Your air conditioner should not leak water inside of your house if it is working properly. Condensation is formed when when warm air is blown over the evaporator coil inside of your unit, which is then supposed to drip into a pan and out of your house via a drain line. However, sometimes this process does not work correctly; here are the five most common things that may go wrong with this process and cause water to leak inside of your home. 

#1 Not Enough Freon

Your air conditioner depends on refrigerant or freon in order to operate properly. When these liquids get low, the pressure inside of your air conditioning unit lowers as well. This causes your evaporator coil to freeze over, and when it melts, it may overflow your drainage pan. 

You can prevent this from happening by paying attention to your AC unit and checking the freon/refrigerant levels at least twice a year. Additionally, if your air conditioner doesn't seem to be cooling off your house or if you hear a bubbling noise from your AC unit, those are also signs that your AC unit either needs more freon or refrigerant. 

#2 Compromised Drain Pan

If you have an air conditioner that is over ten years old, the drain pan on your air conditioner may have become damaged. Over time, it is not uncommon for the drain pan to become rusted or compromised in some way.

If your air conditioning is old, all you may need to do to fix the problem is replace the drain pan.

#3 Compromised Drain Line

The next most common culprit is the drain line itself. Once again, if your air conditioning unit is older, there is a good chance that the line itself may have just become clogged. Dirt and dust or even mold may have gotten inside of the lines and clogged it up. 

To fix the issue, you are going to need to have a technician use a wet/dry vac to clean out the line. If the line is seriously compromised, you may need to replace it.

#4 Old Air Filter

You should replace your air filter on at least a yearly basis, if not more often than that. When your air filter gets dirty and clogged, not enough air is able to flow over the evaporator coil, which can cause the coil to freeze and then melt, releasing more water than the drain pan can hold. This is similar to what happens when your unit doesn't have enough freon or refrigerant. 

#5 Damaged Condensate Pump

Finally, if your air conditioner is located in a basement or lower level, your air conditioner may be equipped with a condensate pump that is responsible for pumping the water from your AC unit outside of your home. If the pump is damaged or malfunctioning, you may need to get it either repaired or replaced.

For more information, talk to a professional like United Heating Cooling and Plumbing Inc.

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