Why Windows Sweat During Winter And What You Should Do
This month let’s look at the causes of window sweat and how to stop window condensation in winter.
When the temperatures start to drop and you begin to spend more time indoors to escape the cold, you may notice condensation or ‘sweating’ on your windows and think it’s just the temperature difference from inside to outside.
While this may seem harmless, it can be an indication of poor air quality, leading to mold and damage to your home. In this month’s post we’re going to talk about preventing window sweating before it becomes a problem and discuss tips to help prevent window sweating.
This condensation occurs when warm, moisture-rich indoor air cools against cold window glass, contracting and losing its ability to hold moisture. As a result, the condensed air leaves excess water in the form of droplets on the windowpane. Condensation can also occur between windowpanes when the seal between the panes is broken, or the desiccant inside the window is saturated. However, many daily activities inside the home can add moisture, like cooking and showering.
Why Window Sweating is a Bad Thing
Window condensation in winter is a sign that your home has poor indoor air quality due to inadequate ventilation. The excess moisture buildup leads to mold growth on windows, rotting wood, damaged frame finishes and plaster, and even water damage within wall cavities. And if there is excess moisture being held in the home, then the indoor air likely has more contaminants.
While protecting your home is essential, your health is far more important and poor indoor air quality can also affect your health. It’s important to know how to stop window sweating during the winter months by intentionally ventilating your home and taking steps to avoid moisture buildup.
8 Tips on How to Prevent Window Sweating and Combat the Negative Effects
Here are tips to prevent window sweating and eliminate the negative effects of poor indoor air quality.
#1 Make sure that you keep any window treatments such as blinds, shades, shutters, curtains, and drapery open.
#2 Ventilation – Opening Windows and Running Exhaust Fans
To help reduce moisture in the air, always run your exhaust fans while cooking, showering, and taking baths. Also, opening windows with a crack will push stale air outside, while fresh air is drawn in through the open windows.
The only problem with this method is that it will cost more to heat your home in winter since you will lose warm air and must heat the cold air that comes in through the open windows.
#3 Add Weather-stripping
One of the simplest methods for saving on heating cost in the winter and cooling cost in the summer is adding weather-stripping to your windows will help prevent warm air from being drawn to the window and escaping. Weather-stripping prevents condensation buildup on windows and increases the energy efficiency of your home.
#4 Screens – Remove them during winter.
Remove interior insect screens from any casement windows in order to get more air flowing to the glass. It is always a good practice to remove all window screens throughout your home during the winter season. Don’t forget to put them back on before summer!
#5 Install a Dehumidifier
A dehumidifier is a simple way to remove excess moisture from your home. Placing smaller dehumidifiers in moisture prone areas will combat excess moisture like in the bathrooms where showering can add a significant amount of moisture to the home. Dehumidifiers vary in size and price. And some need to be turned on and off manually, while others automatically run when humidity levels rise in the home.
6# Heat Recovery Ventilator
A heat recovery ventilator (HRV) makes it possible to add fresh air into your home while retaining most of the heat from the stale air that gets vented outside.
HRVs combine fan ventilation with a built-in heat exchanger that will extract 75 to 85 percent of the heat from stale air before it’s exhausted outdoors. The extracted heat is then used to heat fresh air coming into your home from outside, so your home heating system won’t have to work in overdrive to heat the fresh air.
#7 Get Rid of Mold
Removing any existing mold around the window edges will also help improve your indoor air quality this winter. Dormant mold from the previous winter can start growing again and at lower moisture levels than is normally required for new mold to grow. If you keep your windows dry, the mold shouldn’t come back.
For those of you with older wood framed windows, check out some of the mold killing paint products on the market today. If you’re not quite ready to have new windows installed, you can apply a fresh coat of mold killing paint to help combat with existing mold and a barrier to protect from new mold growth.
While window sweating is common in winter, it’s a sign of poor ventilation and indoor air quality. And it can have harmful effects on your health and the structure of your windows and home. Follow these tips to prevent window sweating this winter and remove any negative effects, such as mold, to keep your indoor air quality healthy and free of contaminants.
#8 Have new windows installed.
Single pane windows are more likely to sweat in winter because they do not have any insulation between the interior and exterior, so the glass is much colder than with double- or triple-pane windows. Single pane windows are also outdated, so they do not have the modern insulating properties of new insulated glass windows. It is worth replacing your old single-pane windows with new insulated double- or triple-glazed windows that have a high R-value, insulated frames, and inert gas between the panes to maximize insulation, reduce heat transfer, and, ultimately, reduce condensation.
If you feel it’s time to update your older windows with new insulated windows, contact our team today to receive a free estimate.
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