[Greenbuilding] Tankless HW and hard water

[Maren Leyla Cooke]

> Date: Wed, 06 Sep 2006 13:43:26 -0400
> From: Keith Winston <keith at earthsunenergy.com>
>
> It's not obvious to me why this would be so. Anyone care to share
> thoughts? Lime formation won't tend to happen below, I think, about
> 160F. But surely in a tankless there are hot spots that exceed that?
> Maybe that's the answer right there? Or perhaps it doesn't form well in
> a stainless steel environment...
>
Hmm.  160F?  My cat's water dish built up lime.  Probably slower than 
the teakettle, but still there was definitely a mineral deposit there, 
and neither water nor dish ever got over, say, 85F (room temperature in 
an old farmhouse on a hot summer day).  The water there (well water 
outside of Ithaca, NY) was particularly hard;  probably the hardest 
I've lived with.

-- Maren.