What many homeowners fail to realize about tankless water heaters, is that just like their storage tank counterparts, tankless water heaters need occasional services to stay in good shape. This means keeping on top of repairs as they’re needed but also making sure that you schedule maintenance for these systems on a regular basis. If you have a tankless water heater in your home, you should have professional maintenance done at least every couple of years.
Read on to learn what can happen if you don’t maintain your tankless water heater on a regular basis.
Downside #1: Mineral Buildup
Have you ever heard of “scaling”? This is what happens as the result of hard water in your plumbing system. Hard water is water with a high level of minerals in it–namely calcium and magnesium, but sometimes iron as well.
These minerals are harmless to ingest, but they’re a bit more harmful to your plumbing pipes. They solidify and build up, getting stuck to the sides of your pipes and your plumbing appliances, eventually leading to corrosion and blockages.
Downside #2: System Overload
When minerals build up like we mentioned above, they can coat the heat exchanger components of your tankless water heaters. If there isn’t enough heat reaching the water, then you won’t have much success trying to use the hot water for multiple applications at once.
Additionally, an electric tankless water heater can suffer from a power surge or outage if it is not well-maintained.
Downside #3: “Cold Water Sandwich”
This again goes back to problems with the heat exchangers of your water heater. if they get too clogged up with mineral build-up, some water may pass through the system without even actually being heated. As a result, you may feel what’s called a “cold water sandwich” when you’re taking a shower–the water will come out cold, then warm, then go back to cold again.
Downside #4: Air Supply or Exhaust Blockage
This can be a particularly harmful problem for a gas-powered tankless water heater, and is not an issue you want to experience. Be sure to reach out to our team to find out what sort of maintenance schedule you should be on for your tankless water heater so you can avoid this!
Downside #5: Ignition Failure
Whether you have an electric tankless water heater or a gas one, it has electronic ignition. If ill-maintained, this ignition can fail and you’ll be without hot water, and waiting for repairs.
What’s the Upside?
At this point, you might be wondering why you would choose to have a tankless system installed at all if there are so many downsides to having one that’s not well-maintained! We get it, but the thing is, all of the downsides of an ill-maintained tankless system are the same as a storage tank system. And let’s face it, for modern living, you have to have a water heater!
The reason many folks choose to go with a tankless water heater is the monetary savings it provides. Because of its on-demand nature, a tankless water heater doesn’t consume as much power and doesn’t suffer from standby energy loss. This means they cost a lot less to operate from month-to-month. Additionally, they don’t have to be maintained as often, which saves you money too.
We’re happy to discuss with you all the various benefits of having a tankless water heater installed. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to our team!
See what keeps our customers saying “I Love My Design Comfort!” Contact us today for quality tankless water heater service in Salt Lake City.
