When you run your dishwasher or washing machine, you are using water to clean your dishes or your laundry. When you cool your home with a central air conditioner, though, you are not using any water in the process. Why, then, does your air conditioner have a drain line on it?
No, it’s not for draining leaking refrigerant or oil out of the system — and if you have reason to suspect such leaks, you need to schedule professional service immediately. It is in fact for draining water. It’s just not water that is supplied to or used by your system.
So Where Does the Water Come From?
From the air! That’s right, the water that drips out of your air conditioner in Lake Stevens, WA is actually already present in the air. So why aren’t there puddles all over the place in your home? The answer is because the water is actually just condensed humidity, and that humidity is and should be present in the air.
As your air conditioner works to cool your home, the indoor evaporator coil evaporates the refrigerant in the system. As this happens, humidity is drawn out of the air passing over the coil. That moisture will condense on the coil, but it has to go somewhere. That is why you have a drain pan.
The pan collects the condensation, and that condensation is piped out of the house via the condensate drain line. Every now and then we hear from homeowners concerned that their systems are leaking water, and generally it is due to a clogged up drain line. Keeping this line clear by running some cleaner through it — either store-bought or homemade — is a great way to prevent such problems.
Schedule your air conditioning services with the professionals here at G & S Heating Cooling & Electric.
