Zen and the art of tankless water heater (TWH) maintenance..

Had an appointment scheduled a few weeks back for our bi-yearly TWH flush/descale/checkup with the place that installed it 9 years back.  Tech showed up on time, but then told me that he wouldn't be able to do the scheduled work (apparently, the company owner had told him earlier that morning that they wouldn't do TWH maintenance anymore). Tech was sincere when he said he was really sorry, but he felt he owed me an in-person explanation.  Nice enough of him.

So, fast-forward to today.  Called a local HVAC/plumbing outfit my now-former tech recommended to get a quote.  For comparison, the old place charged a flat $79 for the flush/descale/checkup + time/materials if any actual repairs were needed. No problem there.

New place said they couldn't give a quote by phone for maintenance; said they charged $94 to send a tech out, then the tech would give a quote once he got here and surveyed the situation.  When I asked, they said they couldn't confirm if the $94 trip charge would be applied towards any work done, or if that $94 was charged in addition to any work done.

Feck that noise.

So, I did some research, and I have a TWH descaling setup (courtesy of Amazon) set to be delivered on Thursday.  It's a tad pricey at ~$120 for the pump, bucket, hoses/connectors, and descaling compound, but it's a case of buy once/cry once, and the descaling compound is cheap to re-order down the road.

Also bookmarked a tutorial video from the manufacturer on how to flush/descale my TWH, so I have a reference as I go.

Whole process will take an hour to to complete (45 minutes spent idle while descaler is circulated through the TWH via pump).  No messing around with gas lines, only hot/cold water lines.