Condensation Explained & Top Tips to Help Prevent It

What is Condensation?

The first thing to say is that condensation is a natural occurrence; it occurs when warm moisture that is held in the air contacts a cold surface and forms droplets of water. Think of your bathroom at home; turn the shower on and the warm air will form condensation on a cold mirror; the same process, to a lesser scale, happens when warm air inside a motorhome awning meets the cold awning fabric.

Nature’s truest form of condensation is dew on grass; this happens as warm air, pre saturated with water vapor, touches the cold blade of grass, cools and turns into liquid droplets that settle across the lawn.

What Increases the chance of Condensation?

If you are wondering if all tents will get condensation or are any tents condensation proof; the answer is that all, at some stage, will get condensation to some degree. But the better the ventilation and airflow, the less condensation will occur; tents with an ‘inner bedroom compartment’, rather than single skin, will also fair better, but always remember, condensation is one of nature’s little necessary foibles.

One of the first questions we get asked is "how waterproof is my tent?", the real answer to this is, no tent in the world is waterproof! That said, all tents sold at Leisure Outlet have been designed to be as water resistant as possible; each has been treated with a Water Repellent coating and the majority have all seams sealed with waterproof tape to prevent water ingress; to learn more about the weather proofing of our tents and awnings click here.

The process of preventing water entering the tent also stops moisture leaving, but we have 10 Tips, at this end of this article, on how you can minimise condensation.

The warmer the air inside the tent, the higher the chances of condensation; cooking, drying clothes, pets, and people, all generate heat and humid warm air contains moisture. If the air outside drops significantly below the temperature inside, when the warm are touches the cold fabric, the warm air will condense, and moisture droplets will likely form on the inside of the tent. This air can run down the inside of the, and especially down air beams, where there is a large concentration of cold air, and form pools of water, giving the impression that the tent is leaking; however, 99.9 times out of 100, this is purely condensation.

Top Tips to Help Minimise Condensation

1. Do not dry laundry inside your tent
2. Improve air flow; open all vents and (weather Permitting) doors and windows to allow moisture to escape
3. Buy a moisture trap or dehumidifier, click here to see the Leisurewize Mini Compact Dehumidifier
4. Buy an awning with mesh flyscreens on one or two doors to increase airflow
5. Store wet clothes or footwear outside
6. Do not cook inside
7. Be careful not to pitch too close to water; Lakes and rivers are beautiful, but also increase air bound moisture particles.
8. Allow pets to dry outside
9. Keep vents and doors slightly open on a night (weather permitting); the average person breaths out half a litre of water while sleeping (times that by a family of four)
10. Always pack a few travel towels to wipe excess moisture from the inside walls of the awning; this takes seconds to do and will stop any drips. To see the range of Regatta Travel Towels, click here.