Why are my air conditioning vents dripping water?
Brisbane summers are brutal. With temperatures that exceed forty degrees Celsius and humidity levels above 80%, it can become simply unbearable. These conditions present unique challenges for air conditioning technicians to overcome and rectify, reduce or eliminate any potential water and mould issues in your home or business.
At first glance, most air conditioning technicians would assume the air conditioner is set too low. The advice would be to increase the setpoint to stop condensation forming around the air conditioning vents. They may also attempt to "insulate" the area above and around the vent to stop the condensation forming on the vent. After multiple callbacks, most generally give up in frustration, thinking the customer is running their air con cooler as soon as they walk out the door.
The simple answer to this issue is " Dew point "
What is dew point anyway? Dew point is the temperature the air needs to be cooled to (at constant pressure) in order to achieve a relative humidity of 100%. At this point the air cannot hold any more water in gas form (fully saturated) and begins to transform from a gas to a liquid (condensation). Anything at or below the dew point temperature will begin to form condensation and drip, like your ducted air conditioning vents.
Contrary to most air conditioning technicians solutions, increasing the temperatures or insulating around the affected area to rectify the issue, only increases condensation formation. To resolve the issue, you must actually do the opposite. The two main solutions are...
- Reduce the temperature in the room
- Remove the humidity in the room
By reducing the temperature in the room, you decrease the dew point temperature, meaning the air con vents must get a whole lot cooler before they begin forming condensation and drip on your walls or ceilings.
By reducing the humidity in the room, you also decrease the dew point temperature, meaning the air con vents must get a whole lot cooler before they begin to form condensation and drip on your walls or ceilings.
To calculate the dew point, you need two figures. Room temperature and relative humidity. Most weather stations sold in hardware stores will show these two figures. Weather stations are very reasonably priced.
If you have these figures, simply enter them into our calculator below. You can also play around with the two sliders (decrease the temperature or decrease the relative humidity) to see why insulating around the vents or setting the temperature higher is actually counterintuitive to the issue of dripping air con vents.
The solution is not always as simple as "decreasing the temperature" or "decreasing the humidity" in the room. To effectively reduce the room temperature, thinking outside the box may be your only option. One example would be installing a second vent in the room to cool the room more quickly and lower the dew point.
We here at AC Brisbane are experts in all things air conditioning. We service Brisbane northern suburbs, Moreton Bay, Caboolture, Bribie Island and surrounds.