Condensation forms when warm air with high humidity meets a cold surface or too much humidity exists in the home, creating water droplets forming on a cold surface. The most suitable time to do this is in winter when you’re using your heating system during cooler hours of the day. Condensation is normal, but it can cause problems if left untreated.
Ways to Reduce Humidity in your Home
1. Use Pan Lids When Cooking. Cover your pots while cooking to prevent the moisture created by boiling water from evaporating. Also, consider installing an extractor fan above the stove if you don’t have one already; this will help reduce condensation in your kitchen.
Remember, do not turn off your fan as soon as you end cooking—instead, leave it on for 10-15 minutes to help clear the moist air. Another option is to buy an extractor fan with intelligent moisture sensors – the speed of which will increase whenever you start boiling water and then slow down once humidity levels have returned to normal.
2. Close Kitchen & Bathroom Doors
Condensation on windows can form in bathrooms and kitchens more than anywhere else in your home. To prevent condensation from forming, keep your kitchen or bathroom door closed while cooking food, boiling water, or taking a bath or shower.
3. Dry Clothes Outdoors
Dry clothes outside whenever possible to prevent excess moisture from building inside your home. If you are unable to dry clothes outdoors, keep them in a restroom with the door closed and windows open until the laundry is completely dried out.
4. Turn on Your Extractor Fan When Utilizing Your Shower
Similarly to how you should turn on your extractor fan when cooking in the kitchen, you should also do so while bathing or showering. Keeping windows and walls dry will help reduce the amount of condensation that forms.
5. Ensure Washing Machine Is Correctly Vented
Ensure the outside when you have a clothes washer or dryer. Each load of laundry makes about two liters of water airborne—that’s eight gallons! The moisture from cooking can add even more condensation into the air if you keep those appliances in an enclosed kitchen area.
6. Move Furniture Away from External Walls
To improve air circulation and reduce moisture levels, ensure no gaps between your furniture and the walls around it. Place your bedroom’s internal walls against the coldest areas of a room: corners and sides. It will help you prevent dampness or mold in your closet area.
7. Install an Extractor Fan
Adequate ventilation is essential to allow moisture in the air to escape before it condenses into water. Establishing an energy-efficient extractor fan in the kitchen and restroom can greatly reduce humidity levels, preventing condensation from ever forming.
8. Open windows to let in cool air during the summer months.
If you use a room regularly, such as the living room, and the weather is not cold outside—open up that window! Opening windows slightly can help improve ventilation in your property. Breathing is one of the main reasons for condensation, so this will lower humidity levels quite nicely.
9. Pat Down Cold Surfaces
If you don’t own an extractor fan in your restroom or kitchen, ensure that you wipe down any cold surfaces—such as the fridge and freezer doors—after cooking or showering to remove collected moisture. If this excess moisture is left untreated, it will quickly become mold.
10. Ensure Your Property Has Adequate Heating
Ensuring that the temperature in your home is high enough will keep surfaces warm and reduce the chance of condensation. In addition to watching for signs of termites, ensure that your home is energy efficient by installing insulated walls and double-glazed windows so the heat doesn’t escape from the property.
11. Don’t Overfill Wardrobes & Cupboards
Refrain from overstuffing your cupboards and closets. Cluttered spaces with little airflow can become breeding grounds for mold, as the air inside cannot circulate freely. You may notice a musty smell or that clothes feel damp—a sure sign that you must empty the cupboard.
12. Prevent Using Portable Gas & Paraffin Heaters
Mobile gas bottles and paraffin heaters produce a lot of moisture and toxic fumes. This form of heat is causing excess condensation in your property—and it’s also a health and safety hazard that isn’t allowed under most tenancy agreements anyway.
13. Install insulation in your home’s windows, attic, and walls.
Double glazing, loft insulation, and draft-proofing will reduce heat loss from a property. Insulating your home will help keep its interiors warm, making it more energy efficient and reducing heating bills.
14. Mantle Up Fish Tanks & Aquariums
Many families have houseplants and pets, and all of these produce moisture. Ensure you cover up your aquariums or fish tanks, so that excess moisture doesn’t escape into the air. If moisture is building up on your walls or windows, move house plants closest to those outside surfaces.