Plumbing · Water heating
Tankless water heaters in hard-water Alberta
On-demand heaters save floor space and eliminate standby tank losses — but they are sensitive to inlet water quality, flow rates, and gas delivery. Edmonton-region hardness varies; without a softener or disciplined descaling, heat exchangers foul and error codes multiply.
Isolation valves are non-negotiable
We always install full-port isolation and purge ports so future descaling or pump swaps do not require draining the whole house. If your builder-grade install omitted them, retrofitting pays for itself on the first service.
Gas pipe sizing is not guesswork
Tankless units can pull 150–200 kBTU/h or more in a single fire. Undersized black iron or CSST runs cause ignition lockouts that look like “electronic gremlins.†We verify line length, elbows, and concurrent loads (furnace, range, fireplace) against CSA tables or engineered equivalents.
Flow vs. temperature rise
Winter ground water is colder; the heater must lift temperature further at the same flow. If two teenagers and a dishwasher run together, you may need a higher-output model or a recirculation strategy — not just a bigger marketing number.
Maintenance cadence
Manufacturer guidelines often suggest annual vinegar or proprietary descale cycles. We log water test results and adjust cadence — some homes on softened water stretch intervals; others on private wells need aggressive treatment upstream.