Double Glazing Condensation Risk Calculator

ANALife Services AuthorityNational Calculator Authority›Double Glazing Condensation Risk Calculator

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Double Glazing Condensation Risk Calculator

Assess the risk of condensation forming on the inner pane of double glazing by comparing the inner glass surface temperature to the indoor dew point temperature.

Indoor Air Temperature (°C)

Indoor Relative Humidity (%)

Outdoor Air Temperature (°C)

Window U-Value (W/m²·K)

Typical double glazing: 1.2–2.8 W/m²·K; single glazing: ~5.6 W/m²·K

Indoor Surface Heat Transfer Coefficient (W/m²·K)

Typical still-air indoor value: 7.7–8 W/m²·K (ISO 6946)

Calculate Results will appear here.

function douCalc() { var Ti = parseFloat(document.getElementById('dou-indoor-temp').value); var RH = parseFloat(document.getElementById('dou-indoor-rh').value); var To = parseFloat(document.getElementById('dou-outdoor-temp').value); var U = parseFloat(document.getElementById('dou-u-value').value); var hi = parseFloat(document.getElementById('dou-hi').value);

// --- Input validation --- var errors = []; if (isNaN(Ti) || Ti 50) errors.push("Indoor temperature must be between -10 and 50 °C."); if (isNaN(RH) || RH 100) errors.push("Relative humidity must be between 1 and 100 %."); if (isNaN(To) || To 40) errors.push("Outdoor temperature must be between -30 and 40 °C."); if (isNaN(U) || U 6.0) errors.push("U-value must be between 0.5 and 6.0 W/m²·K."); if (isNaN(hi) || hi 25) errors.push("Indoor surface heat transfer coefficient must be between 2 and 25 W/m²·K."); if (Ti 0) { resDiv.innerHTML = 'Input Error:' + errors.map(function(e){ return ''; }).join('') + ''; return; }

// --- 1. Dew Point Temperature (Magnus formula) --- // Td = (243.04 * [ln(RH/100) + (17.625Ti)/(243.04+Ti)]) / // (17.625 - [ln(RH/100) + (17.625Ti)/(243.04+Ti)]) var a = 17.625; var b = 243.04; // °C var alpha = Math.log(RH / 100.0) + (a * Ti) / (b + Ti); var Td = (b * alpha) / (a - alpha);

// --- 2. Inner Glass Surface Temperature --- // Heat flux through window: q = U * (Ti - To) // Temperature drop from indoor air to inner glass surface: dT = q / hi = U(Ti-To)/hi // Inner glass surface temperature: Tg = Ti - U(Ti - To)/hi var q = U * (Ti - To); // W/m² var Tg = Ti - (q / hi); // °C

// --- 3. Temperature Factor (fRsi) --- // fRsi = (Tg - To) / (Ti - To) — dimensionless, per ISO 13788 var fRsi = (Tg - To) / (Ti - To);

// --- 4. Condensation Risk --- var margin = Tg - Td; // positive = safe, negative = condensation risk var risk, riskColor, riskDetail; if (margin >= 3) { risk = "Low Risk"; riskColor = "#2e7d32"; riskDetail = "The inner glass surface temperature is well above the dew point. Condensation is unlikely under these conditions."; } else if (margin >= 0) { risk = "Moderate Risk"; riskColor = "#f57c00"; riskDetail = "The inner glass surface temperature is close to the dew point. Condensation may occur if conditions worsen (e.g., higher humidity or lower outdoor temperature)."; } else { risk = "High Risk — Condensation Expected"; riskColor = "#c62828"; riskDetail = "The inner glass surface temperature is below the dew point. Condensation will form on the inner pane under these conditions."; }

// --- 5. Saturation vapour pressure & absolute humidity (informational) --- // Buck equation: es(T) = 0.61121 * exp((18.678 - T/234.5) * T/(257.14 + T)) [kPa] function es(T) { return 0.61121 * Math.exp((18.678 - T / 234.5) * (T / (257.14 + T))); } var es_indoor = es(Ti); // kPa var ea_indoor = (RH / 100) * es_indoor; // actual vapour pressure kPa var AH = (1000 * ea_indoor) / (0.4615 * (Ti + 273.15)); // g/m³ (ρv = pv/(Rv*T))

resDiv.innerHTML = '### Condensation Risk: ' + risk + ' ' + '' + 'Indoor Dew Point Temperature' + Td.toFixed(2) + ' °C' + 'Inner Glass Surface Temperature' + Tg.toFixed(2) + ' °C' + 'Temperature Margin (Tg − Td)' + margin.toFixed(2) + ' °C' + 'Temperature Factor fRsi' + fRsi.toFixed(3) + '' + 'Heat Flux Through Window' + q.toFixed(1) + ' W/m²' + 'Indoor Vapour Pressure' + (ea_indoor * 1000).toFixed(1) + ' Pa' + 'Indoor Absolute Humidity' + AH.toFixed(2) + ' g/m³' + '' + '' + riskDetail + '

'; }

#### Formulas Used

1. Dew Point Temperature — Magnus Formula (Lawrence 2005):

α = ln(RH/100) + (17.625 × Ti) / (243.04 + Ti) Td = 243.04 × α / (17.625 − α)

2. Inner Glass Surface Temperature:

q = U × (Ti − To)   [W/m²] Tg = Ti − q / hi   [°C]

Where U is the overall window U-value and hi is the indoor convective/radiative surface coefficient.

3. Temperature Factor (ISO 13788):

fRsi = (Tg − To) / (Ti − To)

A higher fRsi (closer to 1) indicates better thermal performance and lower condensation risk. ISO 13788 recommends fRsi ≥ 0.75 for most climates.

4. Condensation Risk Decision:

Margin = Tg − Td Margin ≥ 3 °C → Low Risk 0 ≤ Margin < 3 °C → Moderate Risk Margin < 0 °C → High Risk (condensation expected)

#### Assumptions & References

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