In case you don't have it marked on your calendar, window condensation season is coming up. As outdoor temperatures drop and furnaces begin cycling on, a common principle of physics is demonstrated. Because glass is an efficient conductor of heat, windows are often the coldest surface inside a home during winter. Meanwhile, indoor air is warm and humid from gas-fired heating and activities such as cooking, bathing and even breathing. The resultant formula never fails: Warm humid air + cold glass = window condensation.
It's not only the unsightly spotting and streaks from droplets of condensation on your once-crystal clear windows, this unwanted moisture source causes other significant issues including:
- Mold growth. Chronic water formation anywhere in a home is a certain trigger of mold. Black mold is particularly common around wet windows.
- Deteriorated window components. Constant dripping moisture rots window frames and sills, swells wooden materials and makes windows jam. It can also deteriorate drywall surrounding the window unit.
Short of installing dual-pane high-efficiency windows, you can't do much to keep window glass warmer in winter Therefore, efforts to reduce window condensation must address indoor humidity, instead.
Exhaust Moisture
Bathrooms, the kitchen and the laundry room are major contributors to indoor humidity. Reduce the indoor humidity load by installing exhaust fans to pull moist air out of these rooms and exhaust it through dedicated ducts all the way to the outdoors.
Add Dry Air
In winter, fresh outdoor air usually contains less water vapor than indoor air. Opening windows to let it in, however, causes heat loss and impacts comfort level. A heat recovery ventilation (HRV) system inducts fresh, filtered outdoor air while exhausting an equal volume of humid indoor air. An integrated heat exchanger extracts heat from the outgoing stream of indoor air and adds it to cold incoming outdoor air to stabilize the household temperature.
Treat Mold
Where mold growth is already established in wood and drywall around windows, contact professional mold remediation services to evaluate and permanently eliminate the contamination. Left untreated, active mold growth will spread to additional locations in the house.
