Some homes use window units to cool individual rooms. I happen to have central air. For those unfamiliar with central air you can read about it here. In a nutshell, a compressor and evaporator work together to cool warm air and recirculate it. That warm air releases moisture as it is cooled. The moisture drops into a pan which then gets drained into a sump pump, outside or a slop sink as in my case.Every time I go in to the basement, I notice the water dripping from a small hose. Never really thought much of it. Out of curiousity, I decided to start collecting it with the use of milk jugs. Well after a few hours, I filled one. A few more hours pass, I fill another and another... in a 24 hour period I collected 4 jugs of water. That's 4 gallons of water a day! I am constantly surprised by these little experiments. I thought I got alot of water from the dehumidifier.
Here's some rough math:
AC running from May to Sept: 153 days 153 days x 4 gallons = 612 gallons of water!Between the dehumidifier and the air conditioner I estimate I can collect anywhere between 800-1,000 gallons a water during the summer months! 1,000 gallons... that's ALOT of water.
As a result of this new discovery I will be installing a rain barrel outside of my basement to collect this water for my gardens. I just found my new winter project.
4 comments:
be careful, i have read that this water from air conditioner have bacteria, mold, mildew, and other sources of biological contaminants which can be even deadly.so it is extremely dangerous to give to plants (maybe vegetables and fruits) which you would eat later, or even plants which are not for human feeding which cats or dogs or birds could eat.
be careful, i read that this water from air conditioner have bacteria, mold, mildew, and other sources of biological contaminants which can be even deadly.so it is extremely dangerous to give to plants (maybe vegetables and fruits) which you can eat later, or even normal plants not for human feeding but which cats or dogs or birds can eat.
Well written article.
Air conditioner unit does have water. You supposed to have PVC pipe that is connected to the outside to remove the water.
The reason air conditioner united produce water is due to the dehumidifier taking place within the air conditioner units.
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