You may feel alarmed if you notice water leaking out of your air conditioner. However, part of your air conditioner’s cooling cycle is to remove humidity from the air and drain it outside of your home. Even though water flow inside the system is completely normal. But leaks are not.
If your condensate drain line is leaking water, you need to schedule an appointment for air conditioning repair in Troutdale, OR. You can keep reading to learn more about why leaks happen, what to do when you notice one and how you can prevent them.
Condensate Drain Line
Your air conditioner is designed to help remove some of the humidity from the air as part of the cooling process since humidity can make the air feel warmer than it is. This humidity condenses down into droplets that channel away from your home via the condensate drain line to the outdoor portion of your air conditioning unit.
Signs of Clogs
However, this condensate drain line is not large. Because of its smaller circumference, the pipe is prone to clogs that can trap water in your house, potentially causing leaks and higher humidity levels. If you notice water leaking out of your air conditioner, a clog in your condensate drain line is probably to blame.
You may also notice that your home is more humid than usual if there is a back up in the condensate drain line. Even if water doesn’t leak out, it evaporates back into the air, increasing the humidity in your home. This can make your home feel warmer, even when the thermostat is still set lower. You may be tempted to lower the settings on your thermostat in an effort to cool your home better without ever achieving the desired results.
Your condensate drain line does have a drip pan underneath to catch water from leaks. Noticing a small leak may not seem like a big deal. Isn’t that what the pan is for? But allowing leaks to continue can lead to more trouble down the line.
Addressing Clogs
If you have a clog, give our team a call to schedule an appointment for service. You don’t want to try and troubleshoot breaking up the clog yourself since your air conditioner is very delicate. You may end up doing more harm than good.
Instead, leave it up to the professionals. We can break down the clog and even address any other problems that may be contributing to it. We can make recommendations for how often you need to rinse out the drain, too, so that clogs don’t happen again in the future.
Preventing Clogs
Of course, the best course of action is to prevent clogs from ever happening. You can do this by rinsing out the condensate drain line each month with about half a cup of vinegar. Vinegar helps to rinse away any dust and dirt particles that are inside the condensate drain line, in addition to killing mold and mildew. The spores can develop in the dark moist environment of your condensate drain line and contribute greatly to clogs. Rinsing out your drain line each month is the best way to prevent clogs from happening.
Please call Sydni, our Office Extraordinaire, to schedule your next appointment! We will take care of you from there!