First off, if you are running the air conditioner in summer and it’s NOT producing water then you have a serious problem. Air conditioners are supposed to produce water. This is an indication that the unit is working properly and the water is being distributed in the proper manner.
So what’s the reason behind all of the water being produced by your air conditioner? You certainly can’t drink it and the whole point of an air conditioning unit is to cool down the air in the room where you are currently occupying. The reality is, the water is basically a by-product of the cycle that an air conditioner goes through in order to cool that air.
Understanding Air Conditioners
The word of the day is “refrigeration”. It’s the best way to describe how an air conditioner operates and this focuses on the sets of coils contained within the unit. These coils are connected through something called a condenser and one of the coils always remains warm or hot while the other is kept cold.
Each of the coils is filled with certain chemicals that go through an evaporation and condensation cycle repeatedly which results in the coils becoming cool. Air is blown over the coils which becomes cold as it the air comes in contact with them.
But that’s not the only way an air conditioner cools the air. The now cool coils work to force moisture from the air and that moisture starts to condense on the surface of the coils. Two things happen to this water or moisture, one, the the air evaporates again to maintain the coils cool temperatures and two, the remaining water drips and runs out from the back of the unit.
That’s the water you find when you see water collecting beneath the unit or leaking out into a puddle due to a clogged or leaking drain line. So, the answer to the question as to why air conditioners produce water is so they may operate correctly in order to do the job you expect – distribute cool air to help you lower the warm temperatures in your home.
Troubleshooting Your Air Conditioner
If you discover that you don’t have water coming out of your air conditioner, you might be dealing with one of many potential problems. You should have your unit checked before the summer begins so you have air conditioning richmond when the summer months get particularly hot and brutal.
One of the most common issues that can explain why your air conditioner is not producing water is that you have a leak in the unit somewhere. Water pooling where it isn’t supposed to accumulate is a sign that something is very wrong.
You could also be dealing with a clogged drain line which can result in a leak because the water has nowhere else to go. These clogs are pretty easy to fix.
Lastly, you may be developing ice along the exterior of your cold coils which can result in an air conditioner that isn’t running at full strength and you could further damage it by overtaxing the system.
