No one wants to find condensation on their windows, especially not in a hard-to-reach spot, like on a roof lantern. Understanding how to stop condensation on a roof lantern is very important – it can prevent damp, mould and mildew. As with other types of windows, if you leave condensation unchecked it can eventually lead to quite substantial damage to your home.
In this guide, we’re going to take a look at the most important tips you need to bear in mind to stop condensation from developing on your roof lanterns.
What Causes Condensation?
Before we offer any tips, it’s important that you know the causes of condensation. Ultimately, condensation has two root causes. The first is warm air and cold air colliding, leading to the formation of liquid water on the colder surface, while the second is humidity. Each of these issues demands a separate approach.
How to Tell You’re Having Issues with Condensation
It’s far better to stop condensation before it becomes an issue. However, if your home or business has any of these issues, you need to solve it quickly:
- Mould or mildew around windows
- Paint is appearing to bubble or peel off
- Mould on soft furnishings around windows
- Rot
How to Deal With Cold Air and Condensation
At Toughened Glass Systems, our roof lanterns offer excellent thermal performance, but it is still worth knowing how you can prevent cold and warm air from creating condensation in your home.
Learn why roof ventilation is so important.
Open Your Curtains or Blinds
Opening your curtains or blinds is a very important step. If you have blinds or curtains on your roof lanterns, these can insulate the window from your home’s warm air, leaving the window cold, allowing any remaining warm air from inside the house to condense on the lantern. Opening any coverings allows the window to warm up, keeping it in equilibrium with the air in your home.
Add Double or Triple Glazing
Adding double or triple glazing to your roof lantern is very important. While modern roof lights and roof lanterns should be double or triple glazed, some older models still only contain one pane of glass.
By adding more panes of glass, you further insulate the interior pane from the cold, outside air, which means the pane is warmer, and thus, produces less condensation.
View our triple glazed rooflight, and learn more about energy efficient rooflights.
Limiting Moisture
We’ve looked at ways you can minimise the temperature difference between your home and your roof lantern’s panes, but reducing moisture in your home is another important factor to consider when it comes to condensation. In this section, we’ll look at ways you can prevent excess moisture in your home.
Open Your Windows for a Few Hours Per Day
The air inside homes often develops moisture due to people breathing, the use of kettles, running hot baths, and so on. Opening your windows for only a few hours a day will allow you to exchange the moist air inside your home for drier air from the outdoors. We understand that this may not be an option during particularly cold winters, but luckily, this isn’t your only option.
Buy a Dehumidifier
The best way to remove moisture from your home is to buy a dehumidifier, a specialised appliance that is fantastic at removing damp air from your home. Dehumidifiers work by sucking in warm air from your home and running it across a refrigerated coil, so it condenses there, rather than on your windows.
If you want to remove the most moist air from your home as possible, a dehumidifier is essential.
Use Your Extractor Fans
Extractor fans are common features of bathrooms and kitchens, the two areas that generate the most moisture in the home. Think of all the times that you boil a saucepan, take a shower, or run hot water to shave. All of these generate steam, which will make the air in your home a lot more moist. All of that steam has to go somewhere, and the cool surface of your roof lantern is ideal.
The best way to prevent this is by using your extractor fans judiciously. Whenever you do anything that generates steam, switch it on, and keep it on until after.
Why It Matters
You may be wondering why it’s so important that you stop condensation from developing on your roof lantern. Not only can it lead to dampness in your home, which, in turn, can cause a whole range of other property issues, but it can also lead to the development of health issues.
Dampness can lead to the development of mould, which can provoke serious problems, especially if you have asthma.
What Roof Lanterns Do We Sell?
We sell a range of roof lanterns, including:
We also stock an impressive range of rooflights and skylights, including:
More helpful blogs
- Rooflights vs Roof Lanterns
- What Is a Roof Lantern?
- Rooflight Sizes: A Complete Guide
- How Much Does a Roof Lantern Cost?
- Can I Put a Roof Lantern on a Conservatory?
- Roof Lantern Buyer’s Guide
- Flies in Your Roof Lantern: Causes and Solutions
How to Stop Condensation on Roof Lanterns: FAQs
Do Roof Lanterns Make Rooms Colder?
While single glazed roof lanterns can make rooms feel colder, this is not the case with double or triple glazed lanterns, which have much better thermal performance.
Are Roof Lanterns More Prone to Condensation?
It is particularly important to keep condensation under control with a skylight or roof lantern. This is because hot air, even that containing moisture, rises, which means that roof lights are more likely to come into contact with it.
Is Window Condensation Normal?
Condensation will appear from time to time on all windows, even those with fantastic thermal performance. That’s why it’s important that you take steps to mitigate it.
