Condensation issue

We have a problem with condensation in the utility room of our townhouse. This has been happening whenever we have hot weather.

I suspect there is outside air getting into the house somehow. We've had HVAC come in and they have put in insulation in the utility room (on the duct work), but I suspect this is fixing the symptom and not the cause. If it is a problem with outside air getting in, what type of person / company would I bring it to find where the leak is?

 

Do you have your dryer in this room? Maybe it is what isn't getting out that is causing the issue.

 

Nope, dryer is upstairs. The only things in the 'room' are the HVAC and water heater. The condensation forms on the duct work when the A/C is running. We've covered the duct work with insulation, but the condensation still forms.

But to be honest I'm no expert on this, that's why I'm hoping for a recommendation of who can come in and determine what's happening.

 

Does y our sump pump run all the time?

 

No sump pump, basement is at ground level.

We do have an Aprilaire humidifier connected to the furnace. These are off automatically unless the heat is on, right?

 

I would check the door. Ideally if all of the seals are properly installed and the door fits properly, no significant outside air should get in the room. But if the door is out of alignment or doesn't close in a way that allows the weather seals to sit against it, you could get quite a bit of air in that room. Otherwise, given the location, I have no idea how you could be getting outside/warm air in there.

 

There was weather stripping missing from the bottom of the door, but Van Metre fixed that a couple of years ago. (Yes, this problem has dragged on for over 3 years now.)

Isn't there some type of company or service that does this kind of thing? Someone who can test the house for air leaks and identify where the problem is?

 

Have you tried to throttle back the cold air flow into that room? There may be a baffle downstream from the vent going to the AC, see if you can find it and cut the flow of cold air into the room. Maybe that will help.

 

So the room is just the area where the HVAC and water hater are located, with a little bit of space for storage. There is no vent in the room, but regardless the room stays fairly cool. The condensation is forming on the ductwork that is supplying cold air to the rest of the house. The ductwork goes up from this room all the way to the top level of the house, so I guess that space gets warmer and more humid as you go higher, but at ground level, the temp in the room is normal, or actually slightly cool.

I suspect there is an insulation issue somewhere, or maybe even some type of water leak, but I don't know where and don't know how to find it. This is why I am asking for who to call.

 

I'm not an expert by any stretch of the imagination but could it possibly be the duct work itself is leaking air? We had some duct work pulled down to the new ceiling and it detached from a piece farther up in the joists. The cool air was not making it all the way to the top floor. Fortunately the ceiling was not finished before the discovery!

I would hire someone to test the air pressure/temperature and see what they can come up with. Does the floor above the ductwork have any cool spots?

 

One thing that stands out from what you had mentioned is that you have installed Humidifier in your HVAC. Sometimes when it is installed they may bypassed the relay so that humidifier comes on when the fan turns on. In this case they would have installed a manually override (switch ) to turn of your humidifier during summer. If I where you I would look for the switch of if you are not sure about your setup I am sure you can always unplug your humidifier from the wall outlet and let your AC run and see if it makes any difference.

I am not an expert at this, but I knew about this stuff since I was shopping for centeralize humidifier for my townhouse recently and learned a few things talking to different companies.

Good luck.

 

i put a humidifier in myself for the winter...but during the summer i unplug it and shut the vent that feeds it air.