Window Ice and Condensation

[killramos]

1” thick or 1” travel from the edges?

I have a fair bit of frost on some but overall it’s been more mild than I was expecting.

[16hypen3sp]

I have this problem in upstairs master suite. I just keep the shades raised about 6” and a small fan pushing air towards it during the cold snaps. Stops the frost from forming. Vaseline on garage door seal as well. Prevents the door from freezing to the cement all winter.

[msommers]

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1” thick or 1” travel from the edges?

I have a fair bit of frost on some but overall it’s been more mild than I was expecting.

1" up from the bottom. It's likely a 1mm thick

[killramos]

That sounds pretty benign. I wouldn’t lose much sleep over that at 35 below

[ExtraSlow]

Yep. No worries.

[Twin_Cam_Turbo]

My window in my shower had ice today. All other windows clear and dry.

[88CRX]

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Vaseline on garage door seal as well. Prevents the door from freezing to the cement all winter.

I need to do this. Fucker keeps freezing to the slab.

[bigbadboss101]

I "open up" window coverings, my wife closes them :-). This year is worst. The windows are original. I said to my wife I would consider moving somewhere warmer first before deciding on spending $40k on windows :-)

Would the bubble wrap where you use the blow dryer to get them onto the windows help?

[suntan]

You can change out the glass. Significantly cheaper.

[GT.....O?]

For any significant ice buildup already there, does it make sense to try and remove/chip it away now? or just make sure that it gets dried out properly once temperatures return to normal?

Does leaving it present potential damage to the seals?

[88CRX]

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For any significant ice buildup already there, does it make sense to try and remove/chip it away now? or just make sure that it gets dried out properly once temperatures return to normal?

Does leaving it present potential damage to the seals?

Unless you fix the issue (lower humidity/air movement) if you spend all the time to remove the ice build up its going to come right back.

I just watch it as it warms up and keep wiping up the pooling water.

[ThePenIsMightier]

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For any significant ice buildup already there, does it make sense to try and remove/chip it away now? or just make sure that it gets dried out properly once temperatures return to normal?

Does leaving it present potential damage to the seals?

Do NOT chip.
If you want it to go away, point a fan at it and it'll be gone in <2 hours. Yes, it's probably exasperating a problem with the window seal a bit, but it's enough to stress about.

The irony is that moist air touching the window is what causes the initial condensation, yet the solution is to... Blow air on it! Why? Because the air in the house is above its own dew point temp and if we can keep the inside surface of your windows above that dew point temp, then nothing will condense on them. When we cover them with blinds or curtains, we block the flow of heat from the house through the windows and the windows become much closer to the outside temp which will be WAY below the dew point temp of the inside air, so every nano molecule of air that touches that glass instantly ejaculates all of its watery load onto your windows where it promptly freezes.
It's science.
That's probably >82% correct.

[Darell_n]

Hit the glass with a hammer to loosen the ice buildup. Very effective, it won’t return.

[suntan]

I just lick it off, pure condensed water.

[firebane]

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I just lick it off, pure condensed water.

[rage2]

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Do NOT chip.
If you want it to go away, point a fan at it and it'll be gone in <2 hours. Yes, it's probably exasperating a problem with the window seal a bit, but it's enough to stress about.

The irony is that moist air touching the window is what causes the initial condensation, yet the solution is to... Blow air on it! Why? Because the air in the house is above its own dew point temp and if we can keep the inside surface of your windows above that dew point temp, then nothing will condense on them. When we cover them with blinds or curtains, we block the flow of heat from the house through the windows and the windows become much closer to the outside temp which will be WAY below the dew point temp of the inside air, so every nano molecule of air that touches that glass instantly ejaculates all of its watery load onto your windows where it promptly freezes.
It's science.
That's probably >82% correct.

Sounds like I should give you an engineer user title. Without asterisk too.

[ExtraSlow]

Yep, do not chip or scratch away frost or ice buildup. Remember, ICE isn't damaging, it's liquid water that you have to be scared of. Air movement will remove the ice slowly and safely. Get a portable fan, point it at each window for a while, you'll see the ice vanish over time.

The downside is that this does increase heat loss in that area, so your furnace will work harder, but fuck it, natural gas is cheap, burn as much as you can. If you house isn't 23c or higher today, you are basically a communist.

[msommers]

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For any significant ice buildup already there, does it make sense to try and remove/chip it away now? or just make sure that it gets dried out properly once temperatures return to normal?

Does leaving it present potential damage to the seals?

I was using one of these to scrap the ice off. Just don't scrap the seal obviously.

https://www.lodgecastiron.com/produc...u=SCRAPERCOMBO

I don't think the initial ice is the issue it's the water melting, potentially migrating behind the seals and freeze/thaw fucking things up. I've been wiping up water just from the sun this afternoon.

[GT.....O?]

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I was using one of these to scrap the ice off. Just don't scrap the seal obviously.

https://www.lodgecastiron.com/produc...u=SCRAPERCOMBO

I don't think the initial ice is the issue it's the water melting, potentially migrating behind the seals and freeze/thaw fucking things up. I've been wiping up water just from the sun this afternoon.

yeah, i have a grout scraper i have been using lightly. was late to the game for shutting off the humidifier and there was some pretty bad ice build-up. Also doesnt help the windows are shitty builder grade sliders.... so it looked alot worse this morning.



has mostly cleared up now, but i was pulling solid chunks of ice off, nearly the thickness of my pinky, after the sun hit the window. probably up to 1 cup on each window... its brutal for a 5 year old house

[ThePenIsMightier]

^That's fuck all. Leave it alone.
Mine look about like that and my humidity is currently 35%. It's cold as fuck out and glass isn't an insulator.