.....

This site has some mention of condensation, and all round mobile home stuff.

Are the windows as old as the home, and are you referring to single/double glazed ? Also have you visually inspected fro any signs of damage to the cladding etc. Ventilation might be the issue, but if it's only just started after a long time you might be looking at window replacement/repair, or repairs to the structure itself. Giving an indication of weather conditions at the location may give some clues as to the cause.

I don't know what its been like where you live. We here in the Mid Atlantic region of the USA just went thru a cold snap. Coldest its been in 15 to 20 years. If its been colder outside then usual that can account for the extreme condensation that you are not use to seeing. Try a dehumidifier. Some people try to reclaim the heat from there clothes dryers in the winter. Make sure that its being vented outside. The humidity from the drying clothes don't help.

This is parent/mama of Irnmke. We live at 5500 feet in the Sierra Nevada mountains in California, USA. The weather has not risen above 20 degrees for several weeks. It just did go above that this past week. I think we will have to call the heater man to come and check our furnace and mabe tell us what is causing all the condensation on all the windows. Can't stand to not be able to look out the window. Too much moisture. Thanks all of you for the input. Really appreciate it.

Try RainX. It is a US product & should be available in auto accessory shops. It is the cheapest and easiest solution for your problem.

There are 2 RainX products famous windshield wiper and the anti-fog. You should use the latter. It will cost you only a few dollars.

Even cheaper, do what the skin divers do, spit in the mask and wash it off with sea water.....

Great idea smart chap, but tell me where they are going to find so much spit.The old gent & lady will have a hard time finding enough spit to treat the windows.

(i know you meant it as a joke, i am just reciprocating with apologies to the party who is experiencing the problem)

Once I met a lady from Rain-X company in Las Vegas. She gave me a sample and on my way back I applied this on the windshield of a friend's car. Following day morning of all the cars parked in that street (London-UK) my friends car was the only one without any snow on the windscreen. That is how I know this is one products which works!

Looks like US products are not very popular these days!

I remember as a child when the windscreen wipers were not so sophisticated as today we used to apply tobacco juice and also juice (liquid) you get when you pluck a fresh papaya leaf onto windscreens to get rid of condensation.

If the condensation is a new phenomenon then something must have changed. There would be three options.

• Is it colder than normal?
• Have you added any sources of humidity in the home (or lost any sources of dehumidifying)
• Has the window glazing seal failed? Check the window carefully and see if any condensation has formed between the panes of glass. If so the seal has failed allowing the argon gas (or other insulating gas) to leak out.

Points one and two can be resolved using many of the ideas already mentioned.

• Storm panels, poly film over window
• Dehumidifier, venting dryer outside

Point three would require insulated glass replacement (if possible) at a minimum, replacing sash or window replacement at a maximum.

If the interior of the sash is wood, you need to particularly aware to dry off the wood that contacts the glass. The source of the moisture must be dealt with or the problem will occur again quite quickly. Finally if there is discoloration use a ammonia or barium compounds to clean the wood.

Andersen Windows has a useful guide and dvd available at http://www.andersenwindows.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=LiteratureRequest/Page/OCATDisplayCategoryContent&c=Page&cid=1102365437452&categoryID=CareMnt

to explain the causes and remedies for condensation.

Good Luck.

One concern of mine would be to check the furnace operation and make sure the flue gases are not being leaked into the dwelling. That could explain the sudden increase in moisture. Please be sure that they have a working CO detector.

The point is good, but I feel that they would be long dead if the moisture was from fuel being burnt.........the CO and CO2 would have finished them off!!

But of course the furnace should be fully checked out as well!!

We need to clarify one point. The warm air in the house can hold a given amount of water vapor and is the relative humidity or percentage of the maximum it could hold at that temperature. This warm air, hitting the windows and frames, cools. Cool air can hold less water vapor and thus the relative humidity number jumps up and hits the dew point where it then condenses onto the window and sill as water or frost.

Get a reliable, I repeat reliable, relative humidity gauge and keep to the numbers as shown in that one reference table posted earlier. You simply have too much moisture in the air for the non-global warming winter many of us are having, including here in the mid-west. We also are having a terrible frost/window problem, worse than any other winter. I have essentially shut down my humidifier on the furnace and may need to go the dehumidifier route but that is tough on wood floors and cabinets!

Good luck!!!