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I am thinking that putting closets on exterior walls would help insulate the room. If the exterior wall has a proper vapor barrier, would there be any problems with condensation and mildew in the closet?
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Yes, there could be. The vapor barrier in the exterior walls won't keep moisture out of the closets and from condensing on the interior surface of the exterior wall.
There is no sure answer, though. It depends on your climate, your house, your relative humidity and how often MS Windows crshes on you. ("We are Microsoft. Resistance is Futile")
*If Bill Gates had a nickel for every time windows crashes. . . . Oh, yeah, he does.If the closet provides some insulation, then the air inside the closet will be closer to the dew point. And might result in condensation or in such high humidity as to promote mildew. But it depends on the relative amounts of insulation, closet versus wall. Here's an example. If the wall is R-20 and the closet door and stored materials are an effective R-10, then the temperature on the back of the closet wall will be 1/3 of the way from the inside temp towards the outside temp. If it is 70F inside and and 10F outside, the back wall of the closet would be 50F. If you have 55% relative humidity in your house (pretty high for a 10F winter day), you would get condensation on that back wall. That's bad. If you have 40% RH in the house that day, then the back closet wall would be at 85% RH. Pretty high, but no condensation. Don't put clothes away moist because they would stay moist for a long time.In general, I think you should count on the insulation in the walls to keep the house warm. If you get a substantial portion of the R-value from the closet and its contents, then you may likely have trouble with condensation or worse.I have worked in POS houses which had lots of clothes piled against the outside walls. The temperature and humidity gradient drew moisture to the outside wall which was QUITE cold. A customer's dirty undies are bad enough. Dirty undies frozen to the wall (really!) are just plain gross.Another reason for closets on an exterior wall would be reduce noise transmission (or between rooms). But for either noise or heat, much of it will come through windows. Put your money and efforts there first, followed by good, tight construction practices. -David
*Personally, I don't want to get out of my warm bed on a cold winter morning, pad across my nice warm carpet, and walk into a COLD closet. Our closet is on an outside wall and I put an air register in it. Same thing with my wife's big "seasonal" closet upstairs. One of the girls has a closet on an outside wall that is not conditioned. Guess we'll see what happens this winter.My point is, it'd be pretty cheap to put a small supply register in the closet if it's a walk-in. If it feels damp/clamy, open it. If not, keep it closed.
*Thanks to all you guys for confirming what i suspected. That will sure save making a mistake of having closets with mildewed clothes. yuck. I appreciate the help from all of you. Thanks again.
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I am thinking that putting closets on exterior walls would help insulate the room. If the exterior wall has a proper vapor barrier, would there be any problems with condensation and mildew in the closet?