I could have sworn that edit wasn't there.<tinfoil hat> You must have just fudged the edit timestamp to mess with my head </tinfoil hat>
That's what i was thinking but didn't know, i knew temperature and pressure effected the evaporation of water but never considered how humidity plays into that, i wounder what happens when you force water to evaporate in 100% humidity or if that's even possible.
At a guess, you would probably have to put in so much energy that it would just turn into steam because it can't evaporate before that. Alternatively your attempts to evaporate the water heat up the air and increase the capacity.
Can't be done, any more than you can force more salt into a saturated saltwater solution. All you could do would be to heat the air, which would increase its moisture capacity - this is, incidentally, why hairdryers, (most) hand-dryers, and tumble driers throw out heated air.
It was this one - http://www.screwfix.com/p/wdh-316db-16ltr-dehumidifier/1379g - My nephew works there so I got an extra 30% discount. It was just the cheapest with everything I needed - Pretty high ltr/h, programmable timer, swing function for better diffusion, auto-defrost and drainage outlet. The only complaint I have about it is that shell turned in to a speaker from the motor vibrations when on slightly uneven ground. A good 'ol 1980's slap seems to have fixed that problem though. It's now practically silent if left running, keeping the humidity down throughout the day, but at full speed a big ass fan still sounds like a big ass fan at full speed.
That's against everybody's regs... even the Welsh* A quick search throws up Document F1 2010 : 5.5 Extract ventilation to outside is required in each kitchen, utility room and bathroom and for sanitary accommodation. The extract can either be intermittent or continuously operating. The intermittent rate, and for continuous systems the minimum extract air flow rates, should be no less than specified in table 5.1a. You want to at least let your landlord know (in writing) that you know that the extraction isn't right and that you can in no way be held liable for damage caused by excessive humidity or interstitial condensation. That's where you get condensation inside the wall thickness which leads to running water on stone/brick/timber faces which causes damage to pointing and wet-rot. If there's an agent of any sort CC them in too. *only kidding... they just use the English regs p.s. the regs also cover the noise output of extractors - a free app will let you know if it's complying or not... roughly - if it's wildly out then you can pretty much guarantee it's too loud, but if it's close to the limit then it could just be inaccuracy of the sensor/application.
I only ever have problems (and even then, not really problems) with humidity during the winter. I find that by whacking the central heating on for a bit brings it right back to 50%
I thought the British were exceptionally well versed on exactly what happens when water condenses in the atmosphere. Your house is just a very tiny version of the atmosphere, but you could probably replicate it by water-cooling your bathroom ceiling (radiator outside in the cold) and then taking a long hot shower.
OK i think my understanding of humidity is letting me down, as in i don't know what it is. Is humidity just really small droplets of water that we can't see, fog and clouds are when the droplets coalesce into bigger lumps that we can. I've just been reading some more and discovered something i didn't know that i think explains my dumbness, water can exist as a gas, WTF. There's our problem, 2010 regs say that's how it should be done but these flats were built long before that and going on the standard of some of the building work I'm pretty sure whoever done the building work wouldn't have know what regulations were if you hit them over the head with it. All that moaning about the weather just makes it sound like we know what we're talking about when in fact we ain't got a clue.
There's a simple way to wrap your head around it, based on what you already know: you can't take air over 100% relative humidity, because what happens above 100% relative humidity? Rain. Just like adding more salt to our saturated salt water solution drops the still-solid salt to the bottom, adding water to 100% humidity air drops said water to the bottom in still-liquid form.
Yea i think i get it now, maybe. I used to think of steam, fog, clouds as water vapor but unless I've got it wrong there not, there what we see when water vapor (gaseous form) condense into droplets, if that's correct does that mean 100% humidity at X temperature would condense into droplets if the temperature dropped?
Yup, the temperature dropping when it's already at 100% humidity will squeeze the water out of the air like a sponge - although then you get into heady concepts like nucleation points and super-saturation, which it isn't worth confusing the matter over. Basically, rule of thumb: 100% humidity air plus temperature drop equals 100% humidity air and water.
Yea, I don't really expect your landlord to do anything about it, but one can hope. However, by pointing out the problem at an early stage if your LL opts to do nothing he can't then turn around and claim your deposit for damages. 2010 is just the most up to date revision - it's (remotely) possible that an older edition allowed extraction to a vented space rather than the outside, but I doubt it. It's certainly never been the case in Scotland.
Quite literally a case the average Brit not recognizing atmospheric condensation even even it fell on his head
The incorrectly extractor fan is obviously a big concern but you might want to consider other sources as well. House plants can add a considerable amount of humidity to the air. In my location I have the opposite problem with the relative humidity dropping to 0%. Thus I have to actively add humidity to my house. In addition to the humidifier, I use house plants to help control the humidity level.
