Windows icing up - inside

[willowman]

How can I dry out my car so the windows, particularly the windscreen, do not get covered with condensation and ice up in this bad weather?

I thought that if I did a longish journey with the heater re-circulating the air and the air-con on then the air would be "cleaned" and dry. Obviously not, as the problem occurred the next morning.

I should point out that my car is not used every day, sometimes not for 3 or 4 days and I have to scrape ice off the inside of the w/screen.

Any ideas greatfully received. Thanks.

[albaqwerty]

small dishes of salt will absorb moisture, also silicon gel packs from the new shoes box.

Not a cure but hopefully a help.

[TWR]

Hi, a few things that can cause the ice on the inside, has the car been valeted? Is thee a leak from one of the door seals, heater hoses? even your shoes can bring in snow in-turn causing dampness within the car again causing the ice on your screen. try dropping the windows down if possible at night just enough not to interfere with your alarm if you have one that is sensitive.

[Toureman]

Are you sure your A/C was on with some cars they don't work below a certain outside temprature

[gsr600]

try sticking an electric fan heater in your car 15 minutes before you drive off - if you park in your driveway

[supapapa]

Last week I had trouble with my car steaming up so much I would have to stop and wipe the windscreen.
The air con fan had been moved to recirculating the inside air, moving it to external air fixed the problem.
Hope this helps. Happy New Year!

[willowman]

Thanks for all your suggestions.
I will try to work through them and see which works.
Supapapa - very interesting, I would have thought that bringing in fresh air from the outside would just bring in more water laden air, thereby increasing the problem. Maybe this is where I've been going wrong.
What I have tried before is opening one window just a tad, so that the moist air inside is sucked out as you are travelling (believe it's called the Ventura effect, or something like that).
It is a real pain having to scrape the inside of the w/screen before setting off, and it then takes ages to properly dry and become clear; and of course water drips onto the top of the dash.
Hey ho, roll on summer.

[Malagabob333]

My car suffers from condensation,I keep a whole newspapers under my footwell mats to absorb any moisture accumalating off wet shoes,changing the paper regular.Also sheets of newspaper on top of the mat If its a wet day to absorb wet as I get in the car.
If its a sunny day and location allows, I leave the front drivers window open with the slightest gap.
As before, drive with window with slight gap.All to keep moisture to minimum.

[StevieBB]

You must have airflow on, setting it to recirculation will trap damp air inside car and cause your problem, make sure you don't park the vehicle like that also.
The air-con simply collects the moisture in the air as it passes over the matrix, it then freezes it and it builds up like in an old freezer, when you shut down the ice melts and should exit to outside via a drain, often the drains get blocked with gunge and the whole thing starts to smell as the gunge gets worse. A good garage service should clean those drains.
The Air-Con does not clean the air , (only chills it), however you may have pollen filters in the air intakes, they should be changed every year.
Recirculation is good if you want a quick warm up but you must open it again to let fresh air in once your at running temperature. If you were to do a long trip with recirculation on you will become drowsy due lack of fresh oxygen in the car.