Hot water baseboard heater with on demand water heater

[redgrandam]

Hey guys. Looking for some guidance on this system in the house we moved into in the spring. I’m looking to ensure the longevity and performance of this house heating system.

It is separate from our house hot water, but connected to city supply to top it up (which it does if needed automatically it looks like). I think the Heater is about 10 years old or so.

Wondering a few things:
1) should I descale the hot water heater or since it doesn’t really bring in new water should the scale in the on demand heater be minimal anyways?
2) should I flush out the water in the system ever (there is a hose type connection where the city water connects and I think a drain at the lowest point of the system)
3) if I should descale the only way I can see would introduce the descaler into the whole system. Is that good or bad? I don’t see any flush valves in the proper spot.
4) any tips?

Thanks!!!

 

[wood4d]

I think you should have flush valves on the inlet and outlets on the sides of the tank. They are for cleaning the fins inside the units since over time you lose heating efficiency due to scale. I cant see any way to descale without the valves, which only cost about $75. The cost of installing them is quite a bit higher. Personally I have installed units without them, only to have to install them years later to solve error codes. The water in the system is a closed loop and doesnt need changing.

 

[redgrandam]

I think you should have flush valves on the inlet and outlets on the sides of the tank. They are for cleaning the fins inside the units since over time you lose heating efficiency due to scale. I cant see any way to descale without the valves, which only cost about $75. The cost of installing them is quite a bit higher. Personally I have installed units without them, only to have to install them years later to solve error codes. The water in the system is a closed loop and doesnt need changing.

Thanks. Do you think it actually Would have scale inside being it’s a closed system? The installers didn’t leave much room or any room to install the valves. It would be a huge hassle without doing fairly involved work. So kind of wondering if it’s worth it? There is an inlet on the supply side I could feed the descale in and descale all the system (baseboards included) but just not sure any of it is worth it, or if it should be good since new water isn’t introduced.

 

[voletl]

Flushing a boiler does more damage then good. Introducing fresh oxygenated water hurts the boiler.

 

[wood4d]

the manual calls for valves and regular cleanings and this is not a "boiler"

 

[voletl]

No I'm pretty sure this is a wall hung boiler that has the capability to have on-demand water heating for domestic hot water....

 

[redgrandam]

Yeah. It’s referred to as a boiler. It has multiple applications, but this unit is designed to be a boiler or domestic water supply.

Thanks for the input everyone!! I’ll leave it sealed up unless I have an issue.