Drain the condensate from your window air conditioner. Your window air conditioning unit creates condensation that accumulates as water inside the exterior chassis. When too much water collects, it begins to drain from the bottom or side of the unit. This can cause rust stains on stucco or on concrete beneath the air conditioner. It could also create standing water along the ground beneath the unit that becomes a breeding ground for mosquitoes along with other insects. You can drain the water away from the window unit and capture it for other uses or route it through your garden to help with summer irrigation. Unplug your window air conditioner from the wall outlet. Stand outside and face one side of the window air conditioner’s chassis. Place a spirit level on the top of the air conditioner’s chassis. Position the level where one end points toward your home’s exterior wall and the opposite end points toward the rear of the air conditioner’s chassis. Find the two vertical lines marked on the exterior of the horizontal liquid-filled vial and the bubble inside it.

Approximately one-quarter of the bubble should rest just outside the left vertical line on the vial when standing with your left side toward the exterior wall; it should rest just outside the right vertical line when standing with your right side toward the exterior wall. Adjust the air conditioner support bracket to allow the chassis to tilt down slightly if the spirit level's bubble sits evenly between the two vertical lines. Insert the short drain pipe provided with your window air conditioner into the drain hole on the bottom or the back of your unit. Some units may have a permanent drain pipe attached to the chassis. Cut a length of old garden hose or a piece of washer hose. The length of the hose depends on the location of the air conditioner’s drain pipe, how close it is to your exterior wall and how far down the exterior wall you want the hose to hang. Insert a screw-band hose clamp over one end of the length of hose. Slip the hose over the drain pipe. Tighten the screw-band clamp with a screwdriver to secure the hose to the window air conditioner’s drain pipe.

This will serve as your drain hose. Attach the hose to your exterior wall with tube straps. Use wood or masonry screws to hold the clamps to the exterior wall. Slip the screw-band hose clamp provided with a male hose-end mender over the opposite end of the hose you attached to the air conditioner. Insert the male hose-end mender into the hose and tighten the clamp to secure it to the hose. This gives you the opportunity to attach a garden hose to the end of the drain hose. Place a 5-gallon bucket near the end of your drain hose. Attach a short garden hose to the drain hose, and place the other end of the garden hose in the bucket. Collect the water created by the air conditioning condensation in the 5-gallon bucket. Depending on the size of your air conditioner and the current weather conditions, it could take two days to a week to fill the bucket. If you have animals, consider cutting a hole in a 5-gallon bucket lid with a utility knife and inserting the hose through the lid. This keeps your pets from drinking the collected condensate.

Pour the water down the nearest drain, or use the water you collected to water your nonfood plants. Attach a soaker hose to the drain hose as another option. Route the soaker hose around plants and shrubs. The soaker hose will release small amounts of water along the entire hose to keep your plants and shrubs watered without the threat of standing water. wall mounted room ac unitsConnect a longer garden hose to the drain hose as a final option. ac window unit repairPlace the opposite end of the hose over an outside floor drain to route the water from the air conditioning directly to the sewer line. price of split ac blue starThings You Will Need Spirit level Old garden hose or washer hose Screw-band hose clamp Screwdriver Tube straps Wood or masonry screws Male hose-end mender 5-gallon bucket Short garden hose 5-gallon bucket lid Utility knife Soaker hose Long garden hose References The Alliance for Water Efficiency: Condensate Water IntroductionInspectAPedia: Condensate Handling - A/C System Condensate Drains, Condensate Piping, Condensate Pumps - Inspection & Defect ReportingLG

: /Getty Images Suggest a CorrectionHome Guides Home Home Improvement How Much Water Should Be Coming Out of a Drain Pipe for an Air Conditioning Unit? Email Reddit A central air conditioner can produce gallons of condensate a day. There’s a reason your home cooling system is called an “air conditioner” and not merely an “air cooler.” Conditioning the air involves more than just taking the heat out. Humidity extraction is an equally important function of an air conditioner. Damp interior air holds heat energy more efficiently and is difficult to cool. Dry air feels cooler to occupants. But all that moisture condensed out of the air by the evaporator coil has to go somewhere. In most homes, the condensate drain pipe conveys water either to a drain point outside the house or to a connection with the household sewer. How Much Is Enough? In an arid climate where relative humidity remains well below 50 percent most of the time, the evaporator coil in a residential central air conditioner will send about about 5 gallons of water down the drain per day.

In humid climates, however, the drain pipe may convey as much as 20 gallons per day. How Much Is Too Much? Central air conditioners in some residences incorporate a primary condensate drain pipe plumbed into the household sewer drain and a secondary backup pipe that drains to the exterior of the home in some conspicuous place if the primary pipe becomes clogged. Water flowing from the backup drain pipe is an alert that a potentially damaging overflow condition is developing in the condensate drain pan. Any amount of water discharged from a backup drain pipe is too much and should prompt a call to a heating, ventilation and air conditioning contractor. References Alliance for Water Efficiency: Condensate Introduction Photo Credits Comstock/Comstock/Getty Images Suggest a Correction Sod vs. Grass Sod is made primarily with places like golf courses ... How to Root Coleus When rooting coleus, you're going to want to start by ... About Lava Rose Coleuses Lava rose coleuses are a lovely, shade-loving plant ...