Strange Drip From Eaves
The last couple of days we have had a single, slow drip, of what appears to be water, from one of the outside vents that are positioned along the outside of the house. I beleive the term may be "soffit" - these vents run around the house at ceiling level, facing down - maybe for ventilation purposes. I thought about the air conditioner but it's located outside the house on the ground. The only thing that's up there (in attic) is the blower for the heater and air. And that is at the complete opposite of the drip. We haven't had much rain lately. What makes me think of the air conditioner is that I just recently replaced the filter in the hall intake. May not be related tho. I hate to call an air conditioning guy out if it's not that. Any ideas would be appreciated!
Answer:
Err, that's the evaporator unit up there in the attic. That's the part of the air conditioner that condenses water from the humid air in your house and disposes of it. The drip may be the overflow from the secondary drain under the evap unit, sent out to a handy soffit vent rather than to a house drain. Or any number of other things. You need to a) go read up on split system air conditioners (there's lots of sites on the web), and b) go up there and make sure your drains are clear for the evap unit. Usually you can tell -- it'll be dripping water into a big galvanized steel pan under the unit if the drain is clogged (said big pan has its own drain, which most probably is what's dripping on you from the soffit).The "heat dumper - comperssor" is in the yard, but the "cooler - evaporator" is in the house. Any humidity condensed out of the air will be in the attic with your fan. I would call the air conditioner tech to check out the drip pan or however your unit disposes of the water condensed out of the air. You are describing a soffit vent - a space made for intake of air that is to flow up through the attic to be exhausted out a ridge vent. There are other vent exhausts, but a linear vent along the ridge would be a good first guess. If the drip is from one point, then it is not a general condition and is probably coming from a point source - a piece of equipment or a pipe or duct. Check the "blower" which should have a pan below it. The pan should have a drain which might be directed out the soffit.