How to Stop Condensation in Bathroom?
We have talked previously at great information about how tackle condensation in your home, including 20 really useful tips on how to stop condensation on windows. In that article we talked about how condensation is especially a problem in winter months and how, if not resolved, can cause mould problems in your property, such as black mould in bathrooms – as condensation provides moisture that mould needs to grow in your home.
Each of those things on that list can help with how to stop condensation, but we actually have a bonus tip which is a simple and cost effective way of how to stop condensation, bathroom condensation in particular!
As we have seen before, baths can add a lot of moisture / humidity in houses to the air through steam. But did you know there is a simple trick to help reduce that by 45%?
How to Stop Condensation – Bubble Bath!
You heard that right, using bubble bath is a surprisingly effective way when looking at how to stop condensation problems (or make them better) whilst having a bath! So how does it work?
We have pulled this diagram together to help demonstrate:
As you can see, having bubble bath in the bath forms an insulation layer on top of the water, it also acts as a barrier to steam entering the air and helping to control the humidity. We discuss the impact insulation (or missing insulation gaps) can cause cold spots and condensation.
It also has the benefit of keeping the bath water warmer for longer – bonus! This is because there is also less heat loss, just like insulation acts on other occasions, helping to retain heat.
You can see a similar principle in action in this video from YouTube on the Serious Eats Channel where they show how ping pong balls can act as insulation when doing Sous Vide cooking…
Bubble Bath vs No Bubble Bath – Condensation
But does it actually work? Well, remember when we did tests on the bath vs shower condensation experiment. That bath data was for a bath without bubble bath, so we repeated the test for a bath with bubble bath so that you can compare the results.
As you can see the timeline (which we aligned for the two bath days) was:
- Enter the bathroom at 6:00pm
- Start running the bath at 6:15pm
- Finish running the bath at 6:30pm
- Then immediately start having a bath
- End and empty the bath at 6:45pm
So what difference did having a bubble bath instead of a regular (non bubble) bath when looking a how to stop condensation in your bathroom? Measured by Relative Humidity.
- Over the whole test, there was a 24.7% reduction
- For just the time of running and having a bath, it was a 45% reduction!
- So, if you want to reduce condensation, use bubble bath to help. Top tip!
We also looked at how much the temperature change was in the bathroom whilst having a bath as our previous test showed that the warmth from the bath increased the temperature by about 2.3°C. which was an increase of 12.8% in temperature. However, with bubble bath, that increase in temperature was exactly 1.0°C, which was just a 5.3% increase in temperature on the day. So a noticeable difference there.
So our theory about the bubble bath bubbles acting as an insulation layer was certainly correct and less heat was transferred from the bath to the room temperature. Perhaps our next test should be to see what difference it had on the temperature of the actual bath water!
We hope you found that an interesting and useful fact. If you have a problem with excessive condensation, damp or mould at your property, get in touch with our team for help.
We have also written an article on anti condensation paint which is worth checking out. Plus, If you want to see some videos featuring bubbles in them, be sure to take a look at our collection of Slow Motion Water videos and our dew point chart.
What is the best way to stop condensation?
There are two key ways, in the main, on how to stop condensation in your home or business. Firstly, to control or remove the source of moisture to reduce the humidity in the air, especially in winter months and also on cold surfaces (more at risk). Secondly, improving ventilation and extraction in higher risk moisture rooms, especially bathrooms, will greatly help reduce or completely stop condensation.
How do you stop condensation overnight?
In order to understand how to stop condensation overnight you need to understand what causes it, especially in winter months of the year. This can vary but typically this will be because people tend to not have their heating on overnight (colder air holds less moisture), plus as they sleep they release moisture into the air, especially from breathing. So to stop condensation consider leaving heat on perhaps lower and ventilate the bedroom better, including leaving windows slightly open or even leaving your bedroom door to dissipate the moisture better.