Stick a pipe out the wall, no one will notice

2009/05/06

Thanks to “Panda” again for this one – following the pics of the “Juliet balconies” and the stairways to nowhere, he certainly pays attention to his surroundings.

“Just spotted this air con exhaust pipe coming out of the middle of the wall on our walk today,” he writes. “Very weird.”

Can anyone shed any light on this one? See here for the full picture and strange effect.

Alan Brown says:
I might believe it's a condensate drain if it wasn't 4 inches in diameter (look at the larger picture). That's an exhaust from a portable air conditioner or a tumble dryer which someone has just jammed through a hole in the wall (It happens a fair bit around here. People just "bodge" things to make them work...) I have no idea why the accordian hosing has been extended to full length. Perhaps the user thought it was necessary to do so.
Alun Williams says:
Cheers Anon. That sounds like our answer. I wonder how common these are? Maybe most people don't notice them on houses.
Anonymous says:
That's a condensate drain to get rid of moisture that drips off the cold coils in the a/c unit. They usually drain by gravity, so there isn't as much flexibility regards routing as with the other pipes/wires. The other option is a peristaltic pump, but these are noisy and need servicing from time to time.
Alun Williams says:
Never thought of an overflow, John. But it does seem a bit long, allowing for the bend.
Johnduncow says:
I've seen that arrangement on toilet overflows. I'd assumed that it was to prevent high winds stopping the overflow from working properly, or maybe to prevent air being blown into the cistern.