window getting wet from inside

Hi, my house's windows gets wet in the inside all the time and sometime, it forms ice. what can i do to get rid of it? I have some aluminum windows and some wood.

In article , "glukane" wrote:

Hi, my house's windows gets wet in the inside all the time and sometime, it forms ice. what can i do to get rid of it?

Storm windows.
-- Regards, Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)
It's time to throw all their damned tea in the harbor again.

"glukane" wrote in message

Hi, my house's windows gets wet in the inside all the time and sometime, it forms ice. what can i do to get rid of it? I have some aluminum windows and some wood.

This is condensation due to relatively high humidity or still air in the room, and cool temps outside, just as droplets form directly from surrounding air, on a glass of cold water. Storm windows or double pane replacement windows will reduce condensation by lessening the temperature drop across the inner window. Other more frugal measures would be to lower humidity by increasing air circulation and ventilation inside, through window-directed fans, open windows, and perhaps, an inside electric dehumidifier.

Turn on your exhaust fans before taking a shower or cooking on the stove. Let them run for a few minutes after finishing. There are timers just for this purpose that can replace your standard wall switches.
Don't boil the kettle so long. Don't hang wet clothes up in the house to dry. Close the bathroom door when showering. Get better shower curtains. Put a lid on your pots when cooking and turn the heat down. Make sure your dryer is vented outside.
Have your furnace checked for heat exchanger leaks. Make sure you get or have a working CO sensor or get a professional in to check for carbon monoxide. It can kill you or make you very sick and you may never know why.
If the problem is lasting and serious install a heat exchanger to ventilate your home or at least a dehumidifier.
If the basement is really damp try putting a rubber membrane or mat down on the floor and after a few days see if it is wet underneath. This can indicate whether it is seeping through you concrete floor. You may be built on a swamp or spring.
"glukane" wrote in message

Hi, my house's windows gets wet in the inside all the time and sometime, it forms ice. what can i do to get rid of it? I have some aluminum windows and some wood.

On Wed, 23 Nov 2005 18:28:28 GMT, spambait@milmac.com (Doug Miller) wrote:

In article , "glukane" wrote: Hi, my house's windows gets wet in the inside all the time and sometime, it forms ice. what can i do to get rid of it?
Storm windows.

Or reduce your humidity. Should have 40% or less.

glukane wrote:

Hi, my house's windows gets wet in the inside all the time and sometime, it forms ice. what can i do to get rid of it? I have some aluminum windows and some wood.

You get condensation when something is cooler than the dew point for the humidity in the room.
You can reduce the amount of moisture in the air in the room.(1)
You can make the surfaces warmer. Generally better insulation, more layers of glass etc. Can you say new insulated windows or storm windows?
BTW Aluminum frames are the worst. The best Aluminum is bad, most of them are far worse that that.

(1.) Generally making the room cooler will help (humidity does not equal the amount of moisture, it is the % of the maximum moisture that air at the measured temperature can hold.) So if you cool the room and do not raise the humidity number, the air has less moisture and will have a higher dew point. Lowering the humidity and keeping the temperature the same will also work.
-- Joseph Meehan
Dia duit

"glukane" wrote:

Hi, my house's windows gets wet in the inside all the time...

Get rid of the moisture source.
Nick

"Joseph Meehan" wrote in message

You can make the surfaces warmer. Generally better insulation, more layers of glass etc. Can you say new insulated windows or storm windows?

Temporary plastic film applied as an inside "storm window" can be a cheaper, low tech, solution.
Vaughn

Vaughn wrote:

"Joseph Meehan" wrote in message You can make the surfaces warmer. Generally better insulation, more layers of glass etc. Can you say new insulated windows or storm windows?
Temporary plastic film applied as an inside "storm window" can be a cheaper, low tech, solution.

Yes they can and I have used them.

Vaughn

-- Joseph Meehan
Dia duit

"glukane" wrote in message

Hi, my house's windows gets wet in the inside all the time and sometime, it forms ice. what can i do to get rid of it? I have some aluminum windows and some wood.

As others have pointed out, the problem is that the inside air is cooled when next to the window and moisture condenses out of the air onto the glass/frame.
You don't mention whether you have double-pane windows, or whatever. Condensation can be seen as two possible problems. Either there is too much moisture in the air so the dew point is pretty high, or the inside surfaces of the glass/frame are so cold that they are below the dew point for even relatively dry air.
Older aluminum windows had the later problem because aluminum is an excellent conductor of heat so the inside part of the frame is quite cold when it's cold outside. Newer ones have a 'thermal break' between the inside aluminum parts and the outside ones so the inside aluminum frame doesn't get as cold. You mention ice formation so it sounds to me like that is your problem, old aluminum windows with no thermal barrier.
The expensive, long-term fix is to replace the windows with newer designs.
But a cheap fix is to go to your favorite dept. store or DIY home center and look for DIY window treatment plastic. They make a kit of heat-shrinkable plastic and double-sided tape. You put tape around the inside frame of the window, put the plastic over it as tight as you can, then use a hot-air gun (hair dryer works) to shrink the plastic tight/clear. It forms a second layer of dead air between the plastic and window to act as a storm window. Will last a winter and save a bundle, and is *cheap*. Do as many windows as you can.
daestrom

daestrom wrote:

Condensation can be seen as two possible problems. Either there is too much moisture in the air so the dew point is pretty high, or the inside surfaces of the glass/frame are so cold that they are below the dew point for even relatively dry air.

With no moisture source in the house, indoor and outdoor air would have the same dew point. Minimal moisture from human activities (about 2 gal per day for a family of 4) wouldn't change this much, for an average US (224 cfm) air-leaky house.
Nick

wrote in message

daestrom wrote:
Condensation can be seen as two possible problems. Either there is too much moisture in the air so the dew point is pretty high, or the inside surfaces of the glass/frame are so cold that they are below the dew point for even relatively dry air.
With no moisture source in the house, indoor and outdoor air would have the same dew point. Minimal moisture from human activities (about 2 gal per day for a family of 4) wouldn't change this much, for an average US (224 cfm) air-leaky house.

OTOH, most folks don't like the air that dry in the winter. Some of us prefer the RH above 30% or so, on a day like today, warming up outside air (dewpoint 20F) would mean just 14% RH. If the OP is seeing frost forming occasionally, then the outside temperature must be going below 30F a fair amount of time (warmed to 71F that's 21% RH).
And adding storm windows (even the plastic I mentioned) will help reduce heat loss and drafts.
daestrom

and mold... and sinus infections...and...
"daestrom" wrote in message

And adding storm windows (even the plastic I mentioned) will help reduce heat loss and drafts.
daestrom

On Wed, 23 Nov 2005 20:11:06 -0500, nospam.clare.nce@sny.der.on.ca wrote:

On Wed, 23 Nov 2005 18:28:28 GMT, spambait@milmac.com (Doug Miller) wrote:
In article , "glukane" wrote: Hi, my house's windows gets wet in the inside all the time and sometime, it forms ice. what can i do to get rid of it?
Storm windows.
Or reduce your humidity. Should have 40% or less.

40% or less? Is that guaranteed to prevent condensation?
What's the ideal humidity between 16-21C for comfortable living?
cheers, Pete.

Pete, the ideal RH for you may be higher than the ideal Relative Humidity for your windows. It depends on the windows, how cold it is outside, how warm it is inside, how your house is constructed and the people who live there. It can't really be answered over the internet. Most people would prefer 35 to 45% RH. The windows may sweat under those conditions.
Stretch