My Air Conditioner for My House Is Making a Lot of Water

Cooling

• When an air conditioner cools the air, it does so by blowing warm air pulled from the house across cold coils filled with Freon. These coils absorb the heat, and cycle it outside where the heat is dumped and the Freon is cycled back in to the home to begin the process again.

Condensate

• During the process of cooling, condensate accumulates on the Freon coils within your air conditioning unit. Condensate is water vapor in the air that gathers on the cold coils in much the same way a cold bottle of water will sweat in a hot room. This condensate drips from the coils and into a pan, which is drained outside the home.

Increase in Water Draining

• If you have a couple of days of high heat and humidity, you will find that your air conditioner is pumping out significantly more water. This simply indicates that your air conditioner is working to remove the increased humidity from the air, and keeping your indoor climate comfortable. There is no water within the air conditioning system itself, so an increase in water draining is never indicative of a leak, or a problem.

Draining the Water

• Your air conditioner should be draining the condensate outside, either in your gutter or at the base of your house. If this water is accumulating, consider putting it to good use. Place a barrel or container under the outlet hose and gather the water to use for watering plants. From time to time check the end of the outlet hose to make sure it is draining properly, and do not concern yourself with small increases and decreases in water flow.