An average family of 4 produces about 13 liters of water vapor daily in multiple ways (listed below).
This vapor won’t just disappear in thin air – it will have to settle somewhere.
If the home isn’t properly ventilated, for example, much of the vapor will condense on walls, windows, and other surfaces.
Hence, What Causes Condensation in A Manufactured Home?
All activities that evaporate water release vapor into the environment. When the temperatures are low enough, virtually all of this vapor will settle on your walls and windows as condensation.
Here are some of the common activities that cause condensation:
1. Cooking Or Boiling Water
Cooking food and boiling water are among the top causes of condensations in badly ventilated homes.
Foods that require a lot of boiling can release as much moisture in the air as an open stockpot full of boiling water over the same period.
Solution: The trick is to cover your food and water with a lid to minimize the amount of vapor escaping into the atmosphere. You can as well open the windows to let the moisture escape to the outside as you cook. Don’t close your windows immediately after cooking – let them remain open for about 15 – 20 more minutes.
2. Damp Ironing Or Steam Ironing Clothes
Have does it feel like ironing overdried clothes? It can be a real ordeal.
As such, many irons are equipped with a sprayer to help dampen the laundry and give you an easy time.
Those whose irons don’t come with this feature prefer to use a small plastic spray bottle full of water to dampen the clothes shortly before the ironing exercise begins.
While these two are useful for removing wrinkles on your clothes and making the whole ironing experience a little easier, they release a lot of steam in the air all of which may end on surfaces in your room.
The longer you iron with steam the more condensation you create.
Solution: The best way to avoid ironing-related condensation is to opt for dry iron. Even better, bring your ironing board close to the window and iron from there with the windows open.
3. Washing Or Wet/Dry Vacuum Cleaning The Floor
Washing with hot water releases a significant amount of vapor into the air and, depending on how long you wash and the state of ventilation in the home, it will settle on all available surfaces.
Wet/dry vacuum cleaners are starting to be commonplace in residential establishments because of their unique ability to clean both dry dirt and liquid spills.
They produce steam, some of which may end up condensing on your walls.
Solution: Go back to the traditional dry vacuum cleaner. If you must wash with warm water and use a wet/dry vacuum cleaner, make sure the home is properly ventilated.
4. Tumble Drying Without Working Ventilation
The warm and damp air in the tumble dryer generates vapor which is normally ejected through the dryer’s vent.
Check the display, door, and inside the appliance for signs of condensation after every cycle.
Solution? Install your equipment in a spacious room with ample ventilation. Trying to install your tumble dryer in a small room increases the likelihood of getting your walls soggy with condensation. The room should be reasonably large, roughly 10 – 12m2.
5. Bathing Or Showering
Warm showers and baths are some of the top moisture generators in any home.
If you like to leave the bathroom door open sometimes, the vapor may spread to walls in other rooms.
The hotter your shower or bath, the more vapor you produce hence more condensation on surfaces.
Solution? The best way to get rid of bathroom-related condensation is to install a bathroom fan. This class of fans is designed to suck all the bad odors and vapors of the bathroom and expel them to the outside via the roof, attics, or even on the external wall.
Alternatively, you can install wall ceramic panels/ tiles that provide a slippery service for moisture condensations to flow to the floor.
6. Plumbing Leaks, e.g. Dishwashers And Washing Machines
Plumbing-related “condensation” is a result of burst or damaged water pipes leaking inside a wall.
They are characterized by one or several wet patches on the wall over the damaged pipe.
They are commonplace near the location of the washer or dishwasher but can occur anywhere.
Solution; The only way to get rid of this is to repair or replace the damaged water pipe.
7. Decorating, e.g. stripping your wallpaper with water
One of the best ways to strip old wallpapers and other paper-related debris on the wall is to apply some water on the wall.
The obvious consequence of this is the accumulation of moisture in the wall. The moisture may spread far and wide.
Solution: opt for better ways of wallpaper stripping than water.
8. Drying clothes inside
Much of the resultant moisture will end on surfaces like windows and walls to create condensation.
Solution: Get a dehumidifier.
Five Dehumidifier Shopping Factors (For Condensation Reduction)
The job of the dehumidifier is to reduce the humidity of the room by removing the moisture in the air.
So, whether your home has condensation issues or the room just feels stuffy, this sounds like a device you’d install to improve the conditions.
Nonetheless, you can’t ignore dehumidifiers if your home is poorly ventilated and you are prone to produce a lot of water vapor through cooking or from the bathroom.
To choose the right product for your home, consider these factors:
1. Portability
Do you intend it for one room or use in any location you please at home?
If you plan to use it for localized dehumidification – like the kitchen or bathroom area – go for a portable product. Otherwise, a permanently installed device would be perfect.
2. Size of the room/space vulnerable to condensation
Buy a product with a size that fits your space. The capacity of dehumidifiers is measured in pints and describes the total amount of moisture removed by the device in 24 hours.
Small dehumidifiers normally come with a capacity in the region of 24 ounces or 250ml.
30-pint dehumidifiers remove, as the name says, 30 pints in 24 hours and are perfect for large laundry rooms and kitchens.
50-pint dehumidifiers take on bigger spaces than their 50-pint counterparts and are capable of removing up to 70 pints of moisture in a day.
3. Timer
If your home normally experiences an increase in humidity at certain times, go for a humidifier with a built-in time so that it can remove the moisture when you are not around.
4. Humidistat
Like a timer, the humidistat ensures that the device automatically turns on at certain times even when you are not around. The humidistat measures the humidity and turns on the device at a certain set percentage.
5. Cost
How much are you willing to spend on a dehumidifier as far as home humidity and condensation is concerned? You can find a decent product on a budget of $90. More advanced devices cost as high as $200.
Dehumidifier Tips
To get the most out of your dehumidifier and protect the surfaces of your home from condensed moisture, do the following:
Try and avoid positioning your furniture too close to your external wall
External walls separate your rooms from the outdoors.
Their location (external barriers/walls) is naturally colder compared to internal walls.
Pieces of furniture placed against them, therefore, can trap a lot of moist air over a long time to build destructive dampness.
The reaction of the fabric with the cold walls too can end up in condensation and mildew or mold growth.
Leave a reasonable gap between all walls and furniture
For the same aforementioned reason, if you have pieces of furniture positioned against other walls, make some changes and leave a reasonable gap to allow air to circulate.
Conclusion
Any activity that generates water vapor causes condensation. Leaking pipes too can be culprits.
A decent dehumidifier is the best answer to the condensation problem.
Related: How Do You Stop Manufactured Home Windows from Leaking?
