piping for condensate drain, good or bad?

Not sure if this is the appropriate forum, but I'm sure this has come up before.

Just had a new high-efficiency natural-gas furnace installed, with no suitable drain available for the condensate a pump was installed and the condensate is pumped up a pipe and out the side of the house to drain into the dirt.

2 questions - knowing the condensate is acidic, should I keep the drain a minimum distance from the side of the house? Can the acid harm a concrete foundation wall?

The HVAC guys piped it up with PVC, and then connected into an existing 3/4" copper pipe that exits out the side, can the acid have a problem with the copper pipe? Should I replace the copper so it is PVC all the way?


Thanks for the help.


Greg

It's not a good idea to try to pump this outside. In the winter, when it would run the most, it will make a monster ice mound, and potentially clog up the pipe. Copper won't last too long with the acidic condensate. Depending on the condensate pump used, some of them have a head of as much as 20' (that's vertical, horizontal is greater), so routing it upstairs to a drain might be possible. Mine runs over to the stand pipe for the washing machine and dumps it into there. All of the manufacturers offer a neutralization kit, which you may want to consider if you've got metal drains anywhere. It basically amounts to a bed of stone chips in a canister that disolve, neutralizing the condensate. You typically replace the canister once a year - not very much money and peace of mind.

Depending on the load, a boiler could generate as much as 5-6 gallons per hour...that's a lot of acid (might be as low as 3-4pH).

another option for a drain?

I am in the midst of a large remodel, all the interior walls are bare studs, so I can change things up a bit now if I choose.

Right across the hallway from the mechanical room is a bathroom. There is a wall that has a drain/vent for a pedestal sink, but that arrangement has the p-trap outside of the wall, I'm guessing the condensate drain needs to enter above a p-trap. Perhaps I can put a p-trap in the wall, tie the vent into the existing vent stack, and tie the drain into the pipe that connects the sink to the main stack.