The windows throughout your home open up to the outdoors, a way to draw light in as you take in the view of your garden, yard or landscape. The last thing you want to see is a sweaty window covered in a layer of condensation.

Not only are windows plastered with condensation unappealing, they also can be a symptom of a more serious air-quality issue in your home. Thankfully, there’s multiple things you can do to resolve the problem.

What Creates Sweating along Windows

Condensation on the interior of windows is created by the humid warm air throughout your home mixing with the colder surface of the windows. It’s particularly commonplace in the winter when it’s much colder outside than it is within your home.

Inside Moisture vs. In Between Panes

When discussing condensation, it’s necessary to understand the contrast between moisture on the inside of your windows in comparison to moisture in between the windowpanes. One is an air-quality issue and the other is a window issue.

  • Moisture within a window is produced from the warm humid air throughout your home condensing on the glass.
  • The moisture you see between windowpanes is produced when the window seal stops working and moisture slips between the two panes of glass, and at that point the window has to be repaired or replaced.
  • Condensation on the inside of the windows isn’t a window situation and can instead be solved by changing the humidity across your home. Different things generate humidity throughout a home, like showers, cooking, laundry or even breathing.

Why Sweating Windows Can Be an Issue

Although you might presume condensation on the inside of your windows is a cosmetic concern, it may also be evidence your home has excess humidity. If that’s the case, water may also be collecting on window frames, cold walls or other surfaces. Even a slim film of water can help wood surfaces to mildew or rot over time, fostering the growth of mildew or mold.

How to Lower Humidity Inside Your Home

Fortunately there are several options for extracting moisture from the air in your home.

If you have a humidifier operating in your home – whether it be a smaller unit or a whole-house humidifier – lower it further so the humidity inside your home comes down.

If you don’t have a humidifier active and your home’s humidity level is excessive, think about purchasing a dehumidifier. While humidifiers adds moisture in your home so the air doesn’t become too dry, a dehumidifier pulls excess moisture out of the air.

Compact, portable dehumidifiers can absorb the water from a single room. However, portable units require clearing water trays and usually service a somewhat limited area. A whole-house dehumidifier will extract moisture from your entire home.

Whole-house dehumidifier systems are regulated by a humidistat, which allows you to set a humidity level the same like you would pick a temperature with your thermostat. The unit will begin running instantly when the humidity level exceeds the set level. These systems collaborate with your home’s HVAC system, so you should contact experienced professionals for whole-house dehumidifier installation Menomonie and western Wisconsin.

Additional Ways to Lower Condensation on Windows

  • Exhaust fans. Putting in exhaust fans around humidity hotspots like the bathroom, laundry room or above the stove can help by drawing the warm, moist air from these rooms out of your home before it can raise the humidity level across your home.
  • Ceiling fans. Turning on ceiling fans can also keep air swirling throughout the home so humid air doesn’t get stuck in one place.
  • Open window treatments. Pulling open the blinds or drapes can decrease condensation by stopping the warm air from being trapped against the windowpane.

By lowering humidity across your home and circulating air throughout your home, you can make the most of clear, moisture-free windows even in the middle of the winter.