If you live in a place with four seasons, being in the throes of winter without a furnace is no fun, and it’s even less fun when you discover a puddle of water beneath your furnace. When your furnace is broken, you can’t afford to wait. The sooner you call a professional, the more money and stress you can save. If a puddle of water appears beneath your furnace, give Service Patriots a call before it causes expensive damage. Whether you have a leaking heat pump or another concerning heating system issue, your HVAC tech will walk you through the process of determining whether your heating system requires a repair or a replacement.
Possible Causes of a Leaky Furnace
It’s essential to call a trustworthy HVAC technician right away when you find your furnace leaking water. It helps to know a little about your furnace and answer the obvious question, “Why is my furnace leaking?” There are several reasons why a furnace might leak, but here are three of the most common reasons why.
1. Condensation Leak
One of the most common reasons for a furnace leak is that the condensation removal system of the furnace becomes clogged. In most furnaces, two heat exchangers absorb heat which eventually turns into condensation—this is normal.
There are also several parts of the furnace that work together to eliminate the condensation and remove it from your home. This is done via condensation tubing or a condensate drain line and pump that leads outdoors. Water flows through this pipe and connects in a pan which drains outside.
If this pipe becomes clogged or breaks, it can result in a leak. Having it serviced can clear these blockages or require the condensate pump to be replaced. Once the issues are addressed, your furnace can get to running as it should again.
2. Humidifier Leak
Furnaces also have humidifiers attached to them. They’re very beneficial for the home as they ensure the air doesn’t get too dry. These can malfunction for many reasons, including a broken motor or a clogged water valve, resulting in a leak.
Furnace humidifiers can even experience mineral buildup impairs the device’s ability to function effectively. When this happens, the usual fix is getting the humidifier replaced. This option doesn’t have to be complicated or costly, and it might serve you better, in the long run, to replace it with a newer and more efficient model that can help regulate the moisture in your home.
3. Faulty Heat Exchanger
Heat exchangers are vital for the overall function of a furnace. To create heat, a gas furnace burns fuel that makes hot air (and an electric furnace creates heat by electric coils) in a heat exchanger.
For a gas furnace, this isn’t safe to breathe, so a secondary heat exchanger in the system takes that “flue air” and makes it safe and breathable. This is what is released into your home, and condensation is made in the process.
If either of these exchangers breaks or malfunctions somehow, it could lead to a water leak. This is especially common in furnaces made with PVC piping. This particular problem can be costly to repair, and in many cases, it may even need to be replaced.
What To Do if Your Furnace is Leaking Water
When you discover your furnace leaking water, you should first turn the system off. Clean the leaked water and identify if it’s coming from the furnace. Or, in units that are directly connected to air conditioning, check to see if it’s from the cooling unit. Look to see if the filter is dirty or clogged or if the leak is coming from one part of the furnace.
Once that is done, call in a trained HVAC technician to check the furnace leak and maintain your heating system. A reliable company like Service Patriots will contain the furnace water leaking and identify the cause.
Not only will we help repair the issue, fix broken parts, or replace the entire system, we also have the customer service and skill to keep regular maintenance on the unit. Make sure to schedule a visit today to save your furnace from an unexpected disaster.
