Derek Cole explains how HVAC drain lines remove condensation from your unit. A clogged drain causes water to back up into your attic or ceiling, growing mold and causing damage. Test your drain regularly by pouring water down it, use a chemical treatment sock, and install a float switch that shuts the unit off if the pan overflows.
Chapters
So why it matters. Proper drainage for your H VAC system. When it comes to keeping your H VAC system functioning properly, it's important to note that condensate lines are important. See, to understand H Vac and how they work, you have to understand that when you're doing air conditioning at home, you're removing heat, humidity from there. That's your drain lines come in. As a result, there is condensation which forms inside the unit. This is the drain here, is responsible for removing all that excess water away from your HV system, which is typically under house in the attic, get it out of the house, get it outside. When functioning properly, the drain takes the water that collects in the pan, it goes into the drain pipe and removes it from the home. Now a risk here is what's called a clog or a stopped up drain line. The main issue is clogging. So when, when, when drains or pipes become clogged inside the unit, it has nowhere to go. So it's going to go in the unit. This, you know, can cause an over overflow in the attic, can cause ceiling damage. You, you might have heard that or seen water on the ceiling. That's because of an overflow. Kind of a byproduct of this overflow is, especially in our area, it gets hot, it gets humid. So anytime you have, you know, water, some get sweat, something's not moving correctly, something standing still with water, growth can happen. So to prevent these kind of issues or to help prevent, make sure you have regular maintenance on your system. Now you can do everything you can do to help prevent the problem, but things are going to happen. Things insulation might fall, insulation might get, you know, in the line or you know, a piece of something might clog the drain. You can't prevent, you can't prevent everything from happening, but you can set yourself up for the best situation. So get a regular maintenance. The drain line should always be checked and cleared. I know here on our maintenance, we always pour water down the drain to make sure it is draining properly and then address the issue if we need to. We also love something called a drain pan treatment. It actually treats the water as it goes through the drain pan treatment. It's not, it's not a tablet. It's a kind of looks like a sock. So it has chemical in that sock. So as water hits that sock, that chemical releases. The EPA certified chemical releases into and helps keep that drain clear. So it's very complicated. If you see water, have water or water's not draining like you have seen or think that needs to be addressed. It's very normal for you to walk outside in the summertime and see water coming out of that pipe coming out from under the house or in the attic. You just see that flowing when the unit is working and working properly again, we're removing heat and humidity from there. The result is condensation. And that condensation is that water. And that water has to flow outside the system through the drain line and to get back outside. So if you have a clog or something is happening and you. And you look out there and it's not draining and the system is working, you might want to call a professional and see what's going on. Because the, you know, the phone call, a simple phone call, is, hey, maintenance working. It's cooling. It's nine degrees outside, it's 70 degrees in my house. Everything's great. I don't see any water coming outside. Usually there's, you know, a puddle of water outside at my drain line where it comes out, and I don't see that happening. You need to call a professional, because if you don't see it happening, you might be looking in issues. So it's better to address what's going on before it happens, before it's too late. A lot of times upstairs, we install what we call a ceiling saver, which goes on the pan and it detects when the water gets to a certain level in that pan. It then shuts the unit off. So you have to call basically by unit, start breaking oil. It stopped working because the drain line got clogged. And instead of damaging the ceiling itself, this switch, this switch saved your ceiling. You called us, we cleared the drain, might have treated with the drain pantryman. But then the switch is back good again because the water is now draining and not in the way and triggering that switch off. Very good product, but like anything, it's mechanical. It can fail. So having regular maintenance on your system is always a good idea.
