Hard Water and a Tankless
I use Google alerts with Tankless as a keyword within Canada; this usually brings up at least one or two articles a day people have written regarding the systems. Most are oriented at either promoting the systems or bashing them with common misconceptions. If your here looking for the pros and cons then check out our article on “The Tankless Debate”.
The most recent article I read was written by an HVAC company based outside of Toronto that tries to scare home owners into purchasing water softeners for their tankless water heaters. 
Here is a direct quote from their site “Without a water-softening system, hard water will eventually wreak havoc on the tankless water heater”. Personally this seems a little over the top; yes, hard water can definitely cause problems but a tankless has been designed to address this very issue.
If you install a tankless and then leave it and never perform any maintenance you’re going to run into issues with lime and scale build up. This is why we recommend a tankless flush every 12-18 months. A tech will visit your home, shut your tankless down, isolate the heat exchangers, and pump vinegar though the system. The vinegar being very acidic quickly dissolves away all the lime and scale buildup (very basic on the PH scale). Your tankless is now returned to its original manufactured efficiency.
A water softener is a great system and has many additional benefits over protecting your tankless. If you are thinking about purchasing or even renting a water softener in Ontario give us a call to discuss your options. Ultimately you may choose to install a water softener but doing so simply to protect your tankless water heater is not always necessary.
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