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Our current house has several single glazed windows which will get replaced in time. At the moment we have the daily rigmarole of squeegeeing the condensation and mopping it all up. Madame mentioned she had seen a window vacuum so googling away suggest several models. I have to confess I am not a gadget lover so am wondering if they are actually worth having?
I see I can get a karcher one from their refurb shop for £25, they seem to get the most positive reviews
We've got a karcher one (actually two, long story). I've had stuff from the Karcher refurb store before and they've been new.
Would recommend.
I bought one recently (karcher), it does th window, walls and shower tray in the bathroom daily at least. Seems to work well, doesn't get everything as inevitably you have a window sill that obstructs the bottom of the vacuum. Whether you'll rate it or not is hard to tell, it's definitely a gadget you don't need but it's good to have.
Might be worth a punt, but is it really going to be more efffective than a couple of old/cheap towels?
What to you do with you wet towels after mopping up the condensation? Dry them on the radiator and put the moisture back into the room again?
Our window vac is great - collects the condensation which then goes down the drain.
New windows on order will hopefully render it redundant...
Yes great thing. We have some large floor to ceiling windows and it means I can keep on top of cleaning them.
Best use,albeit a bit niche, is clearing the campervan windows in the morning, it hoovers all the condensation up very well
Yes they’re brilliant and way better than getting a wet towel.
Yes get one. We have a karcher. It's brilliant and leaves no streaks.
Use it on windows, tiles, windscreens etc
We've got one. It doesn't do the corners very well which when you only have condensation on the bottom 1" of the window makes it pretty pointless. We normally just use a towel instead
What to you do with you wet towels after mopping up the condensation? Dry them on the radiator and put the moisture back into the room again?
Hang them outside, and chuck them in the washing machine periodicaly?
Hang them outside
You can dry things outside at this time of year? Are you in the UK?
If you feel you need to hoover water off your windows then what you actually need is a dehumidifier 🤔
If you feel you need to hoover water off your windows then what you actually need is a dehumidifier 🤔
we've all got similar levels of humidity in our houses, its just some have small cold surfaces for that humidity to condense on.
In fact, a house with lots of window condensation probably needs a dehumidifier less than a normal one, as the windows are already acting like one 🙂
Really useful for removing water & moisture off of tiles/glass etc after a shower, so you can leave the bathroom window shut all day if you're out.
Depends on relative humidity... a wet towel will dry out in the cold, mostly, it will take all day though, but it's not like you need it again within the next 24 hrs.
Other option is bung it in the wash.
Although, it's a good idea to buy a hydrometer for your house, it's a usefull tool and they are only about a tenner... for example my inside humidity today, supprisingly dropped below 40% so i've bunged some stuff on the radiators to dry a few hours ago, humididty has only just risen (due to damp clothes on the rads, to a healthy 53% and the clothes are almost dry...
we’ve all got similar levels of humidity in our houses
what is the evidence for that claim? Just considering the variables that affect the humidity added to the air in a house (and we are talking absolute humidity not RH?), all these can vary a lot:
- the number of people living in the home
- the amount of boiling water cooking
- the number of showers taken
- the use of extracts in the kitchen and bathroom
- the amount of natural ventilation
- the amount of clothing that is air dried indoors
So it is quite possible that a lot more moisture ends up in the air in some homes compared to others, so that a de-humidifier can be very useful in condensing the moisture before it reaches a cold window.
Howver this is the sort of shit that makes me despair. An electric powered gadget to remove condensation. Ffs
Why? What is the issues with removing condensation quickly and easily?
Unneeded gadget. Its just a waste of resources. The planet is dying and folk buy shit like this? Sure its only a small thing but its indicative of our attitude. Eveything needs a powered plastic gadget.
Ebiker says what now?
I bought an ebike instead of a car and no ones perfect
My environmental footprint is much lower than most on here
Just wipe it with a reusable cloth. Preferably a bit of rag from worn out clothing reduce reuse recycle
Reducing consumption is the key
I use the window vac for cleaning the windows too, essentially what they’re meant for. I could use one of many old t-shirts but they don’t work as well. I have a car but not an e-bike.
You're arguing against useless gadgets but you have an ebike?
A cloth does not remove condesation as effectively and takes a lot of time in the morning, a time when people are in a rush. It's a small gadget and lasts well. Arguing on here probably does more environmental damage, given the is a environmental impact of server farms.
That time saved in the morning means you have more time for your commute, so can take a bike instead of a car. It's all how you want to frame things in your mind.
And everyone thinks their environmental impact is lower than most.
People actually bother to remove condensation from windows? Do these people also remove raindrops from the outside surface too? The mind boggles at what people find to keep themselves busy with.
Surely if you wipe it with a cloth you then have to dry the cloth. Moisture not getting removed from house.
Putting wet cloth on radiator even worse as it puts more strain on your heating.
Window vac probably a good environmental option, provided you look after it in summer when its not in use.
Best thing we ever bought - makes drying off the bedroom window in the morning a breeze - & removes moisture.
Also handy in the car/campervan when things get a bit damp in there too to remove the moisture.
Something that it's good to use the planet's resources for.
People actually bother to remove condensation from windows?
Yes, because if you don't then the window frames rot. The previous owner of my current house hadn't bothered and the upstairs frames had rotten and so have the windowsills. It's part of looking after your house.
Do these people also remove raindrops from the outside surface too?
Yes, it's called the wind.
Last window the hinge snapped from rusting, so whole window needed replacing, trying to avoid needing replace a whole bathroom window with an electric gadget. Environmentally, I couldn't care less, there are multiple wars doing far more to the environment than me and my window vac.
I use a window vac to clean windows - was revolutionary on that front rather than buying products that never worked
We dont suffer from condensation in our current house luckily.
I would be trying to find the source of the condensation and cutting that out too. Thats going to be better for your health and your heating costs as wet air is more expensive to heat than dry air.
We have a karcher for cleaning windows. It works really well and vastly reduces cleaning time. But you do need a bit of kitchen towel to mop drips.
Karcher cleans the dog prints off the bifold doors remarkably well once techniques is mastered. I don't use it to remove condensation as it's not a problem (draughty Victorian house), but removal of water from the shower glass could be a thing to reduce hard water staining. That would save on formic acid cleaning aka descaling.
Got one of the screwfix budget ones a few weeks back for £20, a bit on the chunky side but works really well, my house is really bad for wet windows in the winter on waking up, and then the mould spots on the walls if I forgot to dry them. Can do the worst 5 or 6 windows in a couple of minutes. Way less faff than towels which is what I was doing, and as has been said, you’d end up putting a lot of the water back into the air by drying them after. Can’t really see them using much electricity either.
Unneeded gadget. Its just a waste of resources
Did you come to that conclusion from a picture or a YouTube video ?
We were gifted one I wouldn't have bought one. it works very well for removing the morning condensation in the bedrooms (timber windows)
Also very good for cleaning windows easily and streak free. As well as glass splashback and shower glass without leaving loads of lint all over the window
It's also 10 years old and continues to do it's job.
Would buy again tbh.
Mine is great for sucking up pools of water off a tiled floor from drip drying outdoor clothing that has been hosed down or hand washed.
Yes.
Just used ours to remove the vast majority of water from the shower walls, glass and floor. They're all large, smooth panels, so loads pools.. That's about a pint of slowly evaporating water every day that isn't lurking about the house, looking for a cold surface to condense onto.
Gets used on windows as well, more to lift condensation than for cleaning but works well for what I think is a sensible environmental balance/compromise. We're lucky, in that damp on the inside of the windows isn't a huge problem; less so on windy days, funnily enough but it's still worth doing on some days.