Your heat pump may not be leaking; it may just be condensation draining from the unit. When heating, heat pumps can produce upwards of 9 gallons of water an hour depending on the temperature and humidity conditions. This is a natural by-product of the heating process. It is a lot of water too, almost two 5 gallon buckets of water an hour!

So, do you have a leak or condensation draining from your heat pump? The methods below are simple, effective tools to help you figure that out!

METHOD 1
1. Grab your pool chemical test strips or kit.
2. Test for the following items in your pool water: chlorine, salt, and stabilizer levels (be sure to note the levels).
3. Now test the water coming from the heat pump. It shouldn’t have chlorine, salt, or stabilizer in it. If it does, you may have a leak. We suggest trying the method below before calling a pool professional to check for a leak. Sometimes leaks can be hard to find and deceiving as to the origin.

METHOD 2 (Note:  This method will help source leaks from all of your pool equipment.)

1. Turn off the heat pump and all the other pool equipment.
2. Let the area dry out so everything is completely dry.
3. Once dry, keep the heater off, and turn all of your other pool equipment back on.
4. Monitor the equipment area for the appearance of water continuously for 15 minutes, then once or twice every 15 minutes for two hours afterward.
   1. If water appears around the equipment: you have a leak somewhere, and it shouldn’t be hard to trace its origin. It could be from the pump, filter, or piping. We recommend calling your pool service company to verify its source.
   2. If everything is dry: turn on the heater. If water appears around the heater after running it for 10 – 30 minutes, you are seeing condensation draining from the heater. This is normal and to be expected. To double check, turn the heater off leaving the rest of the equipment running and everything should dry out again. Heat pumps will only produce condensation when running (heating).

If you determine that the leak is coming from your heat pump, give us a call to schedule an appointment so we can further troubleshoot and repair the unit.