We got a new analogue wall clock for the kitchen at Christmas which also has temperature and hygrometer dials. The hygrometer is reading 80+ and we’ve had it show 96%!

Now, our kitchen is double brick, no cavity and we get quiet a lot of condensation when cooking (even with the extractor running and two windows open).

Have borrowed a dehumidifier but even after running all weekend that only got it down to 70% and as soon as I enter the room and breathe (let alone boil a kettle) it goes straight back to 80%.

So, I’m looking to buy a hygrometer but have no idea which will give me a reliable reading. Seems you can get digital ones for a couple of quid or twenty quid…will these be different or just the same?

RH may actually be 80 – 100% outside at this time of year, when wet n windy.

Internal humidity will be similar, especially in a kitchen/ bathroom.

Put the device outside & then compare with the met office forecast to check it?

Cheers, will try that. Met Office website is reporting Humidity between 77 and 93% so may not be as much of a problem as first thought.

I got a very cheap one off amazon (like 3 quid or something). Took ages to come – no idea how accurate it is. Typical reading is about 55% – but can climb to mid 60s with lots of cooking/ showers or when the flat is cold

I just got it out of curiosity – as I have a dehumidifier and wanted to make a comparison with when that decides to turn itself on or off. No idea if its accurate – but apparently mid 50s is cobsiderd normal – and I don’t have problems with condensation in my flat (as long as I open windows when cooking/ showering and use the dehumidifier when drying clothes indoors)

If the humidity in your kitchen is really as high as that then condensation would be pouring off the windows

If the humidity in your kitchen is really as high as that then condensation would be pouring off the windows

It pours off the windows and the wall tiles when cooking 🙁

Coupled with a small radiator putting out not a great deal of heat it’s not an ideal environment.

our ‘calibrated from a scientific supplier’ hygrometers at work often fail calibration by the cal. lab. Cheap ones are pretty poor.

I’d expect ±10% from anything under £150.

What thomthumb says, even the ‘good’ ones are usually fairly rubbish (if you need any decent degree of accuracy)

Cheers. I’ll just get a cheap one to test the other rooms in the house and not worry too much about the accuracy if it’s reading lower than the kitchen.

If you can see your problem, why do you need a hygrometer?

I couldn’t find any reasonably priced ones better than +/-5%, they probably all use the same sensor. It’s probably not that far out anyway, if it’s as wet as you say it is the dehumidifier is going to take a good while to work. It took 2 weeks to pull our house down from 70-80% to 50-60%, the manuals say it can take 4 to 6 weeks!

If you go to WeatherUnderground you can see what the local amateur weather stations are reporting for outside humidity in your area.

http://www.wunderground.com/weatherstation/WXDailyHistory.asp?ID=ISTIRLIN11

Currently 81% in my back garden (dropping rapidly as the air warms up), but for most of November it was sitting at 95%+ when conditions were mostly drizzle and fog.

If you can see your problem, why do you need a hygrometer?

I’m more bothered about the rest of the house than the kitchen (where it’s blatently obvious). That way I can move the dehumidifier around if it a problem upstairs etc.

I’d suggest something like a Lascar EL-USB-2 then. Logs temperature, humidity and calculates the dew point. More than accurate enough for what you want and will be able to show just how effective (or not) your dehumidifier is.

Have you looked at the causes of the humidity and prevention rather than a cure like a dehumidifier? What is causing the humidity, where and when? Can you prevent it? Can you get it out of the house other than with mechanical and electrical power? Lots of other options if you’ve not explored them yet.

Have you looked at the causes of the humidity and prevention rather than a cure like a dehumidifier? What is causing the humidity, where and when? Can you prevent it? Can you get it out of the house other than with mechanical and electrical power? Lots of other options if you’ve not explored them yet.

It’s an old terrace from ~1900’s. Main house is presumed cavity (according to the survey when we bought it) but single storey extension for kitchen, utility and toilet is double brick. UPVC double glazing throughout that seems in OK condition. Polished floorboards in hallway, lounge & dining room so should be plenty of natural ventilation through them.

There’s very little heating in the kitchen, utility & toilet though and an old open vented boiler in utility room. Small radiator in the kitchen is basically it.

Don’t underestimate the benefit of opening all the windows in the house and giving it a good airing on a reasonably dry/ breezy day.

Do the double glazing units have vents?
Do the floorboards have a void under? Are they insulated underneath? Are the air bricks clear of obstruction? Even if this is all the case you don’t so much get ventilation from there – you get a cold floor. Yes, some air is moving through but without a draw (like an open fire in a chimney which would have been the case when it was built) it isn’t circulating very well. With cold air staying low and warm moist air rising you don’t get much circulation that way.

You’ve not mentioned whether there is extraction for the cooker or any laundry activity. Drying clothes in the house – clothes horse or tumble dryer?

I’ve lived in houses that had no rad in the kitchen at all and they didn’t have condensation problems. However, your kitchen soulds a bit of a ‘cold box’ and ventilation when cooking would be a good start.
You have an old house that has been changed a lot from it’s original design. Regular ventilation is a biggie and identifying your moisture sources and trying to reduce / manage them before they become the humidity problem would go a long way. You want about 50% humidity

Cheers for the thoughts TooTall.

Double glazing doesn’t have vents. Something I can easily look into though.
3ft void beneath the floorboads. No insulation underneath.
Air bricks are free from obstruction outside, but freshly plastered over inside (previous owners)

I did mention in the OP that when cooking the extractor (directly vented to outside) and windows are open.

Tumble dryer is directly vented outside too but we do occasionally dry clothes on radiators.

Sorry – missed the extractor / windows bit. I’d check the extractor is working properly and actually drawing air. Combining that with the open windows might be causing some of the problem. That cold wall combined with that cold air coming in through the windows is a recipe for condensation. If the extractor worked properly it should draw the air from the room and pull air in from elsewhere in the house, which would be warmer and cause less condensation.

When you say air bricks – do you mean ones through the walls higher up, or the ones that are down below floor level on the wall outside?

Drying anything on the rads will add to the humidity. Also, check the dryer hose is properly fastened, sealed and without holes. I’ve suffered from that before.Do you have the ability to lock the windows so they are slightly open? Most DG windows can do this. It sounds as if you need to get some ventilation into the place. There are a lot of issues (double brick walls, voids under floorboards etc). Some big rugs on those floorboards will help warm the place up a bit. With such a big void underneath the job of insulating under the boards wouldn’t be too bad – other than the actual job of cutting through the boards to gain access!
You haven’t mentioned showering / bathing routine. Does that bathroom have an extractor up to the job? You need to work on controlling the ventilation, having the ventilation and reducing the sources of humidity. The shell of the building is a longer term and bigger problem, but reducing what you have to get rid of is the biggie.