Regular maintenance on Hydronic

DL

I'm just a homeowner but want to have some basic knowledge instead of simply saying "do whatever and charge me".
I will trust my contractor, but I know a bit about car maintenance eventhough I trust my mechanic.

What type of things typically need to be done as maintenance on a radiant hot water heat system?

In my case, the system has the following:
Indirect Hot Water Tank (stainless), Viessmann Vitogas 050 boiler, Circulating Pumps, Tekmar 363 control (outdoor reset, PEX piping in-floor.

Just some crazy ideas that you may confirm either way:
- Need to add any chemicals to the water?
- Need to flush system ever?
- Need to top up water levels ever?
- Need to clean out burners?
- Need to lubricate circulating pumps?
- Need to adjust settings on Tekmar?
- Need to check outdoor temp sensor regularly?

Please help out a homeowner who is new to having radiant hot water heat.

Thank You

Mike T., Swampeast MO

Manufacturer's Literature

Is generally the best place to start. If you're the first owner of the system and didn't get the literature ASK FOR IT--ALL OF IT!

If you're not the first owner and the literature is nowhere to be found, check manufacturer websites. They very often have manuals of varying degrees of depth available as .pdf files. If not, you shold be able to write and request literature at little if any cost.

Regarding the water in the system. If it's JUST water there really isn't any maintenance--if it contains anti-freeze compounds it MUST be monitored on a regular basis.

Regardless of what you do yourself it really is a good idea to have your heating system examined by a good heating firm. I think every other year is normal for gas/propane, every year for oil. Establish a relationship and they should be happy to review your particular installation with you telling you things to watch out for and even some things you can do to prevent a service call.