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paloma354
Oct 5, 2009, 02:39 PM
I just moved into a new home that has central air and heat. Inside the house in a large closet, the water heater has a pipe from it which connects to a pvc line. The pvc then feeds down into the floor, presumably for overflow, and also goes up for about 3 1/2 feet and is not capped at the top. About 3/4 of the way up this same pvc, it has a t-bar which feeds directly into the ac/heat unit. This t-bar also has a big red turn off valve which is in the ON position.

When the air conditioner is running, cold air comes blasting out of the top of this pvc pipe. Is this a normal thing to be happening? I'm not familiar with these units but it seems that the closet ends up being cooled better than the rest of the house with all of that cold air flowing out. Other than providing drainage for the condensed water from the air unit, I don't understand why it's there and open at the top of the line.

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

vanderhoofnson
Oct 5, 2009, 04:03 PM
The line from your hvac unit is condensate drain line to allow water pulled out by your a/c to drain away. The pipe on top is a vent like the ones that stick up through your roof for sewage. Between your a/c and the vent there should have been a trap installed to keep air from flowing out . This trap will hold water , enough to keep the cold air from escaping