by: James Felton

People in the United Kingdom are being urged to place bowls of salt in their windows this winter, in an attempt to prevent damp conditions and mold. But is that really good advice?

When water vapor in your home or vehicle hits a cold surface, such as your windows, it changes back into a liquid state, creating condensation.

“Condensation is not a matter of one particular temperature but of a difference between two temperatures: the air temperature and the dewpoint temperature,” the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) explains. “The dew point is the temperature at which dew can form – it is the point at which air becomes saturated and can not hold any more water vapor. Any additional cooling causes water vapor to condense.”

You can do all sorts to deal with condensation, which can lead to problems like damp and mold, and can damage your window frames. In a car, you can blast the windows with air to prevent condensation, replace the air with less humid air from outside, and use the air conditioning.

“The most efficient way to remove moisture from the air is to use the vehicle’s air conditioning system,” Toyota explains. “This system draws air from the cabin through an evaporator, which causes moisture in the air to condensate in a controlled way and drain out of the vehicle.”

In your home, condensation buildup can be a little trickier to deal with, but the principles are the same.

One way that has been suggested to deal with condensation is to place a bowl of salt near your window during the colder months.

“Salt has the ability to naturally absorb moisture from the air and essentially dries it out so that when it does come in contact with the glass, there are less droplets of condensation that will form,” Andy Ellis, home and garden expert at Posh.co.uk said in a statement seen by the Mirror.

“It’s a really easy trick that requires no effort at all. Simply fill a shallow bowl or a small jar with some salt – this can be table salt or rock salt. The amount you use will vary depending on the size of the window you’re placing it next to. Of course, generally speaking, the larger the window the more salt you’ll need, though usually one small bowl should be fine.”

So should you start doing this? It is true that salt can remove moisture from the air.

“A particular example of hygroscopic behavior is deliquescence which is exhibited by many water-soluble solids, including inorganic salts (e.g., calcium chloride),” chemical engineer John Francis Richardson explained on Thermopedia.

“At a given temperature, the vapor pressure of a saturated salt solution will be lower than that of pure water and, if it is less than the partial pressure in the atmosphere, moisture will be transferred to the surface of the solids, part of which will dissolve to form a saturated solution. When all the solids have dissolved, the process will continue until the partial pressure of the now unsaturated solution equals that in the atmosphere. In some cases, the formation of a hydrate or higher hydrate of the salt may precede the formation of a liquid phase. Liquids (e.g., sulfuric acid) may also be deliquescent.”

However, it is unclear that this will have much of an effect, especially compared to other methods of preventing condensation build up. This is because salt only begins to absorb water vapor at relatively high humidity.

“At up to 74 percent relative humidity and 20°C [68°F], salt does not absorb any appreciable quantities of water vapor,” the German Transport Information Service explains. “The critical water content of sodium chloride (NaCl) is 0.5 percent at 74 percent relative humidity, which is the flow moisture point at which salt begins readily to absorb water vapor, and increases such that, at 75 percent relative humidity, the salt dissolves.”

Houses in the UK are generally less humid than this, tending to be between 30 and 60 percent humidity, though especially humid houses can go above 70 percent. Different areas of the house can have different humidity levels (think bathrooms or kitchens) so salt may help a little with the situation.

However, to really deal with the problem, like in your vehicle, ventilation is key. In houses, you can use vents often built into windows, or simply open them a crack to deal with the moisture. As well as letting the more humid air out, airflow helps to prevent water vapor from building up on the cold surface, preventing you from needing to put out little bowls of salt by the windows every morning, like some offering to the god of high blood pressure.

All “explainer” articles are confirmed by fact checkers to be correct at time of publishing. Text, images, and links may be edited, removed, or added to at a later date to keep information current.  

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 Pete Seeger Special Gathering from the Friends of the Clear Water New York City and  an event tonight, May 22, 2014.   A wonderful gathering of many celebrated Pete and Toshi at the Hudson Church in Greenwich Village.  We are release one segment a day to coincide with Pete’s Birthday on May 3^rd.  When speaking to Pete he always said please don’t have a tribute for me, he was a humble, earnest man.  Good News was very lucky to have our good friend and Board Member Phil Sauers www.wwrf.com  introduce us to Pete to begin a long friendship.  We always talked about Clean Water as Pete was the Father of Water. 

Here is another up-coming event for Pete you should’t miss!!!!!!!

Honoring Pete Seeger’s Vision May 22^nd Thursday 6:30 – 9:30 pm Presented by NYC Friends of Clearwater With the New York Society for Ethical Culture Come hear wonderful performers and great friends of Pete Seeger share in song and remembrances. Learn about Pete’s vision for our planet and all people.   Performers: Walkabout Clearwater Chorus            David Amram            Guy Davis               Christine Lavin        Oscar Brand               Charlie King         David Bernz         Jacob Bernz       Matt Emmer      Happy Traum Speakers: Manna Jo Greene, Environmental Director of Hudson River Sloop Clearwater Chief Oren Lyons, Onondaga Faithkeeper               Paul Gallay, Riverkeeper President Donna Stein, NYC Friends of Clearwater President Presidents of Sloop Clubs and Past Presidents of NYCFC Location: 2 West 64^th Street, Auditorium Tickets: http://petesvision.eventbrite.com    $12general admission   A portion of proceeds go to the Pete Seeger Environmental Educators Network, a NYCFC Project to promote Pete’s ideals and the promise of youth. New York City Friends of Clearwater is an environmental education organization that believes in celebration and through music and community.  We are a chartered sloop club of the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, both founded by folk musician and activist Pete Seeger 45 years ago to clean up the Hudson River. www.nycfriendsofclearwater.org 347.796.0602 NYSEC is a member of the American Ethical Union and the International Humanist & Ethical Union. Entry to our 100-year-old building and meeting rooms is available for most wheelchair users with prior arrangements. Please call ahead (212-874-5210  X107) for setup of our portable system and plan to arrive one hour before start time. www.nysec.org  212.874.5210

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Dear Good News Friend’s and Members,

WE  ALL love Pete Seeger.  He was a hero for us.  We had the chance to interview him, create shows with him, spend time at the Beacon Sloop Club, be on the Board of the Clearwater New York City division, use Pete’s songs in and his SING A LONG approach as the heart of our www.peacedayparty.org event and so much more.  We   have shared a clip from  Mr. Brown’s wonderful production of The Power of Song that emulates what Pete is all about…. The world will only change from small groups of people and so much more.  We will miss Pete dearly and will be dedicating our Peace Day Party event in 2014  to this very humble talented caring man…. A LEGEND IN OUR TIME.

Paul Sladkus and the Good News Family  

Seeger’s best known for songs include “Where Have All the Flowers Gone,” “If I Had a Hammer (The Hammer Song)” and “Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season).”

But his influence extended far beyond individual hits.

His grandson Kitama Cahill Jackson told CNN that the singer died of natural causes at New York Presbyterian Hospital on Monday evening.

For Further Details, go to http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/28/showbiz/pete-seeger-death/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Seeger

http://peteseeger.net/wp/

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www.ecofest.org Launched as an environmental event where people would get information, get involved, find products, learn about services and be entertained by people who care about the environment, ECOFEST started as a visionary effort for a better world. 24 years later it is still going strong supporting environmental causes and issues. ECOFEST is a cultural and educational environmental festival, free to the public, that is organized and produced by the West Side Cultural Center in New York. In its 24 year track record, ECOFEST has developed an unequaled base of public and private sector support and is a mainstay on the New York City calendar of events, bringing thousands of people to the historic NY locations including Central Park, Lincoln Center, The Intrepid Air, Sea and Space Museum, and now at the Solar 1 Space on the East River.

Museum. ECOFEST and its participants benefit from publicity, promotions and extensive advertising, and have always been generously covered by local and national media.

A major focus of ECOFEST is conservation of our natural resources and innovative alternative-energy technologies. This year’s ECOFEST will again feature the SEOTO (Sources of Energy Other Than Oil) Alternative Fuels Display which demonstrates a wide variety of alternative-energy vehicles – ranging from prototypes of solar cars to electric, natural-gas, hybrid, fuel cell and ethanol vehicles already in use by private businesses and many New York City and New York State Agencies. The vehicles stay on display with exciting demonstrations and activities scheduled throughout the day.

In addition to the SEOTO Display, ECOFEST regular features include the ECOFASHION SHOW on the World Solar Stage and the ECOFEST ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION CONFERENCE with renowned experts. The ECOFASHION show presents collections made of 100% organic and recycled material and the Conference offers free seminars where key environmental issues are discussed.

Through dynamic exhibits, stimulating entertainment and celebrity performers and speakers ECOFEST fosters public awareness about opportunities for environmental change. It spurs people to take the initiative in making their homes, businesses and communities more ecologically advanced and environmentally sound, while encouraging education, inspiration, activism, membership and volunteering.

Throughout the years ECOFEST has had the support of major environmental organizations such as the New York Zoological Society, The Audubon Society, the United Nations Environmental Program, Sierra Club, Nature Conservancy, The Natural Resources Defense Council, Rainforest Alliance, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the Council on the Environment. Major corporations and banks, such as General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, Volvo, Toyota Motors, Lexus, Nissan, Brita, AT&T, IBM, BFI, Tom’s of Maine, Chase, International Paper; utilities and key government agencies, including the New York City Transit/MTA, NYC DOT, NYCDEP, Consolidated Edison, New York Power Authority, and Port Authority of New York and New Jersey provide support for ECOFEST. The presence of all these enlightened organizations from the public and private sectors are brought together at ECOFEST to offer thousands of New Yorkers a unique opportunity to learn of their environmental message.

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