Servicing a tankless water heater
Quick answer
Tankless water heaters must be serviced, often and regularly. Servicing means flushing the heat exchanger with vinegar. Skip it, and you'll be replacing the tankless sooner than you expect.
How To Flush a Tankless Water Heater in 3 Minutes
Why
Inside a tankless is a radiator, the heat exchanger. As water passes through, it leaves minerals behind that clog the heat coils and make the radiator leak. A leak damages the computer, the fan and the electronics. Service or isolation valves are what make flushing possible.
The alternative
Servicing costs $100 to $225 a year. Some owners skip it and replace the heat exchanger every 5 years instead, for $600 to $800. It deals with the heat exchanger, but scale still builds up in the sensors and every other waterway.
Better still: install a proper water treatment system on the unit or the whole house. No yearly service, and treated water everywhere.
Rather we did it?
Tankless care plan from $345 + parts