Window Condensation

Speaking of dehumidifiers: not only are they effective at removing moisture from the air, but in the heating season, you get 'free' heat, as the process of condensing moisture puts out a lot of heat. The dehumidifier delivers this heat to the living space. (There is A LOT of heat delivered in the condensing process. It is the energy that drives thunderstorms, hurricanes and tornadoes.)

Of course, in the cooling season, this heat isn't welcome. But then, in the cooling season it is common to run the AC, and the AC also removes moisture, but with the advantage of dumping the heat on the outside rather than in the living space by virtue of having the heated coils on the outside of the MH or trailer. And of course, the same principles apply to a stick home.

sowego wrote:
As others mentioned this is a normal reaction to cold, warm and humidity. If it isn't raining outside you can open a vent and run the fan for a while. If it is raining or you are in a humid climate we found you will bring in more moisture than you are trying to expel. Running the propane furnace will dry out the air too so you might run it for a while.

A lot of condensation should be wiped up because some of it could run down the wall. Also be sure your window weep holes are clean and clear so that water will drain to the outside it gets into the window tracks.

Cooking, showers and people breathing add moisture so if the conditions is not remedied by venting and running the furnace and you'll be in these damp conditions long I'd consider purchasing a dehumidifier.

Running the furnace will raise the air temperature which lowers the relative humidity, but it doesn't change the amount of water in the air. Higher temps will help keep surfaces above the dew point to minimize condensation. To "dry out the air" you need to remove moisture, either AC on to dehumidify or a dehumidifier. the AC will "dry out the air". Before the dehumidifier I resorted to running the AC and furnace at the same time. the AC dehumidified, the furnace kept us warm.

The few times we've used our MH in the winter the windows get very wet and there's no way to stop it. I try to keep them wiped off so the water won't run down onto the bottom of the windows and inside:W the frame.

Buy a humidity gage and know what is going on. They are cheap and any lumber yard, Target, Walmart, etc have them. You might be able to get one for $10, certainly no more than $20.

Then look to keep the humidity in the range of 55% or lower. Personally, I consider anything under 50% and above 35% to be 'perfect.' Above 60%, and you're asking for mold/mildew issues. All of the earlier mentioned ideas are good ones: ventilation, de-humidification, etc, especially venting in the bathroom during/after showers or in the kitchen while cooking.

As others mentioned this is a normal reaction to cold, warm and humidity. If it isn't raining outside you can open a vent and run the fan for a while. If it is raining or you are in a humid climate we found you will bring in more moisture than you are trying to expel. Running the propane furnace will dry out the air too so you might run it for a while.

A lot of condensation should be wiped up because some of it could run down the wall. Also be sure your window weep holes are clean and clear so that water will drain to the outside it gets into the window tracks.

Cooking, showers and people breathing add moisture so if the conditions is not remedied by venting and running the furnace and you'll be in these damp conditions long I'd consider purchasing a dehumidifier.

1L243 wrote:
It's in the 40's outside and the windows in the RV have alot of condensation inside the RV We have single payne windows. We have been using a radiant electric heater instead of the furnace to save on the propane, is this part of the problem?

nope,electric heater shouldn't be a source of humidity.

However, camping on the oregon coast in fall/winter/spring with high humidity and rain,= high humidity and condensation. We found that out our first trip to the coast in February.
Opening a vent helped, but under these conditions it didn't solve the problem.

Now, running a non vented propane heater can worsen the problem since for every gallon of propane you burn, 3 quarts of water are released into the air. that applies to the stove/oven. WH and furnace combustion air is vented to the outside so it won't put water into the interior air.

however, it isn't hard to have high humidity in a trailer from people, stove/oven, wet clothes etc. combine this with single pane windows, and condensation.

Our solution is to run a small compressor driven portable dehumidifier. About $100 for a decent one that is quite and reasonably small. It isn't uncommon for it to fill (4 gallons) up in 12 hours on the first day and then fill up every day after that. Picked one up at the Astoria FM the first time we ran into this problem.

Course, this only works if you have hookups or run the generator.

Advice, the small thermoelectric dehumidifiers aren't likely to remove enough moisture/day to solve the problem, nor wil dry the air things.

AimlessWanderLust wrote:
Condensation will build up fast if you have all the windows and vents closed. We open the roof vent above the bed a small crack and open a vent/window near to the floor a small crack. This keeps air circulating through the camper, and eliminates condensation. Yes, heat is lost through the roof vent, but it's not significant enough to make the furnace cycle much more. I'd also rather have to run a heater longer than deal with mold/mildew from condensation!

There's the answer. Good Ventilation = No rain forest. So the heat has to run a bit more, better than being woke up by dripping ceilings of having flooding on the bunk beds or dinnette table.

Condensation will build up fast if you have all the windows and vents closed. We open the roof vent above the bed a small crack and open a vent/window near to the floor a small crack. This keeps air circulating through the camper, and eliminates condensation. Yes, heat is lost through the roof vent, but it's not significant enough to make the furnace cycle much more. I'd also rather have to run a heater longer than deal with mold/mildew from condensation!

Two options. One is to be sure a vent is open, and two is to go to walmart and buy yourselves a dehumidifier. The coast is notorious for lots of moisture and you need to combat it fast.

It could be part of the problem. So can cooking and breathing sans ventilation.

Single payne (pain, pane) windows are known for this.