Ice on the coil, water on the floor
Dry air does not stop an air conditioner from making water, and a starved coil can freeze even in July.
How a coil freezes
The indoor coil runs below freezing on the refrigerant side and depends on a steady stream of warm house air to stay above it on the outside. Cut that stream with a clogged filter, a weak blower or closed registers, and frost builds until the coil is a block of ice. Low refrigerant does the same from the other direction.
Turn cooling off and run the fan alone to thaw it. Put towels down first; the melt has to go somewhere.
Where the water should go
Even in low humidity the coil pulls moisture from the air, and that condensate drains through a pipe to the outside or a sewer connection. Algae and dust clog the line slowly. In a garage closet the overflow shows up on the floor; in an attic it lands in a secondary pan, and a float switch there should shut the system off before the ceiling stains.
- A wet ceiling below an attic unit means the pan has already filled. Switch the system off.
- A system that will not start and a full pan usually means the float switch did its job.
- Water beside a closet furnace in winter can come from a condensing furnace drain instead.
When to call
If the coil freezes again after a new filter, or the drain refills soon after clearing, the cause is deeper than housekeeping: refrigerant charge, blower speed or a drain with the wrong slope. That is work for an independent contractor, covered on the repair page.
Referral notice
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Talk it through with an HVAC contractor
Say what the equipment is doing and how old it is. An independent contractor who works in Henderson, Nevada takes it from there.