Is that a puddle of water around your air conditioner?! Don’t panic! Something is definitely going wrong, but we can help you figure out what’s most likely going on and what you can do to fix it.
First, turn off your unit. You don’t want to cause any more damage and turning it off at the source will prevent that.
You’re seeing “leaking” from your air conditioner because something is happening with the cold evaporator coil. It cools warm air that flows over it and forms condensation as a result. This condensation drips down in to a drain pan and drains out of a special line away from your house or into your plumbing.
There are a lot of things that could be causing this condensation to pool and cause leaking, and we’ve outline some of the most common ones below:
- The drain line may be clogged.
Everything gets dusty and dirty. When you combine that with wetness, you get clogged pipes, lines, etc, including your drain line.
- You may have a condensate pump that could be broken, faulty, or need maintenance:
If your unit is in the basement, it has a condensate pump which pushes the water out through the drain line to get outside and away from your air conditioner. When it breaks or malfunctions, nothing is pushing this collected water out and causes it to pool around the unit.
- Your air conditioner may have low refrigerant:
This can cause serious damage to your unit, so if this is the case get it checked out, immediately! In terms of your air conditioner leaking, If refrigerant is leaking, it will cause the system to freeze and then leak water as it melts. The leak would need to be found and repaired/replaced
Regular maintenance can effectively prevent your air conditioner from leaking. Harding Heating & Cooling is proud to bring Ottawa and the Ottawa Region quality air conditioner and furnace (HVAC) service. We are happy to help with any inquiries you may have when you contact us or with any maintenance you may need.
