Help Desk -- Condensation -- Wallside Windows

Wallside Windows: Most Preferred, Most Referred

Help Desk � Condensation

Reducing Condensation

• Vent your clothes dryer, exhaust fans and gas appliances to the outside.

• Leave exhaust fans in your bathrooms and kitchen running for 10-15 minutes after bathing or cooking. (Running them constantly can be a fire hazard.)

• Turn off humidifiers, including the one on your furnace.

• Circulate fresh air in your home, and increase air's movement over window surfaces, with portable or ceiling fans.

• Cover bare earth in a crawl space with a vapor barrier.

• Open your fireplace damper to let moist air escape.

• Make sure your attic and crawl space are ventilated well and the vents are open.

• Air out your home briefly when necessary.

• Cover aquariums and consider restricting houseplants to limited areas.

• Wrap sweating pipes with pipe insulation to soak up the moisture.

• Do laundry in the morning or evening, when the house is cooler.

• Open window shades and drapes to allow a room's warm air to circulate over the window glass.

• Invite a heating and cooling expert to your home for an analysis.

Condensation is quite a normal thing.

Usually, it occurs in winter, and it's caused by humidity in your home.

Just one culprit.

Humidity comes from everyday activities like cooking, bathing, and doing laundry. Even breathing increases humidity�so, there's no getting 'round it.

Humid air + cool glass = condensation

When your home's warm, humid air meets the cool glass of a winter window, the warm air is cooled. And cool air can't hold as much moisture as warm air � that's basic physics.

So where does the moisture go? It turns to water and clings to the glass. Voila, condensation.

Weather-tightness and interior humidity

Replacing old windows with energy-efficient Wallside Windows typically makes a home more snug and weather-tight�a good thing! But the more snug the home, the more easily humidity can build up inside.

So, condensation is normal... but, it's not so desirable. Who wants a window with an obscured view?

Simple steps can make a difference

There are many things you can do to reduce the humidity in your home.

Sometimes it's as simple as opening a window briefly to release humidity from a room, or running the bathroom exhaust fan during and after a shower. Other steps involve more permanent and substantial fixes.

Monitor your home's humidity levels

	Outside Air Temp.	Inside Rel. Humidity
	-20� F	15-20%
	-10� F	20-25%
	0� F	25-30%
	10� F	30-35%
	20� F	35-40%
	When it's colder outside, regulate for a lower relative humidity inside, in order to minimize condensation. (Relative humidity is a percentage of the total moisture air can hold at a given temperature.)

An inexpensive humidity gauge from the hardware store can help you monitor humidity in your home. At right are suggested ideal humidity levels, based on an indoor temperature of 70 degrees Farenheit.

Need further help?

Call us at 1-800-521-7800, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays, or contact the Wallside Help Desk online for a quick response � usually within one business day.

Making a service inquiry?
Please help us identify the window at issue.
Wallside Windows made since 2003 have unique code numbers printed on the spacer between glass panes in the upper right or left corner of each sash. Please refer to this number � which we call a "unit ID" � when contacting us about a service issue.

For windows without a unit ID, you can help us by providing the following information:
In what room is the window located?
How many windows are in the room?
Do the windows look the same size or is the window at issue larger or smaller?
Does the window operate up and down or side to side?

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1-800-521-7800

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