Condensation - Window Condensation

So, it is the first winter in your new home with your brand new windows and doors, and you are seeing condensation form on the outside of your windows, or even worse the inside of your windows!  Clearly this is an issue with the manufacturing of these windows, and you should get replacements sent out immediately!  Right?  WRONG!

What do you mean, wrong?  I have WATER dripping down the glass on the inside of my home!

Well, I know that, but if you listen to what I have to say, you will understand why.

Ok. Say it is the middle of the summer, and you have just poured yourself a tall, freezing cold glass of lemonade. You bring it out in the heat to swing on your porch swing with your wife. Very quickly you feel that your hand is sopping wet! You make sure there are no cracks in the glass, and shrug, caring more about spending time with your wife, and the cool drink in your hand, then the tiny droplets of water on your hand.

Your glass of lemonade is not defective. When the warm air from the summer night hits the cold of the glass, condensation forms on the coldest surface available - the glass of lemonade. This happens on the inside and outside of the glass, you just don't notice it on the inside because well, there is lemonade there!

The same thing happens in your home with your windows. In the summer, your home is cool, and the outside is very hot. Because condensation has this nasty tendency to form on the coolest part of your home (the windows and metal), you will see condensation appear on the outside of your windows. There is nothing wrong with your windows, and this can happen to one, a couple, or all of the windows in your home. They aren't broken or defective, I assure you!

Well, I hate to tell you this, but it is probably your fault.

In any of the four seasons, you do things in your home to cause humidity in the air. You wash dishes, run water, take showers, do laundry, breathe, run humidifiers, open doors or windows, boil water, or you do absolutely nothing and your windows are still dripping condensation on the inside of your home. Again, this is not a manufacturer's defect or a problem with the windows, it is a problem with the humidity levels in your home.

This may sound like an arid desert, but I would suggest keeping the humidity levels in your home between 30-35 %. You can check the levels in your home with a barometer available at any local hardware store or The Home Depot for about 20 bucks. This will tell you what the humidity level in your home is. If you don't see interior condensation in your home, don't worry about it. If you do, lowering the humidity levels in your home (either with a dehumidifier or following some of my simple advice) will help the condensation in your home.

If the interior condensation has already begun forming in your home and on to the wood trip around your windows, causing mildew, feel free to use a TSP Bleach (Tri-Sodium-Phosphate), which is wood safe, to clean up the mildew.

If you see condensation in your new (or old) home appearing on the inside or outside of the windows, some of these handy tips will help you deal with the situation.

• If you have a bathroom vent, use it while in the shower, washing your hands, etc.  Not only will this keep your mirrors clean, it will also drastically reduce the humidity in your home.
• Make sure your clothes dryer is outside venting.
• Open window drapes/blinds/curtains.  This will allow more air flow around your windows, allowing them to 'breathe' better.
• Remove storm units when it isn't winter.  This is the same thing as drawing back the curtains.  It will let those windows breathe.
• Turn off the humidifier on your furnace - I bet you didn't know you even had one!  (Some do, some don't).
• Make sure your gas burning appliences have adequate ventilation including furnaces, water heaters, and stoves.
• Use a dehumidifier in a worst case scenarior.

Ok, this whole glass of lemonade is great, but my condensation is in between the panes of glass on my windows, and it wont go away!

Well, this is probably an issue referred to as Seal Failure.  Basically, on an older window, the seal that seperates the panes of glass will get old, and over time, the glass can get foggy in between the panes of glass.  This can also happen if you have power, deck, or brick washed your home without taping off your windows.  Frankly, it can happen on a newer window too, but that is very unlikely.  This is typically noticed because you have condensation all over the glass, or just on the edges.  If you have large, oval spots in between the panes of glass that are football shaped, this could be an issue called collapsed glass.  Basically, the gas or air in between your panes of glass is slowly escaping, causing the two panes to 'collapse' against eachother.  Call your window manufacturer to see if your windows are still under warranty in either case, and they will let you know if it is a warranty or non-warranty issue.