Hi all - thank you in advance for any guidance. I'm a home owner in Chicago. I live in an old brick home that was recently renovated with all new mechanicals and spray foam insulation on the top floor and attic crawl space. We also did spray foam on the rear half of the first floor.
We replaced the original furnace radiator system with two zones of forced air. Each zone has an aprilaire humidifier. Using Hygrometer that I purchased i measure relative humidity in the house around 30-40 depending on the outside weather (0-50+). Both Zones are set to 68d and with the remote thermostats the various corners of the house measure roughly that target.
We have original wood windows on the top floor and the front half of the first floor while the rear of the home has new aluminum windows. Across all the old original windows we have storm windows.
Ever since we moved back into the house, post remodel, the exterior of the top floor storm windows are completely covered in condensation (frozen or not depending on exterior temp) when the outside temp is below roughly 40d. We never had this problem before. Additionally, we do not see this issue on any of the windows on the first floor.
Is this the result of the HVAC system, the spray foam insulation, something else? And what types of remedies can I pursue - other than the exceptionally costly replacement of all old windows. I've read that the spray foam is both a thermal and vapor barrier - is the condensation the result of the fact that these old windows are now the only exit place for heat/humidity?
Thank you for any advice and please let me know if I can supply any technical details from the system or insulation if that's helpful in your advice giving.
We replaced the original furnace radiator system with two zones of forced air. Each zone has an aprilaire humidifier. Using Hygrometer that I purchased i measure relative humidity in the house around 30-40 depending on the outside weather (0-50+). Both Zones are set to 68d and with the remote thermostats the various corners of the house measure roughly that target.
We have original wood windows on the top floor and the front half of the first floor while the rear of the home has new aluminum windows. Across all the old original windows we have storm windows.
Ever since we moved back into the house, post remodel, the exterior of the top floor storm windows are completely covered in condensation (frozen or not depending on exterior temp) when the outside temp is below roughly 40d. We never had this problem before. Additionally, we do not see this issue on any of the windows on the first floor.
Is this the result of the HVAC system, the spray foam insulation, something else? And what types of remedies can I pursue - other than the exceptionally costly replacement of all old windows. I've read that the spray foam is both a thermal and vapor barrier - is the condensation the result of the fact that these old windows are now the only exit place for heat/humidity?
Thank you for any advice and please let me know if I can supply any technical details from the system or insulation if that's helpful in your advice giving.