One morning, you
woke up and started hearing dripping water noise coming from your AC vent. This
can be because of condensation on your air conditioner vent. There can be many reasons behind this. So, here are
reasons that cause condensation on AC vent –
4 Causes of
Condensation on AC Vent
1. Frozen
Evaporator Coil
If you notice
that your HVAC system isn't cooling well and providing less airflow, you may
have a frozen evaporator coil. Again, when you start investigating the system
by yourself, you'll notice the ice on the evaporator coil is melting. Because
of the frozen evaporator coil, water may come out of your air conditioner.
There can be many reasons behind a frozen evaporator coil and common is the
airflow problem. If your air filter is dirty, you may face this problem. That's
why you'll need preventive HVAC maintenance regularly. When you do the air
conditioner maintenance regularly, the airflow of your HVAC system will be
smooth, and there'll be no dirty air filter to block the air. As a result,
there'll be no frozen evaporator coil.
You shouldn't
neglect this problem because if this problem lasts long, your compressor may stop
working, and repairing cost of a compressor is very high. So as soon as you
notice that you have got a frozen evaporator coil, you should call an HVAC
professional to fix the problem.
2. Inadequate
Duct Insulation
When you touch
the metal portion of the frying pan on the burning kitchen stove, you will feel
the heat, but when you touch the plastic or wooden piece of the same frying
pan, you won't feel any of that. The main reason behind this is insulation.
Metal has poor insulation and plastic, or the wooden part has good insulation. Insulation
blocks the heat transferring from one place to another.
Insulation has a
role to play in condensation on AC vents. When your ducts are made of metal,
there is a high chance that you'll have a condensation problem. As mentioned
earlier, that metal is bad insulation. So, when don’t have proper duct
insulation, the outside hot and humid air gets in contact with the duct's cold
air and because of that condensation forms. But if you have proper insulation,
condensation will never happen because the moist and warm air will never come
in contact with cold air inside the duct.
If you want to
identify the problem, you'll have to look at your ducts, whether it has proper
insulation or not. Sometimes it's hard to do it by yourself, and that's why you
should call an HVAC professional to check the ducts.
3. High Moisture
Level
The high moisture
level is another reason behind condensation. If you have a high amount of
humidity close to your ductwork, you'll face condensation problems. Again, if
you live in a high humidity area, you'll face this problem. For example, if you
live in Phoenix or Arizona, you'll not face the condensation problem because of
the high humidity level because generally, humidity level stays between 20-30%
in Arizona or Phoenix. On the other hand, if you're from Florida, you'll have a
condensation problem because of the high humidity level.
4. Refrigerant
Leak
If you've
troubleshot all the causes above, you may have a refrigerant leak. You'll
notice less water when you've got a refrigerant leak. When the refrigerant
level is low, your air conditioner won't be able to remove humidity from the
inside of your house. As a result, water that was pumped out of the air can
stay on the evaporator coil. As time passes by, the water will turn into ice,
and when the ice melts, condensation occurs. To solve this problem, you'll have
to call an HVAC professional to check whether you've got a refrigerant leak or
not, and if found, the HVAC professional will fix it.
See the infographic
summary of this content here – 4
Causes of Condensation on AC Vent [Infographic]
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