Single Pane Window - Just moving the problem?

Catalina

Songster
12 Years
Jul 19, 2007
1,241
16
181
Minnesota
I have 2 huge single pane windows that I had removed from my dining room.

This windows came with my house and have caused me so much trouble!!!

They leak and humidity builds up on them in the winter.

Should I use them in my new coop? Or just buy a new window?

I could caulk it and seal up the leaks, but will humidity still build up on it in the winter?
 
thats a good question I was getting ready to install a single pane window salvaged from a early 1900's house. I think if you caulk around it then it should be okay. Thats what I'm planning on doing.
 
I'd think that if you have the time to clean, seal and paint them it should make the window good as new. I have old single pane windows in the coops (50 years old) and don't have any problems. I think the humidity builds up where the glazing needs to be re-done. It's a putzy kind of task...not difficult but takes a while to do it well. Good luck!
 
I put salvaged windows in my new coop, you can always reglaze them if you want, but for me, I wouldn't worry about it. the windows are only there to cut wind and rain during bad storms, and to allow some heat to stay inside the coop during the winter (at night--every window comes open during the day in winter unless there's a really nasty storm). The rest of the time they are open and really, the more ventilation you can give the birds the better, so use what you have handy, I say!
 
any condensation on the inside of the window is not the window's fault. high indoor humidity and cold glass will net you condensation. you're not looking for the same performance standard in a coop that you are in a house. i'd use them.
 
We put a shower door in as a window. All winter it was covered with a bit of ice. No big deal. It still helped light the place and capture a bit of heat.
 
What flopshot said. Leaking does not have anything at all to do with it -- if you have cold windowglass (or for that matter, cold exposed metal siding with nothing in front of it), you WILL get condensation on it if the air indoors is beyond a certain humidity and the air outdoors is below a certain temperature.

If the other windows in your house don't do it, either they're doublepane and this one is singlepane, or they're in less humid parts of your house (which can include having heating vents right under them).

You still want to do what you can to minimize condensation on coop windows (roofs, walls), though. Moisture that is condensed into droplets or frost is not available to be flushed out by air exchange, thus the more condensation/frost you have int he coop, the less your ventilation can help.

Except in really really cold climates (where you'll get frost even with 35% r.h. indoors and doublepane windows
tongue.png
), if you're getting condensate or frost on indoor parts of the coop, it is a warning that you need more ventilation to lower your humidity.

So I'd say go ahead and use the old windows in your coop, but make sure you have lots more ventilation (preferably high on walls where it can be used during winter without freezing the birds)
smile.png


Good luck, have fun,

Pat
 
Thanks everybody for your advice!

This was the only singlepane window in my house and it was over a heating vent.
When the temp. went below -10 or around there it frosted over. Then as the sun warmed it up in the day time all the frost melted and ran all over. Yuck!

I have a dehumidifer that I run 24/7 from Feb. to Sept. at 45% humidty, but our winters are sooooo dry - well below 40% humidity.

Thanks again!
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom