De-scale? But my Water Heater isn't a
Fish, why does it have scales?
Today I had a home inspection on my own home. Why do I do that? Because I like to keep abreast of any issues and we're considering putting the home on the market in about a year and wanted to know what issues we've just been "living with" and maybe have seen so often that they've become background and what issues we maybe didn't even know about!
This past fall we installed a new energy efficient HVAC system along with a tankless Rinnai hot water heater system. I have been thrilled so far with the lower energy usage, the effectiveness, and the quietness of the systems! Our inspector was happy with the systems and said he's had the best luck with the Rinnai brand ones.
One thing he did point out to us is that your water heater has to be de-scaled once a year to keep these functioning correctly. This was not mentioned to us when we installed them and while the equipment came with manuals, who reads those things? The inspector noted that most will tell you to do the de-scaling in the manuals but few mention how.
So for those of you who also need to keep up on your tankless hot water heaters, here's how you de-scale one of those suckers. If you have a Rinnai, instructions turn out to be on page 16 of the manual: Rinnai Forever Hot Water manual. And the inspector recommends you do this once a year (manual only says to do it when the error code comes on)! Even better? Keep a logbook or maintenance sticker (on the tank) so that you can document when you de-scaled it last. This way you won't miss a cleaning and your buyers will know it's been well cared for.
1. Turn power off to the tank!
2. Close shutoff valves
3. Connect pump outlet hose to the cold water line and a drain hose at the service valve
4. Put 4 Gallons of Vinegar (white, food grade) in a bucket
5. Place your hoses into the bucket
6. Open the service valves (not the water shutoff valves!) for hot and cold water
7. Run the pump and allow to circulate for 45 minutes or so.
8. Turn off the pump and flush water through the water heater and out the drain hose for 5 minutes to rinse.
9. Close service valves and open shutoff valves, disconnect the hoses
10. Clean your in-line filter and replace
11. Turn the power back on
If that confused you like it did me, check out the instructions with diagram to be safe, and if you don't have a Rinnai, please check out your system's manual. But the important lesson here is Don't Neglect Your Water Heater!
Photo by Velo Steve at Flickr Thru Creative commons allowable for commercial distribution.
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