Dear forum members,
I hope you can help me with a problem I’m having. I have been living with my boyfriend in a rented apartment for three years. Already during the first autumn/winter, I was amazed by how much the windows would fog up. As soon as the temperature drops, so much condensation gathers that it literally drips onto the floor. At first, we aired the apartment thoroughly every day for a long time despite the cold outside, but that didn’t help much. Last year, my boyfriend had the brilliant idea to sleep with the window open during winter, so we got to enjoy a little peace – and about 1300€ extra heating costs...
This year the problem has, of course, reappeared. My boyfriend refuses to talk to the landlord because he’s afraid of possible costs for inspections. I can’t do it myself since I’m not on the lease and I don’t really understand the legal side of things (I’m a foreigner studying in Germany). My boyfriend says I should just keep stacking more cloths on every window and on the floor. But I’m running out of those too! Can anyone help me? What else can I do? Is it our fault that the windows look like this? Can the landlord charge us for repair or inspection costs? This morning I took a few photos to illustrate what I’m dealing with every day (really, it looks like this day and night):
Bedroom:
Here you can see how bad the mold problem in the bedroom is, even though we have used special treatments against it:
Kitchen:
Living room balcony door:
We still have one window in the study that stays comparatively dry… Why is that?
I welcome any advice. Have a great day!
Maszka
I hope you can help me with a problem I’m having. I have been living with my boyfriend in a rented apartment for three years. Already during the first autumn/winter, I was amazed by how much the windows would fog up. As soon as the temperature drops, so much condensation gathers that it literally drips onto the floor. At first, we aired the apartment thoroughly every day for a long time despite the cold outside, but that didn’t help much. Last year, my boyfriend had the brilliant idea to sleep with the window open during winter, so we got to enjoy a little peace – and about 1300€ extra heating costs...
This year the problem has, of course, reappeared. My boyfriend refuses to talk to the landlord because he’s afraid of possible costs for inspections. I can’t do it myself since I’m not on the lease and I don’t really understand the legal side of things (I’m a foreigner studying in Germany). My boyfriend says I should just keep stacking more cloths on every window and on the floor. But I’m running out of those too! Can anyone help me? What else can I do? Is it our fault that the windows look like this? Can the landlord charge us for repair or inspection costs? This morning I took a few photos to illustrate what I’m dealing with every day (really, it looks like this day and night):
Bedroom:
Here you can see how bad the mold problem in the bedroom is, even though we have used special treatments against it:
Kitchen:
Living room balcony door:
We still have one window in the study that stays comparatively dry… Why is that?
I welcome any advice. Have a great day!
Maszka
If the glass were very cold, that would explain the condensation (according to the dew point chart). In this case, it might turn out that despite heating and ventilation, no improvement can be achieved. If room temperature and humidity consistently remain within the normal range, no water should form there.
If it does, the building component is probably faulty. If the glass has a temperature typical for such a window, it is more likely due to heating or ventilation.
The question is, what is a normal interior temperature for window panes? I would argue that 12–13°C (54–55°F) is not normal. According to the dew point chart, that would be the temperature the glass would need to have for condensation to occur at 21°C (70°F) room temperature and 60% humidity.
In short: if both the humidity and room temperature are kept within reasonable levels for living spaces and do not deviate from them, then neither mold nor condensation should occur. As a tenant, you should not be required to keep humidity below 40% or constantly heat to 25°C (77°F) just to prevent mold caused by leaky windows or cracked facades.
If it does, the building component is probably faulty. If the glass has a temperature typical for such a window, it is more likely due to heating or ventilation.
The question is, what is a normal interior temperature for window panes? I would argue that 12–13°C (54–55°F) is not normal. According to the dew point chart, that would be the temperature the glass would need to have for condensation to occur at 21°C (70°F) room temperature and 60% humidity.
In short: if both the humidity and room temperature are kept within reasonable levels for living spaces and do not deviate from them, then neither mold nor condensation should occur. As a tenant, you should not be required to keep humidity below 40% or constantly heat to 25°C (77°F) just to prevent mold caused by leaky windows or cracked facades.
schubert795 Dec 2014 17:55A pane completely dry while the one right next to it is Niagara? At 21-26°C (70-79°F) room temperature? Something doesn’t add up...
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