Why Your Air Conditioner Is Leaking Water Inside Your Home

Water is pooling around your inside unit and you’re a bit worried.

Water leaking out of and pooling around your inside air conditioning unit isn’t normal. There’s a problem that you or a professional need to fix.

Before explaining why this is happening, turn off your AC to protect its electrical components from harm.

OK, now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, let’s explain:

• Why air conditioners create water
• How it water leaks out of the system
• What you can do

Why there’s water in your air conditioner

Before we get to how the AC leaks out, we need to explain how it gets there in the first place.

The inside AC unit has a frigidly cold evaporator coil that cools the air flowing over it. When air hits the coil, the air’s moisture condenses on the coil.

It’s just like how water droplets condense on an ice cold glass of sweet tea during a scorching Atlanta summer.

As water forms, it falls into a drain pan and out a condensate drain line. You should see the drain line exit point as a PVC pipe near your outside AC unit.

OK, so now you know how the water got there. Now let’s talk about why it’s leaking into your home.

Why water is leaking out of the air conditioner

There are many possible issues that can cause water to leak into your home.

Here are the usual suspects:

A clogged drain line

The drain line can get clogged with dirt, insects, mold and other sludge. The clog causes the water to back up and into your home.

DIY solution:

1. Find the drain line exit near your outside AC unit
2. Connect a wet-dry vacuum to the drain exit
3. Run the vacuum on “suck” mode for 3 minutes.
   

While this may unclog the drain, dirt from the evaporator coil may clog the drain again soon.

Contact a professional to clean the evaporator coil as part of a maintenance visit.

Frozen evaporator coil

You’ll know this is the problem if your AC has a hard time cooling your home.

The evaporator coil may be freezing up (literally). So when the ice melts, water flows over the drain pan and leaks on to your floor.

Possible causes:

• Dirty air filter— Blocks air over the coil, causing the coil to get too cold and freeze up. Change the filter and see if that helps.
• Refrigerant leak— A leak allows refrigerant to escape. Low refrigerant causes the evaporator coil to get too cold.
  

Regardless of the cause, fix this problem ASAP to prevent serious damage to your AC.

Disconnected drain line

Simple as it sounds: over time the drain line can get disconnected, allowing water to spill into your home.

Broken condensate pump

To move the water from the pan to a drain, some air conditioners need a condensate pump. If the pump is busted, the water won’t drain out and can overflow into your home.

Cracked/rusted condensate drain pan

An old drain pan can rust through and crack, so water leaks onto the floor instead of down the drain.

Get your air conditioner repaired

Do you live in the Atlanta, Birmingham or Nashville area and want this problem fixed fast?