Descaling on Davidson water
Manufacturers write one descaling interval for the whole country, and it is set for hard water. Yours comes from Charlotte Water, and where that supply is soft the exchanger fouls considerably more slowly than that schedule assumes.
We will tell you honestly where you sit on that, because the alternative is descaling a unit annually that does not need it. Two caveats worth knowing before you skip it entirely: some manufacturers require documented annual servicing to keep the heat exchanger warranty valid, which is worth more than the service costs, and a property on a private well is a completely different conversation from one on the municipal supply.
- Descale on an interval that matches your actual water rather than the manual's default.
- Inlet filter clean, which is the most commonly skipped job and the cheapest.
- Flow rate and combustion check, so a declining unit is caught before it fails in January.
What Davidson itself changes
The housing in Davidson
Davidson is a college town with a genuinely old centre around the campus and a steady stream of newer building around it, some of it very recent. The older houses near the college have the problems old houses have: tight utility spaces, heaters fitted where there was room rather than where there should have been, and discharge pipes that were run before anyone was checking. The newer building is straightforward by comparison.
Where the heaters sit
Utility room, closet and crawlspace in the older centre. Garage and attic in the newer subdivisions. Attic installs are the ones we want to know about on the phone, because a leak in an attic is a different urgency from a leak in a garage.