Why is My Heat Pump Leaking?

Right now, it’s hard to know whether you need heat, air conditioning, or a little bit of both! This means your heat pump is working hard … and, leaking water?!

Is it normal?

You might be wondering if water dripping from your heat pump is a big deal or not. Well, it depends! Let us explain:

First of all, as you probably know, your heat pump has both an inside unit and an outside unit. So, when we talk about your heat pump leaking, it is possible for either the inside unit or the outside unit to be leaking!

It makes a big difference whether you’re talking about your heat pump leaking inside, or leaking outside, but we’ll get to that in a moment … First things first, we need to go back to the fundamentals and briefly explain how a heat pump works:

It takes heat and dumps it outside in hot weather, and takes heat and transfers it inside in cold weather. When it’s warm outside, the part of your heat pump generating condensation is the inside unit. And when it’s cold outside, the part of your heat pump generating condensation is the outside unit.

Water dripping from OUTSIDE unit

That means, when your heat is on, it’s completely normal to have condensation on your outdoor unit. The cause of this condensation is simply that the outdoor unit is dehumidifying the air, and preparing to heat your home. However, if you’re noticing more than normal condensation dripping from this outdoor unit, one issue could be excessive ice on the coils. When this melts, it appears that the unit is “leaking.” In that case, seeing water around your heat pump IS an issue, because you should not have that much ice on the coils. If you’re not sure whether the pond of water around your heat pump is an issue or not, you can always contact us!

Water dripping from INSIDE unit

On the other hand, if water is dripping from the inside unit … as you can probably guess, that is a problem! After all, water dripping inside your house is something nobody wants! You don’t want water damage or mold, which are both possibilities if you ignore this indoor leak.

The reason this is happening is because the air handler is dehumidifying the overly humid air in your home. This generates condensation. The condensation is supposed to drip off your evaporator coil into a pan, flow down the condenser drain, and outside. Again, the ground doesn’t mind getting wet, but you DO mind water leaking inside your house! If the condenser drain is clogged or blocked, the condensation will overflow, and drip inside your home! That’s no good.

But what IS good is the fast, reliable service from Air Specialist here in Houston! You might be wondering whether the amount of water around your outdoor unit is excessive, or wondering why there’s any water dripping from your indoor unit. Either way, we specialize in heat pump repair, and we’re happy to help you out, especially during this weird transition of springtime! Now is when heat pump problems are likely to occur. So just contact us online or call [csad_phone]!