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Another A/C question

I'm about to have a new primary drain line run from my evap coil in my attic to the outside (it currently runs about 40 feet to a bathroom vent/drain pipe and has caused numerous problems over the years). A contractor has recommended running the pvc almost to the ground and then building a french drain for the water to drain into. I had an idea that I presented to him about this drain line, but he had no clue whether it would work and didn't seem to anxious to try it. I want to see if there is anyone that has ever tried something like this or has any knowledge about whether it would work.

Here goes - I have soaker hoses running around my home. Could the primary drain line be tied into those soaker hoses? I would think that this would produce significant enough water on a daily basis to keep the dirt around my foundation moist enough to help my foundation. One of my concerns is whether there will be enough pressure from the drain line to push the water through the tiny holes in the soaker hose? Does anyone know? This seems like an efficient use of that water and would cut down on my summer water bills. Any thoughts or help will be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Reply to
rdkapp
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No pressure but measure output of AC per hr and try pouring twice that much into the hose per hr and see.

Reply to
m Ransley

rdkapp wrote: ...

The pressure will depend on the height of the water in the drain above the level of the soaker hose. If my memory serves me correctly the pressure will be about 0.5 x height (in feet) with the result in pounds per Sq Inches or roughly 5 pounds for each story. With a two story home that would be about 10 pounds or about a quarter of normal water pressure and that would assume that the hose was full all the way to the top, which would not be a good idea.

I don't have a clue how various soaker hoses would react to that pressure. I would suspect that at best it would not proved enough water and pressure to distribute the water all the way around your home and at worse the soaker hose would not handle all the water supplied and it would back up.

You say you are changing things because you have had problems. I suggest your idea is just asking for more problems.

Reply to
Joseph Meehan

Yes, it would work, but you won't have enough water to make any real difference.

Reply to
Chip Orange

I thought some more about it , you should fill the hose and check its capacity of release , prop up the end fill it wait an hour , refill it. You wont have pressure , you don't want pressure or backup or you risk a flood, It may work if output of ac is low , but put in a trap or overflow before the hose for when it backs up. I just hook up a hose and water trees but a soaker may work. Remember plants need to dry as does dirt or you get rott, mosquitos, and possibly fungus on plants. Does your AC have a saftey shutoff for flooding the pan? most dont so be carefull

Reply to
m Ransley

Sure. It might take some ingenuity on your part...transition fittings, duct tape, etc...but I don't see why it couldn't be done.

Gosh, I HOPE not. How much humidity do you HAVE in your house. The amount of water draining there would hopefully be insignificant.

There would be no or little pressure. But the water should easily seep out of the holes in the soaker hose.

Measure the amount of water that's now draining from your air conditioner in 24 hours. If its about 110 gals. or more, I'd say connect the two!

Its really not worth the effort.

Have a nice week...

Trent©

What do you call a smart blonde? A golden retriever.

Reply to
Trent©

What problems?

A contractor has

Sounds like it would be another ugly pipe attached to the outside of the building...

I had an idea that I presented to him

Without a one way valve, you could possibly water your evap coil when soaker running...

Does anyone know? This seems

Most evap coils have a bleed off to bring fresh water into tray, you could restrict the bleed , personally i would stick with the stack method, make sure you have a trap before you hit the stack, and make sure you have good grade, 1/4" / foot. 40 feet seems kinda long run, is there nowhere else to tie into?

Reply to
Ray

I don't think the humidity in my home is unusual for the area I'm in (Houston, TX - very high humidity daily). I've been told by an AC contractor that the typical evap coil in this area produces about 5 gallons per day during peak running periods. 5 gallons on a daily basis seems significant enough to help keep the ground around the foundation moist to help relieve any stress on the foundation. Do you not agree?

You don't think 110 gallons per day is too much?

I may get to that point, but I'm not there yet.

Reply to
rdkapp

It clogs up every year and sometimes more than once per year. One time it overflowed my emergency drain pan and screwed up my ceiling, which had to be repaired. And finally, I've had trouble getting AC technicians to take the time to make sure the 40 foot line is continuously sloping to keep a flow and reduce clogging. They don't seem to want to get into the small spaces in my attic. I've had several refuse and others quote me an incredibly high bid for doing that work. The current AC technician wants to run the drain line outside because it would be a much shorter run (like 15 feet before exiting the eave and going vertical).

Yea, that's one reason I've been avoiding it, but I'm growing tired of dealing with the drain line problems on a regular (annual) basis.

I'm not following you here. Are you assuming that I would keep the soaker hoses attached to a pressured water outlet? I was thinking I would disconnect that and rely solely on the water produced from the coil, which according to an AC contractor should produce around 5 gallons per day during peak running periods.

The grade has been the issue all along. As stated above, I've had trouble getting a contractor to assure a good grade over the 40 feet (it maybe closer to 50 ft.), probably because they would have to crawl through small spaces a significant portion of that 40 - 50 feet. There is a closer stack, but after making several turns, the line would run about 30 feet, which I'm not sure is any improvement. Also, my other AC unit runs to that stack.

Thanks for your input.

Reply to
rdkapp

I would not think there would be that much water coming out of the pipe. Soaker hoses need pressure to weep the water. A French drain seems a bit over kill. My last house I dumped the water on the concrete near the condenser. I lived in Tempe AZ and the unit was a 5 ton American Standard. I measured a about a gallon a day removal, in the monsoon season. Rest of the year was hardly worth mentioning. Got any plants near? use the water there.

Reply to
SQLit

Yes...I do not agree. And what STRESS? Do you think that a pint of water an hour...coming out of that drain pipe in TEXAS...lol...is even gonna MAKE it into the ground?

Take a pint of water...throw it into the wind...watch it for as long as you can...see how far it got into the ground before its gone!

Salvaging 110/gal. per day might make it worth the effort. Trying to salvage 5 gal. per day isn't worth the effort or confusion.

Have a nice week...

Trent©

What do you call a smart blonde? A golden retriever.

Reply to
Trent©

It sounds like all you need are some of those slow-disolving clorine tabs added to your pan twice a year to solve your current problems.

Reply to
Chip Orange

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