Best window vacuum for winter condensation: worth buying one, or is a squeegee plus a dehumidifier enough?
Every cold morning my old windows are covered in condensation and there are puddles on the sills by 8am. I have been wiping them down with towels, but I am starting to worry about mould on the frames. Window vacuums keep popping up in my searches this week and they are about 45 to 60 dollars. Do they actually pull the water off properly, or is a cheap squeegee and running the dehumidifier for an hour the same result for less money? Anyone used one through a full winter?
1 answer
- Karcher WV 1, it pays for itself against a dehumidifier
I bought the Karcher WV 1 last winter for about 50 dollars and it does exactly one job well: it sucks the water straight off the glass in one pass, no streaks, no drips down the frame. A squeegee pushes half the water onto the sill and you still wipe it up. A dehumidifier works but it runs for hours and costs more in electricity over a winter than the vacuum costs once. Empty the tank after each window or it leaves lines. For old single-glazed windows it is the cheapest fix that actually stops the puddles.