ᐅ Condensate Drain Winter

Hello,

Regarding the current situation: an air source heat pump with an outdoor unit mounted on a standard base and frame, placed on the gravel fascia strip at the house.
Now, in winter, I have already ended up with quite a large “ice rink” due to the freezing condensate.

What are your experiences or ideas to prevent or reduce this? Drainage, connection to the drainage system...? I would not favor heating...

In my case, the condensate drain is connected to the drainage system.

@nasenmann :
Condensate drain with a hose running vertically into the ground and then connecting to the drainage system there? How deep is your drainage at this point? Any issues with ice directly in the condensate drain (above ground or just below the surface)?

The hose goes straight down vertically into the drainage pipe. I can’t tell you how deep it is exactly. The foundation slab contractor installed everything at the same time back then.
Our heating technician initially forgot to insert the condensate hose into the drainage pipe.
So far, there have been no problems. At least after the cold nights (we had a low of -12°C (10°F)), the outdoor unit was always free of ice, and there was no ice buildup around the unit...

Here, it freezes directly below the outdoor unit, meaning we have a sizable icicle. So far, everything beneath the unit has seeped into the gravel, and no water spreads out here (which could create an ice surface).

Could you post a picture? How wide is the gravel area? Is there a slope? How coarse is the gravel? Could you possibly just create a small gravel edge to prevent the water from spreading?

nasenmann schrieb:
In my case, the condensate drain is connected to the wastewater system

What type of unit do you have? How is the condensate collected? Do you happen to have a picture?