Now that the temperature outside has dropped, the windows start to accumulate water vapor. I am assuming that it might also lead to that black stuff forming. Is there a more efficient way of dealing with the condensate than wiping it dry every day?
this post was submitted on 01 Dec 2023
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The black stuff is mold and it's both, a health hazard and it eats away the gasket.
It's best practise to keep temperatures at least at about 16° C at a relative humidity of at most ca. 60%. So set your heater in the room accordingly. Possibly you need to go a few degree higher. A thermohygrometer can help to keep an eye on the temperature and humidity. If the humidity rises above 60%, it's a good time to open the windows to get rid of excess humidty in the air. (~~That does work of course if it's rainy outside, i.e. even more humid.~~ See correction in comments by @Mrs_deWinter.) For air quality resons, ventilating rooms a couple of times per day is a good idea anyway.
You can find more resources on that topic if you search for mold prevention in residental buildings.
Edit: Striked an incorrect statement, referred to correction.
It works even if it's rainy outside. The relevant factor is temperature. Warm air traps much more humidity than the cold air outside - even if it might feel humid there. When we open the windows our saturated warm air gehts switched with saturated cold air, which then warms up inside and increases it's capacity to absorb humidity in turn.
As long as it's colder outside than inside ventilation will get rid of a room's humidity.
5-10 minutes is perfect: It allows for a significant air change and doesn't cool down the room (floor, walls, furniture) too much, so as soon as you close the windows again the temperature can quickly rise and allow for the desired dehumidification.
Thanks for the correction. :)
Which should be 2 on thermostats
That is, if the heating system is corrctly sized for the space your heating and adjusted to current weather.
Thank you, I did get the thermo/hygro-meters in all the rooms. We try to keep the temperature at about 20-21C, but the humidity is definitely on the high end, around 65%
Thank you for the suggestions!