Best hvac condensate pumps according to redditors

A condensate pump. It's supposed to pump AC or humidifier waste water ... somewhere. Can't see if its hooked up right.

https://www.amazon.com/Little-554415-Automatic-Condensate-Removal/dp/B00BYFQQ8U

You need to find a condensate pump. It's basically a small little pump contained in a little container. When the container fills up, it pumps it out. The pump is fairly small and doesn't draw much power.

http://www.amazon.com/Little-Giant-VCMA-15ULS-Condensate-horsepower/dp/B000AHT78O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1342628268&sr=8-1&keywords=condensate+pump

yep, that's what these little pumps do:

https://www.amazon.com/Little-Giant-VCMA-20ULS-Condensate-Removal/dp/B000SM342Q

get a condensate pump and then you can send the condensate wherever you want.

Well, I'm no HVAC expert, but here's an issue that keeps popping up for me because of my particular HVAC setup. This is a complete shot in the dark for you, because HVAC setups vary widely, but...

Do you have a condensate pump? Does it appear to be electrically wired to your furnace? Is the pump working? Is the drain line it's hooked up to blocked?

Some background: So, A/C units involve metal coils which sit in the middle of a furnace's airflow. These coils get cold, the furnace blows air over these cold coils so the air gets cold, then that now-cold air makes its way throughout the house through the ducts. Since the air being blown over the coils typically contains moisture, that water vapor hits the cold coils and condenses, forming water which then drips down into (hopefully) a pan. In some cases, the pan has a drain which leads outside. In my case, the furnace is in the basement, so the water drains into something called a condensate removal pump. This pump collects all the condensed water, then when the water level reaches a certain height inside the pump, it activates and with a buzzing sound pumps the water up through a flexible tube and out of the house.

Now, these condensate pumps contain a safety switch and are wired to the furnace by a couple of electrical leads. If the pump fails for whatever reason - it's not getting power, the motor is broken, the drain line is clogged, etc. - then the safety switch fails and the furnace consequently will not turn on. This happens to me on occasion, most often because the plastic tubing hooked up to the condensate pump gets clogged with sediment or algae or god knows what, and the pump therefore can't get rid of the condensation piling up inside it and trips the safety switch, thereby making the furnace unresponsive. In that case, unplug the drain tube from the pump, hook up a shop vac to the tube to suck out whatever's blocking it (I just use my hand to create a seal between the shop vac and the tube), then hook the drain tube back up to the pump. And for good measure, maybe pour a diluted bleach solution into the pump until the pump activates and flushes out the drain tube with the bleach solution. Assuming the pump is now running and draining fine, the furnace should now activate normally again.

Get a condensate pump and tie it into your dehumidifier. A condensate pump should be able to pump at least 25' vertically post discharge. Run that drain line either outside through the rim joist (with a final discharge at least 10 feet from the foundation) or run the discharge tubing up to your laundry tub/washer discharge drain.

Most humidifiers these days allow for a continuous drain so it shouldn't be too difficult to attach the condensate pump to it.

Edit: condensate pump

Exactly. You can also run it into a little pump if there's no drain handy. For algae control, drop a treatment tablet in there.

A portable A/C unit sound like your best option. Like the other post said, go for a dual hose unit if possible. These are more expensive but worth it. The single hose units will need to draw air from the outside albeit indirectly. I built a box around the lower coils of a single hose portable AC unit to draw air from the outside directly into the unit. The saved me from pulling air in from all over the house and running the building AC more.

As far as the unattended requirement, most portable AC units should have drain plugs. You can run a small hose from the upper and lower drains into a condensate pump. You then run a small hose from the pump out the window or to a nearby drain. The pump will gather the moisture into a small reservoir. Once the pump reservoir fills to a certain level, it will pump the water out the window or to the drain. Everything you need can be bought at most big box home improvement stores or amazon.

Condensate pump: Little Giant 554425 VCMA-20ULS Condensate Removal Pump. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000SM342Q/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_rYpVDbFDQ8239

Example AC unit:
Whynter Elite ARC-122DS 12,000 BTU Dual Hose Portable AC https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01AA8WOAK/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_x1pVDbBCRNERY

Tip: when buying the AC unit, make sure it has an upper and lower drain that have threaded or securable attachments. The Amazon link has a picture of the rear where you can see one between the hoses and one at the bottom. Take the screw caps off and then take them to the local plumbing home improvement store. Use the caps to find the proper size plastic connectors with a nib to connect tubing to.

Also, look at insulating the hoses to avoid unnecessary heat transfer. The hoses will get hot and are plastic so they will transfer the heat. Some simple pipe wrap can make a huge difference.

Screen the hoses from outside insects and critters. Keep in mind that even a screen can create back pressure. I dont like to screen right at the hose outlet. But if using the windows built inscreen, some air can be reflected into the intake, so a little blocking material can help the in and out flows.

Run the AC condensate line to a condensate pump and then run the pump line outside or to a drain.

How about a condensate drain pump for the air conditioner? Some systems need these to get rid of the water that your air conditioner pulls from the air. It would be beside the inside part of your air conditioner and would look something like this:

Little Giant 554415 65 GPH 115V Automatic Condensate Removal Pump with Safety Switch and 20ft. Tubing https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BYFQQ8U/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_2wgGDbA667GGR

Little Giant 554425 VCMA-20ULS Condensate Removal 1/30 HP Pump with Safety Switch https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000SM342Q/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_i_oKDtDbKHE70PY


This is the one I have.... It pumps strait to my laundry basin

Unfortunately this is probably one of the more difficult things to get automated for relatively cheap and with enough confidence that it won't fail and cause water damage (low risk but high damage potential, so I would want something very robust)

If you use one pump and split it to the trays, once the first tray goes dry the pump won't pull from the others. And depending on the pump, you risk the pump not priming properly after it runs dry, so it might not pull anything.

Easiest would be to gravity drain each tray into a common bucket and empty that either manually or on a pump on a timer that drains it at some frequency.

I just found this condensate removal pump which might be a good fit, especially if you don't have a ton of waste water all at once.

I've never used that pump or one like it before, so no guarantees, but it actually seems perfect for this! I might get one and try it out myself sometime. I don't know how robust the moisture sensors are, especially with all the stuff in runoff water.

Can look into something like this

https://www.amazon.ca/Little-Giant-VCMA-15UL-horsepower-Condensate/dp/B000CCMUCM?source=googleshopping&locale=en-CA&tag=googcana-20&ref=pd_sl_9tbaio7us4_e

Route the tube to drain into the reservoir tank. When it fills it will pump water to where you hook it up to. Buses on high efficiency furnaces which have water come out like an AC does where there isn't a drain nearby.

Do you have power in your crawlspace? A light or something? Or possibly there's an outlet on the outside of your house? I had these guys http://www.eastcoastcrawlspace.com install the vapor barrier on the ground and up the piers and walls for $1200. I also bought this dehumidifier - https://www.amazon.com/Keystone-KSTAD50B-Portable-Dehumidifier-6-4-Pint/dp/B00IJYH02U that has continuous drain capabilities and this condensate pump - https://www.amazon.com/Little-554425-VCMA-20ULS-Condensate-Removal/dp/B000SM342Q/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1537466371&sr=8-3&keywords=little+giant+condensate+pump
I had an outside outlet circuit that was easily accessible from inside my crawlspace, so I just wired another outlet onto that circuit and mounted on the wall inside my crawlspace. I bought some hose from Home Depot to allow for continuous drain from the dehumidifier to the condensate pump and also some hose for the condensate pump and drilled a hole on the crawlspace doorframe to send the condensate drain hose outside. Once I had it all set up, it's just set it and let it do it's thing. I keep the humidity at 35 down there and never have a problem. You don't need a sump pump if you don't have standing water in your crawlspace.

http://www.amazon.com/Little-Giant-VCMA-15ULS-Condensate-Removal/dp/B000AHT78O/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1301598419&sr=8-2

PSA to anyone running a dehumidifier: Buy one of these and never empty another bucket. You don't need that specific model but it should give you the idea. Mine pumps the water like 50ft away into the same drain I use for my washing machine.

I don't have that much vertical space either...

What I did last time was cut a 1" hole to the bottom of root container, added a fitting for a short hose that ran into a condensate pump.

https://www.amazon.com/Little-VCMA-15UL-Automatic-Condensate-Removal/dp/B000CCMUCM/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1543601159&sr=8-3

Which collected the run-off and every so often turned on and pumped it back into my main reservoir.

https://www.amazon.com/Little-Giant-VCMA-20ULS-Automatic-Condensate/dp/B000SM342Q/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1521259818&sr=8-3&keywords=condensate+pump .

That is a condensate pump. It's got some power to it so it will send the water wherever you want it to go. Get a long piece of tubing and route it from the condensate pump to wherever a good drain is. The same drain your washing machine or dishwasher uses could be an option. Either way, a proper condensate pump is your best solution. Trust me, a good condensate pump is worth the 50 bucks.

if you do that, you will end up with a huge puddle in the morning.

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But yes, you need a way for the water to come out. you can have it drain to a bath tub or something, or you could invest in one of these:

https://www.amazon.com/Little-554421-VCMA-20UL-115-volt-Condensate/dp/B000OLCGT8

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it's a "condensate pump", you put the hose from your AC into it, and it will pump somewhere else to drain, like a kitchen sink or out that window.

Look into "self-leveling compound" to fix an uneven concrete floor.

I would assume you dont want to make the floor 100% flat, since there is a drain there. If you can level out any bumps & ripples, ceramic tile would be fine for a floor with a gentle downslope. Tile is used in the floor of showers all the time

Example of a [condensate pump](Little Giant 554425 VCMA-20ULS Condensate Removal 1/30 HP Pump with Safety Switch https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000SM342Q/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_v.2IBbME5NADG). I don't know where you're located or local plumbing codes there. But you could look into it draining into a sump pump pit? Or doing a little bit of plumbing work so it can drain into a sewer line? We know sewer line must be accessible in basement because the washer drain goes somewhere.

This would be a condensate pump, and you could hook up a garden hose from your dehumidifier to this pump, and then use some vinyl tubing to bring that out to a utility sink or some other drain– that's how I have mine set up at least.

Expanding on /u/org4nics said, a split system would be good.

A split system is like a central AC unit, it has an outdoor part and an indoor part, but no ducts. You mount the indoor part in the room to cool, connect your pre-manufactured and charged lies, and then hook up your out door part.

Add a drain line to the indoor part, or the basic condensate pump and you have a serious cooling system!
Amazon Split System
Amazon Condensate Pump this is the same pump that my whole house uses!

This is the setup I have....was all pretty simple:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00UWP07LK/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/Little-Giant-VCMA-20ULS-Condensate-Removal/dp/B000SM342Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1469043771&sr=8-1&keywords=condensate+pump