I feel like an idiot asking this but do you have to wipe the inside of your house windows every morning?
I never lived in a cold weather area before and every morning we wake up there is heavy condensation on the inside of the window, especially in the bedroom. My wife says it’s just something we do every morning is wipe the condensation off the window. Am I missing something? Is there something cold weather people know to minimize the condensation?
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22 comments
I’ve heard of people doing that. Personally,I just buy the condensation tape and put it on the bottom of my windows. You can find it at any home center or 100 yen shop.
I don’t do it everyday but to help stop mold from building up, doing it from time to time is a good idea. The condensation tape is another good alternative. Always been curious but never got around to trying it but people always recommend it so I will too.
We’ve got two windows in our apartment that get condensation. This trick actually worked. Mind you, you need to do it every few days.
https://gethomethings.com/blogs/cleaning/can-washing-up-liquid-stop-condensation-on-windows#:~:text=By%20taking%20a%20small%20drop,stop%20the%20issue%20all%20together.
There is a small vacuum cleaner for that. https://www.amazon.co.jp/EZ2-CD052-Electric-Condensation-Prevention-Rechargeable/dp/B08HN5QB42/
I only get it in the room that I slept in. I open the window and then go to another room and close the door. It goes away fairly quickly.
If you have that happening, get a humidity sensor. Your room might be too humid.
Another option is getting triple glazed windows
I have a scraper thingy attached to an empty PET bottle I use to collect the water and dump it outside. Means less wiping usually, and less laundry 🤣 which is a win for me. I’m considering one of the little condensation vacuums tho. I’ve used the tape but it was pretty useless pretty quick and would just turn moldy if we didn’t constantly replace it every few days…our apartment has really poor insulation. Bleh.
Adjust the humidifier to keep the humidity to around 55%. At 60%, the room is comfortable, but a huge amount of water gets on the windows.
Also be careful of walls. It may become damp and mold may grow. Moisture in the closet (おしいれ) is also a big enemy of wooden houses. Let the air circulate when you are away and not humidifying. If you google it, you’ll find many images of “horror おしいれ” with mold.
The solution is double-paned windows, but renovations are prohibited in rental properties. Therefore, the only preventive measure is to use thick curtains that touch the floor.
I never wipe it. The condensate just rolls down into the trough meant specifically for it and slowly drips outside. For old windows without these troughs you certainly want to wipe them.
My wife has always opened the windows in the morning, even when it is freezing out. We have never gotten condensation to any extent.
I used to have to do it or black mold speckles would start showing up on the caulking around the window panes. Now I just keep the windows open a crack all night to let some cool air flow through and it doesn’t happen anymore. When it gets really cold, the heater blasts strongly enough during the night to dry the room out, and all curtains are open, so condensation is pretty under control. I just crack the windows wide again in the morning before packing up the bedroom and leaving it for the day, and whatever post-sleeping nasty snore steam might be lingering in the air will blow right out, making it nice and dry when I’m back in there for the night.
My windows doesn’t get condensation like that for some reason. My heaters are on.
Are you using a kerosene heater? –one byproduct of burning hydrocarbons is good old H2O.
It’s to avoid mold growth.
poor insulation and lack of airflow will mean you’ll get condensation happening on the windows.
> Is there something cold weather people know to minimize the condensation
Good insulation, lower heating, lower humification, ventilation can all help.
You should really open the windows for a few minutes a day or find another way to keep the moisture down. You’re creating a very cozy environment for mold otherwise.
The reason, especially in rental, is that they put cheap aluminum frame and often single pane windows. So your windows is very cold and attracts condensation from the humidity.
Just open the window for a few minutes, the condensation will evaporate, and has the benefit of airing out the room too.
When I lived in a cheap apartment I had to multiple times a day and still got mold on my curtains. In my house with expensive windows there’s never any condensation on the windows except the bath/shower room (obviously).
They sell stickers you can put on the windows to catch the condensation but if you can buy better windows I’d recommend it, wiping is an annoying chore.
Modern windows have a gap that catches condensation. Not an issue for me personally.