Tankless water heaters are growing in popularity due to their energy efficiency. However, many homeowners are unsure whether they need a water softener if they have a tankless water heater. The short answer is that it depends on the hardness of your water. Tankless water heaters rely on a strong flow of water to function properly, and hard water can clog the unit and reduce its efficiency. A water softener can help to prevent this by removing minerals from the water and preventing scale build-up. If you have a tankless water heater and live in an area with hard water, it is advisable to install a water softener.
If you’re on a budget or if you don’t love the idea of carrying bags of salt around. The good news, is there are alternative options that are more cost-effective. For example, Navien has an inline filter called PeakFlow, which prevents scale build-up and is only a fraction of the cost of a water softener, and only requires you to change the filter cartridge instead of replacing bags of salt.
Another alternative, if you don’t want to install a water softener is to increase the amount the tankless is maintained. It’s recommended to have your tankless water heater maintained annually, part of this involves a process called “descaling”, where the technicians run a chemical through the system to break down and remove any scale build-up. If you have hard water and decide to install a new tankless without installing a water softener or inline filter, then 2 maintenance a year are recommended to keep your system running at optimal efficiency and deal with the high scale build up your system will be experiencing.
So in summary, if you have hard water there are 3 main options, install a water softener and have annual maintenance, install an inline scale preventative filter and have an annual maintenance or just deal with the hard water and scale build-up by having maintenance 2x per year. Either option you decide to go with we are here to help and our team is standing by to keep your tankless running at peak efficiency.
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