Aircon condensate

[Simpo Two]

The finishing touches are being put to the plans for my a/c installation next month.

I asked the installer about condensate and where it goes; he said it comes out via a 21.5mm diameter pipe to the ground.

This pipe is only going to take a few drips of water at a time. Why does it have to be big enough to run a bath? The installer is adamant it has to be like that but I really don't want great big pipes running down my house walls. Surely just a bit of 10-15mm pipe sticking out (like a cistern overflow) would do?

[OutInTheShed]

Standard cistern overflow is 21.5mm

You could use smaller, but you might get more trouble with airlocks.
I run a dehumidifier with a 4mm bore drain, it can clog, but that only results in the dehumidifier tank filling and it eventually stopping.

Maybe you could do something like I've seen on a few bits of guttering, let the water run down a rope or chain?

[Steve H]

I’m mid-process with mine now.

It does seem to be over spec’d but if you can run it back to the outdoor unit alongside the insulated refrigerant pipes it will look pretty small by comparison.

[Simpo Two]

Steve H said:

It does seem to be over spec’d but if you can run it back to the outdoor unit alongside the insulated refrigerant pipes it will look pretty small by comparison.

Well that's the snag - the refrigerant pipe will be coming in horizontally about 7' up, and now I'll have this bloody pipe going vertically down... the front of my house will start to look like a map of the Underground.

What size are yours? And is there some regulation that days they have to go to ground level?

[Simpo Two]

OutInTheShed said:

Maybe you could do something like I've seen on a few bits of guttering, let the water run down a rope or chain?

It's on the front of the house, so no...

When the a/c is working hardest the sun will be blasting that wall as it's south-facing. A few dribbles of water won't last long.