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  1. #1
    Jake Guerrero's Avatar
    Jake Guerrero Guest

    Default Condensate Drain to Indirect Receptor

    For those of you that don't have an issue with the condensate drain line connecting to a lavatory tailpiece, where the condensate line has a small 3/4 inch trap installed near the unit, how do you feel (or have you seen) condensate drain line connected to a washing machine stand pipe?

    I had initially thought about the muck that drains from the washing machine, then i though about the muck that goes down the sink every morning when folks brush their teeth, shave, etc.

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  2. #2
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    Default Re: Condensate Drain to Indirect Receptor

    Jake,

    Quote Originally Posted by Jake Guerrero View Post
    how do you feel (or have you seen) condensate drain line connected to a washing machine stand pipe?
    I've never seen that, and while it 'is close to' an approved place of condensate indirect waste disposal, I can see problems with it. Here are the 'not here' and 'these two are okay' places in the IRC.

    From the 2006 IRC.
    P2706.3 Prohibited waste receptors.
    Plumbing fixtures that are used for domestic or culinary purposes shall not be used to receive the discharge of indirect waste piping.

    - Exceptions:
    - - 1. A kitchen sink trap is acceptable for use as a receptor for a dishwasher.
    - - 2. A laundry tray is acceptable for use as a receptor for a clothes washing machine.

    It is allowed to drain into a laundry sink (laundry tray in code terminology) along with (or by itself) a clothes washer, connecting it to a standpipe for the clothes washer presents backing up issues as clothes washers tend to put out a lot of soapy and sudsy water, sometimes foaming up in the standpipe. That would not be a good place to connect an indirect waster receptor to, and technically ... does not say it is allowed, and, because a clothes washer standpipe is a "domestic" use, it ever precludes that connection.


    Jerry Peck
    Construction/Litigation/Code Consultant - Retired
    www.AskCodeMan.com

  3. #3
    Scott Dana's Avatar
    Scott Dana Guest

    Default Re: Condensate Drain to Indirect Receptor

    Would the cited code by Jerry also apply to a condensate line terminating into the plumbing stack in an attic, where the HVAC system is also located in the attic?


  4. #4
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    Default Re: Condensate Drain to Indirect Receptor

    No.

    That would, though, need to be connected through an air gap and a trap which would then drain into the plumbing system.

    However, that would be hard to do and still have all plumbing lines insulated/heated to protect from freezing as you are above the freeze line.

    Jerry Peck
    Construction/Litigation/Code Consultant - Retired
    www.AskCodeMan.com

  5. #5
    Scott Dana's Avatar
    Scott Dana Guest

    Default Re: Condensate Drain to Indirect Receptor

    Thanks Jerry. I've spent the past 30 minutes talking to some HVAC guys and looking for codes that say you CAN'T terminate the condensate into the plumbing vent, but i am unable to find one. What the HVAC guys are telling me is that it should have a trap to prevent sewer gases from getting into the HVAC system and being blown into the living area. But then I thought that the trap would really only be full during the summer months, so is that really the best answer? I just wish i could find something that says the condensate should terminate to the outside...but the IRC basically says to an approved location.


  6. #6
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    Default Re: Condensate Drain to Indirect Receptor

    Quote Originally Posted by Scott Dana View Post
    But then I thought that the trap would really only be full during the summer months, so is that really the best answer?

    Is that the "best answer" to where to discharge the condensate? Nope. Not even a good answer down where I am, and it is an even poorer answer up where you are.

    First, you are located above the freeze line, meaning all that needs to be insulated anyway, making it harder to do what they want to do (how do you "insulate" an air gap?).

    Second, you are correct in that the trap will only be full during summer, that it will dry out during winter. I've heard some say put in some glycerin or such, but in the summer that would (to some extent) flow through the trap with the condensate, meaning you would need to put that stuff in there every winter to maintain trap seal. Probably even better is making a deep trap seal, the maximum 4" trap seal instead of the minimum 2" trap seal, that way you could lose some and still possibly maintain the minimum 2" trap seal.

    Last edited by Jerry Peck; 02-04-2009 at 11:36 AM.
    Jerry Peck
    Construction/Litigation/Code Consultant - Retired
    www.AskCodeMan.com

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