To control air flows, make sure the is continuous An air barrier helps control airflow both through and within the building enclosure. By controlling airflow, you also control moisture. If moist indoor air contacts a cold surface — for example, exterior sheathingMaterial, usually plywood or oriented strand board (OSB), but sometimes wooden boards, installed on the exterior of wall studs, rafters, or roof trusses; siding or roofing installed on the sheathing—sometimes over strapping to create a rainscreen. in cold weather — condensation can result. An air barrier prevents those cold surfaces from being connected with humid indoor air. Air has a maximum storage capacity for water vapor which depends on temperature. Warm air can store lots of moisture, while cold air can store very little. According to Straube, as the temperature falls from 90°F down to 20°F, the amount of moisture that can be stored in the air changes by a factor of ten. “This is like a gas tank that shrinks as the temperature gets colder,” he says.

“When it’s hot, you can store a lot in this tank, but when it’s cold you can’t store much at all. And if you were to have a large gas tank filled with gas and you shrunk it, eventually it would spill over. 1. Air Leaks Waste Energy 5. Humidity & Mold Leaky homes didn’t have condensation problems Older buildings rarely had condensation problems in cold weather because they were so well ventilated — meaning leaky. The relative humidity in an old home would rarely rise above 25%. As we have built tighter houses (and in some cases failed to provide mechanical ventilation), the indoor relative humidity has gone up. In a heated, tight, unventilated house, the amount of moisture in the air and the amount of condensation that can occur are dramatically different than in an old leaky house. Condensation can occur wherever water vapor can find a cold spot — on roof or wall sheathing, on the inside faces of the windows, and inside the walls. Let's say it’s 40°F outside and the outdoor relative humidity is 50%.

If you allow that outdoor air to enter a building and heat it up to 70°F, the amount of moisture in the air stays exactly the same, but the “tank” gets bigger because the storage capacity of the air increases with the temperature. As a result, the relative humidity initially drops. Then, as moisture is added to the air, the relative humidity rises, and the absolute moisture content rises as well. How do you add moisture to the air? You breathe, sweat, boil water for spaghetti, take hot showers, grow houseplants — and all of those activities generate moisture. When does indoor humidity become a problem? Let’s say that air leaks out of a house through holes in the enclosure. As it reaches surfaces colder than 52°F or 53°F, the air will cool. Once it reaches its full capacity to store moisture, condensation occurs. Questions and Answers About Air Barriers Airtight Wall and Roof Sheathing One Air Barrier or Two? Pinpointing Leaks With a Fog Machine

How to Use the Psychrometric Chart Rating Windows for Condensation Resistance All About Wall Rot If the temperature of the outdoor air is around 30°F, the indoor air will drop all of the moisture that it gained on the way out, dumping it on the cold sheathing surface. ac unit fall out windowThat’s a typical example of the air leakage condensation cycle. indoor ac unit problemsSince condensation in walls can cause puddles — and in extreme cases, rot the framing — condensation is something you want to avoid. combination heat and ac window unitsInstalling an air barrier is one way to help prevent condensation. Air conditioning can also create condensing surfaces The same phenomenon can happen in reverse in the summertime.

Let’s say the outdoor air is 85°F and the relative humidity is 75%. When outdoor air leaking inward contacts a surface below about 76°F, the moisture in the air will condense. So if you have an exhaust fan in your home, the air leaking in may cause condensation on the air-conditioned surfaces — for example, on the back side of vinylCommon term for polyvinyl chloride (PVC). In chemistry, vinyl refers to a carbon-and-hydrogen group (H2C=CH–) that attaches to another functional group, such as chlorine (vinyl chloride) or acetate (vinyl acetate). If moist air leaks into a house through gaps in the wall or roof, you can have problems. But in a tight house with a good air barrier and a supply-only ventilation system, most of the air that’s drawn inside is drawn in through the air conditioner, so the first cold surfaces it sees are the cooling coils. If you have air leaks in your building envelopeExterior components of a house that provide protection from colder (and warmer) outdoor temperatures and precipitation;

includes the house foundation, framed exterior walls, roof or ceiling, and insulation, and air sealing materials., you usually can’t see the condensation — unless you’re a forensic engineer like Straube, who goes around cutting holes in walls. However, condensation is sometimes visible in the attic; all you have to do is look for frost or dampness forming on the underside of the OSB or plywood roof sheathing. It doesn’t take much of a hole in the ceiling of a humid house for the condensation to accumulate as frost. Then, when the sun warms up the black shingle roof, the frost melts, the water falls, “and then you have a ‘roof leak,’ ” Straube says. “Then you call the roofer, and he puts on a new roof, and it doesn’t fix a damn thing because that wasn’t the problem.” It was an air leak.Condensation on window glass is one reason homeowners turn to replacement units. But it can also be one of the reasons for a callback after the windows have been replaced. What starts out as a selling opportunity — visible evidence of energy-wasting windows —can turn around and bite you when the condensation persists after new high-performance units have been installed.

It's important from the very start to educate homeowners about the causes of condensation, and not to oversell what the windows can do. Be clear with them that, although cold glass exacerbates the problem, windows do not cause condensation; CAUSES OF CONDENSATION Moisture vapor in the air tends to condense on cold surfaces in a home where the air reaches its dew point. This is common when there is great difference between inside and outside temperatures and when the relative humidity of the warm side is high. Typically, the coldest surfaces in a home are on the windows — most often at the edges where conduction is greatest. In extreme cases, when indoor humidity is very high, chronic condensation at the edges of the glass can create a significant moisture problem that leads first to peeling paint, then to mildew (a type of mold), and eventually to rot. Keep in mind also that if condensation frequently forms on the glass, it's likely also to be forming inside walls. This can happen where warm, moist air leaks into the wall at a point where a pocket of poor insulation creates cold surfaces.