A new test facility has been developed to investigate dropwise condensation heat transfer in a humid air environment. It is designed as a closed loop system in which air is circulated by a fan, enabling investigations in the following parameter ranges: velocity up to 20 m/s; Reynolds number up to 20,000; temperature 20 to 100 °C; relative humidity up to 100 %. Heat transfer measurements are done with a specifically designed micro sensor which is flush mounted at one of the vertical surfaces of a horizontal flow channel 12 mm × 32 mm (inner width and height, respectively) and covered at its air-side surface by a newly developed polymer layer containing 20 % of carbon nanotubes for improvement of the thermal conductivity. A total of 8 thermocouples is embedded inside the sensor. Their readings serve as input data to a numerical model which enables consideration of heat losses and evaluation of surface temperature and heat flux. The measuring system allows to analyse the effects of heat flux, air-to-wall temperature difference, absolute and relative humidity, and Reynolds number on the heat transfer coefficient. Single phase heat transfer results show excellent agreement with well established correlations for turbulent air flow. The onset of dropwise condensation was detected with very good repeatability. This paper covers details of the experimental device, measuring system and data evaluation including accuracy considerations. Single phase and preliminary dropwise condensation results with humid air are reported.