A Few Ways to Keep Your Toilet from Sweating
Residents of San Diego and its surrounding towns are no stranger to plumbing issues, whether large or small. A common problem is that of a “sweating” toilet, which can do major damage to your bathroom flooring–no matter what the material. Left unchecked, it can ruin your floor and rot the area beneath. Here’s how to stop it.
Why Does My Toilet Sweat?
Condensation forms on the tank when the temperature of the toilet tank water varies greatly from the air outside in the room itself. While a drip here and there might not seem like a big deal, that wetness adds up when ignored, causing mold, rotting, and the need to replace, if not the whole flooring itself, at least the area at the base of the toilet.
How Do I Stop It?
Put in an anti-sweat valve. An anti-sweat valve runs the line for cold water to the toilet and has a hook-up for hot water as well. When needed, the valve can add warm water to the already cold water in the tank, raising the overall tank water temperature and lowering its temperature variance with the outside room air–thereby reducing the amount of condensation on the outside of the tank.
Cover the tank outside or insulate the inside. Tank covers are specifically made from various materials (like that of a towel) to wrap around the outside of the tank and wick away the gathering moisture. Conversely, tank insulation kits are sold in-store that provide protective materials (for instance, foam) that adhere to the inside walls of the tank and prevent it from getting excessively cold.
Keep humidity out of the air via the ventilation fan or lower the temperature of shower and bath water. Turning on the fan reduces the humidity and therefore overall temperature of the bathroom, closing the gap between it and the water temperature inside the tank. Same idea for showers and baths–cooler water makes for less heat and humidity generated and released into the room.
Buy a water-saving toilet or replace with a temperature-increasing (tempering) tank. Water-saving toilets reduce the amount of water available in the tank; the less the tank replenishes water, the less condensation accumulating on the tank. Tempering tanks use a second tank to pre-warm the water before releasing it into the main toilet tank.
If you’re in the San Diego area and need to update or replace your toilet before any damage is done, the plumbing specialists at 1-800-anytyme are certified to advise on all your plumbing needs. Call us today at (760) 477-0072!
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