Hi everyone,
I recently had a new Trane HVAC system installed and have noticed that when I switch from AC cooling to Furnace heat (for example, in the fall in Houston when the day is hot but the night is cold), the heated air comes out of my ducts so extraordinarily humid (for example, 90F and 60% relative humidity) for so long (20+ minutes) that the house turns into a steam bath and all of the windows steam up on the inside.
By opening up my system in the attic, I have determined that the source of the moisture is condensate water trapped between the vanes of the AC evaporator coils. (The Trane TXC009 4-ton evaporator has two sets of coils that are arranged like this: < (a sideways V).) As TeddyBear pointed out to me in a related post (https://hvac-talk.com/vbb/threads/22...-AC-to-Furnace), “A/C coils hold water as high as 1 lb. per ton”, which for me would be 4 pounds, or about 2 quarts. I presume that this is a new thing, because the 24-year-old Trane system I replaced never had this problem once.
What is concerning to me is that the condensate water stays trapped in the coil semi-permanently – I have reached in the system to touch the bottom of the coil 3+ days after last running the AC, and my hand still comes out soaking wet.
This does not seem like a good thing to me, since all this water trapped in my system will inevitably cause mold, mildew, or something worse.
My questions:
1. Am I right to worry about all this water trapped in my evaporator when both the AC and Furnace are turned off for a long period of time (for example, in the spring and fall)?
2. Is there anything I can do about the trapped water other than running the Furnace for 20 minutes with all the windows and doors open and bath/kitchen exhaust fans running to exhaust the hot humid air until the evaporator coil dries out? (This is what we are currently doing.) This is mighty wasteful of both time and money.
Any insights would be mightily appreciated – Thanks!
I recently had a new Trane HVAC system installed and have noticed that when I switch from AC cooling to Furnace heat (for example, in the fall in Houston when the day is hot but the night is cold), the heated air comes out of my ducts so extraordinarily humid (for example, 90F and 60% relative humidity) for so long (20+ minutes) that the house turns into a steam bath and all of the windows steam up on the inside.
By opening up my system in the attic, I have determined that the source of the moisture is condensate water trapped between the vanes of the AC evaporator coils. (The Trane TXC009 4-ton evaporator has two sets of coils that are arranged like this: < (a sideways V).) As TeddyBear pointed out to me in a related post (https://hvac-talk.com/vbb/threads/22...-AC-to-Furnace), “A/C coils hold water as high as 1 lb. per ton”, which for me would be 4 pounds, or about 2 quarts. I presume that this is a new thing, because the 24-year-old Trane system I replaced never had this problem once.
What is concerning to me is that the condensate water stays trapped in the coil semi-permanently – I have reached in the system to touch the bottom of the coil 3+ days after last running the AC, and my hand still comes out soaking wet.
This does not seem like a good thing to me, since all this water trapped in my system will inevitably cause mold, mildew, or something worse.
My questions:
1. Am I right to worry about all this water trapped in my evaporator when both the AC and Furnace are turned off for a long period of time (for example, in the spring and fall)?
2. Is there anything I can do about the trapped water other than running the Furnace for 20 minutes with all the windows and doors open and bath/kitchen exhaust fans running to exhaust the hot humid air until the evaporator coil dries out? (This is what we are currently doing.) This is mighty wasteful of both time and money.
Any insights would be mightily appreciated – Thanks!
source https://hvac-talk.com/vbb/threads/2235394-Fix-for-Trane-AC-Evaporator-retaining-water-long-term?goto=newpost
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