A Puddle Of Water Around The Base Of My Furnace...

A client asked me why a puddle of water was collecting at the base of his furnace. It was summertime and there had been no rain for some time.

After asking the client a few quick questions I was able to determine the client has a central air conditioning system and the problem was the indoor "A" coil or indoor condenser which sits inside the plenum, the sheet metal box on top of the furnace, had a clogged up drip pan drain.

Condensation water normally flowing into the indoor coil drip pan and drain tube to the basement floor drain was building up and running over the clogged up drip pan and condensation water was running down the inside of the furnace and onto the basement floor.

There should be an inspection panel located on the front of the furnace plenum and with an annual spring maintenance check and cleaning of the furnace and indoor coil you can prevent this problem from happening.

Making sure the indoor coil is clean will help maintain a higher level of operating efficiency of your central air conditioning system. Making sure the indoor condensing coil drip pan is clear of dust, lent and or hard water build up will insure the condensation water will properly flow freely from the indoor condenser drip pan and through the drain tube to the basement floor drain.

Water flowing over the indoor condenser drip pan and down through the inside of your furnace can damage your furnace over a few short years.