Condensation Emancipation
I know you’re thinking more air conditioning lingo and what the heck is he talking about this time? I’m talking about your condensate drain pan and piping. The air in your house, office or business is recirculated through the air conditioner. When the air conditioner is running, the recirculated air passes through the evaporator coil. The recirculated air is usually between seventy and eighty degrees and in a perfect world the temperature of your evaporator coil should be thirty five degrees. When the warm air hits the evaporator coil, the moisture in the air condenses into liquid water on the coil surface. This water is called condensate. The condensate water drips down into a pan, out the air conditioner and is piped away.
The only time you learn about this is when your condensate drain is clogged and its either getting the ceiling or carpet wet. A condensate overflow always leaves an unsightly stain that is difficult to remove.
There have been many attempts to alleviate this problem by air conditioning technicians in the past. The old school way is to install a pan underneath your air conditioner in order to collect any water from a clogged drain. This does not work well. The pan just keeps filling up with water until it gets stagnant and stinky and then you have a whole host of other problems to deal with.
Take a look at the picture below. You’ve probably seen a pipe like this sticking down from the ceiling or out the side of a building. This is called a secondary or overflow drain pipe and reroutes the water in case your drain gets clogged. The idea is that if and when someone sees water dripping that they will investigate and eventually call for service. This is also not the most reliable solution.
I recommend the condensate overflow switch. A lot of the newer units come with this as an option or as a main feature. If not, we can easily install one in the field. The condensate overflow switch is a sensor that mounts to the top of the drain pan inside your air conditioner. If water touches the sensor, it shuts the unit down. Your office becomes hot and stuffy and you call for service. This way there are no ceiling stains or carpet stains or buckets on the ground. It’s simple and easy to install. Depending on the application, the cost to install one of these is as low as $300.
You should also be having your air conditioner regularly maintained. During maintenance check ups, we always “clear the drain line” to make sure you won’t be having this problem
Call today for your maintenance check up and condensate overflow sensor! Keep those nasty stains and smelly water away!
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