During the operation of the oven, condensation forms (this is part of the combustion process), and this condensation must be drained and removed outside. During normal operation, this condensate is safely drained out of the oven through the condensate line and drain siphon.
Neutralizers are built directly into the system, so condensate cannot leave the furnace without bypassing the neutralizer. For maximum efficiency, a neutralizer must be installed between the furnace and the drain (before the condensate pump).
Condensate flows into the condensate pump, and a clogged drain can cause water to leak from the oven. However, condensation is not always a problem, as leaks can sometimes be caused by the secondary heat exchanger in the oven. It seems a bit counterintuitive, but the heating process can also damage the drip tray. If you notice water on the floor around the stove or rust stains inside the cabinet, the condensation is not draining properly.
If there is a leak or blockage in the condensate lines, you will quickly find a puddle around the oven. When the oven is running, condensation will typically leak out of the unit, only 5-10 gallons on a cold day.
When the oven is running, more condensation forms, causing more water to form, which freezes. When installing a new oven, a new condensate drain can be installed to reduce the risk of freezing. In the northern United States, it is important to make sure the condensation pipes do not freeze over winter when installing new ovens, especially when installing high-efficiency ovens, as these models produce more condensation than conventional ovens.
If you have an air conditioning system with an indoor unit or are using a high efficiency oven, you must have a condensate pump to remove steam and other condensate that will build up while the system is running. High-efficiency furnaces extract as much heat as possible from their waste, so waste in high-efficiency furnaces produces a lot of condensate. If you have a firebox with a high efficiency, then the exhaust gases are not immediately removed from the system: they have the opportunity to cool down and, accordingly, condensate forms. As a result, high-efficiency furnaces require condensate drainage because their exhaust gases are cold enough to allow the moisture they contain to condense from steam to water droplets.
When these gases remain in the chimney for extended periods of time, the gases cool and form condensate, which then escapes from the conventional stove into the surrounding room. The outlet flue gas temperature of the condensing furnace is essentially different from that of the traditional furnace. Just like a traditional oven, the condensing unit has a gas burner that heats the air from the house.
Both types of ovens have a primary heat exchanger, which consists of a combustion chamber where the heat from the gas burners is exchanged with recirculated air before it is distributed throughout the house.
On the other hand, in a condensing furnace, the exhaust gases of combustion also pass through a secondary heat exchanger, which absorbs most of the residual heat from the gases. This condensate must be drained for proper operation of the furnace, otherwise, it will accumulate inside the heat exchanger, inductor and vent, preventing the correct passage of gas/combustion products.
A hot flame in a gas furnace sucks in atmospheric nitrogen, and this element eventually reacts with oxygen. It turns out, however, that when water vapor condenses, nitrogen products, NOX, come out with it.
You might think that if this water was formed by condensation, then it could be considered distilled and therefore relatively safe to drink. Once the condensate has passed through the liquid, the condensate can be 100% safely discharged into the local wastewater system. If you pour condensation outside or collect it to water your plants, the solution will kill grass and flowers, basically anything it comes in contact with.
My GC says that the condensate pump (picture 1) solves this problem by collecting the condensate and releasing it with a spike, which ensures a lot of water is sent to the drain. The condensate pump (white box on the floor) helps collect, neutralize and provide more capacity.
For example, a 150,000 BTU furnace operating 8 hours a day will produce 11 gallons of condensate. Now, for a 100,000 BTU continuous furnace, the theoretical maximum amount of condensate that can be produced is 1.1 gallons per hour. For a 100,000 BTU continuous furnace, a typical ultra-efficient furnace will produce about 0.8 gallons of condensate per hour.
For every 100,000 Btu of heat produced, a propane furnace will produce approximately 1 gallon of condensate. Keep this in mind when we remind you that an air conditioning system can produce up to 20 gallons of condensate per day. For a 100,000 BTU inlet furnace running continuously, a typical high-efficiency furnace actually produces about 0.8 gallons of condensate per hour.
When it is cold outside and the warm, moist air inside the house comes into contact with the cold walls of the chimney, the warm air condenses on the cold surface and causes dripping. A clogged filter or humidifier drain can easily cause unwanted moisture in any oven.
Other people recommend equipping the condensate line with a heating element to keep the temperature above freezing, which has the obvious disadvantage that it consumes at least some of the energy that has been recovered by condensing the oven drain (and introduces another potentially faulty element) gizmo in the system).
Exhaust gases from a condensing oven can exit through PVC, ABS, or CPVC pipes due to their low temperature (about 100 degrees Fahrenheit or lower). The chimney of a condensing oven is relatively cold and can be removed with a plastic vent pipe without using a metal chimney.