If your home is located in a humid climate, you may be familiar with “sweating” toilets. Toilets sweat when humid air condenses on the outside of a toilet tank filled with cold water. This condensate drips onto the floor and unless the problem is corrected, it can lead to mold and mildew growth. Even worse, over time the condensate will find its way to the subfloor which will eventually rot away.
If you are having problems with sweating toilets, talk to your plumber about your alternatives. Plumbers are experts in toilet repairs and may suggest one or more options for correcting a sweating toilet.
One such option is called an anti-sweat valve. This valve is installed in the water supply line that leads to the toilet and mixes warm water with the cold water that fills your toilet tank. Filling the toilet tank with warmer water will prevent the toilet from sweating.
If installation of an anti-sweat valve is impractical, you can try installing a foam liner on the inside of the toilet tank. The foam liner is permanently glued to the inside of the tank to insulate the porcelain tank from the cold tank water.
A more effective solution is to install a low flow toilet or pressure assist toilet. Pressure assist toilets have a second inner tank that holds the flush water. This water never reached the outer porcelain so sweating is eliminated. In some cases, just installing a low flow toilet will solve the problem. A low flow toilet does not empty the tank with every flush. Cold incoming water is diluted with the leftover warm water in the tank and sometimes this is sufficient to stop condensation formation. The benefit will be lost if you routinely “double flush” your low flow toilet.
