[shocanfixit]

I moved into a new home, and it took us a while to hook up the washer and dryer. Well now I have been washing a lot to catch up on laundry, and we noticed that a pipe in the ceiling is sweating and dripping. What could be causing this and how do we fix it? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Shona

 

[Maintenance 6]

If you are running cold water through the line, you are chilling the pipe to below dew point for the amount of relative humidity present in the air. You can either insulate the pipe to keep the warmer moist air away from the cold pipe or run a dehumidifier to lower the relative humidity in the room.

 

[gregzoll]

How warm is it in your home, and how cold is it outside?

 

[joed]

It is as simple as a cold pipe and humid air. Just like a glass full full of ice water in the summer. It sweats. If the humidity is high then you should install a dehumidifier in your basement to reduce it.

 

[shocanfixit]

How warm is it in your home, and how cold is it outside?

It's pretty cold here in Michigan for late April, in fact it snowed yesterday.

 

[gregzoll]

I know that it snowed up there yesterday, but does not state how warm your home is, and how cold it is outside.

 

[concretemasonry]

All you are probably looking at is the exterior air temperature and not the temperature inside the basement.

This time of the year, your cold water is about as cold as it will be.

Put foam on the cold water lines and forget about the dehumidifier unless you have other moisture problem that you see after you become familiar with what you now have.

Dick