How to beat condensation

Even new homes can suffer from condensation.

Condensation can lead to worse things than the need to mop your windows in the mornings. Condensation encourages mould growth on indoor surfaces and even on furniture. Mould issues can aggravate asthma and mould spores can also irritate your throat and lead to serious and permanent lung damage.

A family of four can create up to 20 litres of water per day inside homes according to Consumer NZ. Homes not coping with internal moisture can lead to a condensation problems. Condensation is the process where water vapour becomes liquid. Warm air that is too humid contacting cold surfaces will create condensation.

Why is condensation worse in some rooms than others?

Moisture moves around homes through a process called diffusion. Diffusion occurs if some part of your home has a higher moisture level than another part, such as the movement of moisture from the bathroom to the bedroom after a hot shower has filled the bathroom with steam.

Diffusion happens even if there is no air movement at all. Just as heat travels from a hot space to a cold space, even if it must go through a wall, water vapour will travel from a space with a high moisture concentration to a space with a lower moisture concentration, again, even if it has to go through a wall.

Cold air almost always contains less water than hot air, so diffusion usually carries moisture from a warm place to a cold place.

Homes can be built with materials that reduce condensation dramatically.

If the humidity within your home can be managed by your home’s structure, your home will not be fully reliant on mechanical ventilation to remove moisture and you’ll enjoy the benefits of comfort and healthy air without using much energy.

Premium Homes hygroscopic wall and ceiling structures use the natural properties of wool to encourage moisture vapour to pass harmlessly outside, always keeping you comfortable and your home healthy. This cost-effective approach to building avoids condensation while saving householders on heating and cooling bills.

Premium Homes achieves condensation management without the need for plastic wraps, which is better for our environment as well as for the comfort and wellbeing of people living in our homes.

Talk to us about your condensation-free new home.