@#*^$% WAS: Central Air Condensation
b1gcountry
| Posted in Energy, Heating & Insulation on
Well, I went to clean out my drip pan last night, and to my surprise, could not find a single access panel for it. I notices several dozen screws that held the exhaust blower on, and, being stupid, removed this, only to find myself cussing an hour later (getting the stripped screws out) and looking at only the furnace return. The coils are inside the ductwork atop the furnace with no access whatsoever. Only way I can figure is to cut a hole in the duct, service the coils, and put a patch on it later.
GrUmBlE
Tom
Replies
Hi BC!
My parents are renting a condo while I build them their new house (the last one they say!). The a/c system has a ducted supply but no ducted return, the air handler sits in a closet that has a louvered door. Changing the filter would be easy, except for the 80 gallon water heater mounted in front of the return filter!
Changing the filter requires
1 a plumber to drain and disconnect the water heater
2 an electrician to disconnect the supply
3 the a/c technician to change the filter
Wow, how clever. I'll presume that it is an electric water heater, A, so that the draft does not put out the pilot light; and B, so that the nice warm water heater will pre-heat the air before is goes across the cooling coils . . .
In may little part of Texas, that's an illegal installation. Can't even duct the vertical unit separately of the DHW 'space' as a "work-around." The logic is simple, prevent the airhandler from sucking any fumes from a future DHW ("Whacha mean, Aye Kint use gazz inn'ear?") through the whole structure.
The service standpoint really bites in the situation you cite--air filter changing does a lot to prolong an airhandler's life.
Sometimes a bigger job is easier.
Knock apart the plenum. If it has the 90 degree corner bead you might be further ahead to open the whole thing up and do what you need to do. then reassemble and seal with the metal duct tape.
Otherwise make one with tin snips.