Can you drink the water from a portable AC?

Why are you asking us this? You probably live in the US and it’s safe to drink tap water (in most places). 

Can you drink the water from a portable AC?

Technically, you can drink the water from a portable AC. But we wouldn’t recommend it. That water has been sitting in your unit’s condensate trap for potentially a few days and may have contaminants. 

A lot of you may be wondering why a portable AC produces water in the first place. Portable air conditioners have a cold element called a condenser coil. As air comes into contact with the condenser coil, the moisture in that air cools down and goes from a gas to a liquid. 

That water then falls into a condensate trap at the bottom of your portable air conditioner. You’ll need to empty the trap regularly to stop it from overflowing.

Condensation is the reason why your portable air conditioner dries out your home’s air as it cools. You may suffer from dry skin as a result of leaving the air conditioning running all day. But this problem is easily counteracted by a humidifier. 

The water in your condensate trap is just fresh water that’s become liquid as it cools. That means you can drink it. But just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should.

For starters, your condensate coil and the other internal components in your air conditioner might not be very clean. A lot of accumulated dust may end up in the water in the condensate trap and you wouldn’t want to drink that.

Also, the water in your condensate trap has likely been therefore for at least a few hours. If you aren’t diligent with emptying the trap, you could end up drinking stagnant water that’s sat in your AC for days or weeks.

In that time, it may have developed mold that could make you sick when you drink it. So it’s best just to drink water from the tap.

Also, if you like your water filtered, then the water in your condensate trap is definitely not filtered.