Reasons Your Furnace May Be Leaking Water

Having adequate heating in your home is essential, especially during the colder winter months. Therefore, it’s important to ensure your home heating system is functioning properly—and a crucial part of this is frequent monitoring and maintenance.

What happens when you notice water leaking out of your furnace? Well, this is definitely not a good sign. But before you can address the problem, it’s crucial to determine the reason behind it to figure out the best course of action. Here are some common reasons your furnace may be leaking water:

Clogged Filter

The furnace filter works hard to trap airborne contaminants and other particles so they won’t get into your furnace. However, with all the air passing through the filter, it’s bound to collect a lot of contaminants. When not regularly changed, this could lead to a clogged filter.

When the filter is clogged, air will not be able to flow through properly, which puts extra strain on your furnace. Extra condensation will build-up, resulting in leaking water.

To avoid a clogged furnace filter, it’s best to inspect it on a regular basis and change the filter every three months.

Heat Exchanger Problem

If you have a high-efficiency furnace, it will likely have a secondary heat exchanger built into the system. This secondary heat exchange will absorb the remaining heat that develops from the natural gases passing through the system. 

When the secondary heat exchanger experiences blockages or damages, it can cause water to leak from the furnace. If a faulty heat exchanger is the cause of the leakage, you’ll have to have it replaced by a qualified furnace repair technician.

Condensation Leak

Compared to older models, current furnaces in the market are more efficient. While furnaces are now more highly efficient, that sometimes means they can produce natural condensation from when heating your home. 

Typically, a built-in cool exhaust system would be responsible for removing this moisture. They do it through a PVC line attached through a wall or to the basement floor drainage. However, when these PVC lines or the condensation pump are damaged, the condensation in your furnace cannot be removed. This will then result in leaking water. To address this problem, contact a furnace repair technician.

Faulty Metal Exhaust Vent Pipe

For furnaces with a performance rating below 90, there would often be a metal exhaust vent pipe built into the system. This metal vent pipe is responsible for eliminating the natural gases your furnace produces. However, when you have a faulty metal exhaust vent pipe or a poor-fitting one, the natural gases produced won’t be able to properly escape the furnace. This can lead to a buildup of condensation that develops into a water leak.

Final Thoughts

It’s important to inspect your furnace regularly to see if any water is leaking from it. Leaking water can often be a cause of condensation buildup in the system. However, there are also many reasons behind condensation building up in the furnace. So, it’s important to single out the source of the problem to be able to address it properly.

Stop your furnace from leaking water with the help of Legacy Heating. We specialize in HVAC systems for residential new home construction (RNC) and offer furnace repair in Edmonton. With many decades of experience in the field, we pride ourselves on putting quality and customers first! Get a free quote today!