Window condensation is easily one of the worst things about winter weather. You can’t see out of your windows because you have fogged up windows, which we call condensation. Some people use hot air, some say cold air is better, and but there are still questions. Would AC help? What if you opened the windows?
You can remove window condensation quickly, with a few simple steps, without leaving streaks, once you understand why your windows get fogged. Even with radar, you really need to see where you’re going inside the harbor. It’s a good idea to clear your windows hot, dry air.
Recently I was talking with some friends about window condensation. If you search online, there are lots of different ideas, from so-called experts. So, I decided to put my theory to the test.
Window Condensation is Worst in the Morning
Window condensation is worse in the early morning. So, I get up early to test my hypothesis. For the past few mornings, I’ve created a consistent environment to test all the different combinations, hot air, cold air and even air conditioned air. Then I recorded and ranked the results. Spoiler alert: yes there is, in fact, a special group of settings, that will defog your windows quicker.
I Tested Anti Foggers Below
I also found some things you can do that will prevent your windows from fogging in the first place. But before we get into that, I want to review what makes a window fog up in the first place. And then we can understand why they work.
To begin with, let’s agree that, if you look real closely, the fog, is just tiny droplets of water, or window condensation. It’s the same thing as the clouds in the sky, which you can see when they condense on a cold glass, or on a bathroom mirror after a shower, your breath on a frigid day, or the dew on the grass.
Hot Air Has More Capacity
Now what’s interesting, is in a basic way, is that hot air can hold a lot more moisture than cold air. In fact, a lot more. Hot air can hold up to ten times as much moisture as cold air. This is why when air comes into contact with a cold surface, the cooler air can’t hold all that moisture and the humidity becomes water vapor. When the hot air comes into contact with a cold window, that becomes window condensation.
Basically, the air all around us has at least some moisture in it, that we can’t see, called humidity. Condensation is what happens when the air gets colder and can’t hold all that humidity. The higher the humidity, the more water vapor. As soon as the air can’t hold it, that humidity condenses into these little droplets of water.
Visualize the Humidity as a Sponge
To make this easier to visualize, let’s see this air as a sponge. How much humidity this air can contain is determined by two things: The size of the sponge and how wet it is already. The hotter the air, the more moisture it can hold. So when you want to soak up water, the size of the sponge represents the temperature of the air.
How wet the sponge is already represents the amount of water vapor in the air. So low water vapor is a dry sponge with lots of capacity. Now you can see how this happens. Every time you see some window condensation, or any fogging, like on a glass of iced tea.
Outside Air is Dryer
The air outside is really cold, so it’s like a big wet sponge that has been squeezed so much that some water has to come out. In the shower, the air is warm, so it’s a really big sponge, but it’s so humid the sponge is fully loaded. So it loses its ability to absorb any more, and water has to come out.
In the morning you see dew on the grass, because like the iced tea glass, the sponge has shrunk, and water comes out. The same logic applies to clouds, or to fog, or to your breath on a really cold day.
So to absorb the moisture on your window, as fast as possible, we want a big dry towel. Now you can see why these three steps will defog your windows the fastest.
- Use the heater
- Use your AC
- bring in outside air
Number one, use hot air, like from a hair dryer. This is because hot air holds more moisture. So you’re making the size of your sponge bigger.
Number two, temporarily turn your AC on. When the air passes over the cold coils, it will pull moisture out of the air. This is like we’re wringing out our sponge.
Number three, bring outside air. Winter air is cold, which means it’s already dry. So if you bring it into your catamaran or any boat, and then heat it up, it will have a lot more capacity to absorb moisture.
I know it’s cold outside and you don’t want to do this, but it will really help. Even if you do this for only a few seconds. This is because the outside air is already dry, replacing the humid inside air with this dry air will make an immediate difference.
Test It Yourself
Now, results will vary a bit, depending on a several things. For example, the current weather, the kind of living space inside your catamaran, etc. But try these three steps next time you have a problem with fogged windows to see how much faster this works.
And, if this is what you are already doing, give yourself a pat on the back, you are awesome. If you still have some condensation issues, you could try putting some kitty litter in a sock or any fabric. This will act as a desiccant and it will help absorb some moisture. Make sure you put this kitty litter out in the warm sunshine during the day to release all that moisture. This will recharge your kitty litter sock for the next morning you need it.
Anti-Foggers I Tested
The other thing you can do is an anti-fog treatment for window condensation. This is a normal window, a portion of the window with anti-fog liquid, and a portion of the window with shaving cream. And, it turns out, the anti-fog treatment helps a lot. This is because there is detergent in these window defoggers and it blocks the condensation from attaching to the window.
Save yourself a couple bucks. The anti-fogger didn’t do any better than the shaving cream.
Conclusion
I hope this little demo was useful for you and helped you visualize this. If you would like some more information, please leave feedback for me and I can help find more information for you.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defogger#Secondary_defogger