Hello, first time poster here so go easy on me if I violate any forum rules. I *did* search and didn't find any info about this.

I'm planning to put a hydronic towel warmer in my bathroom on an open loop system. The towel warmer is stainless steel so it should resist dezincification but I understand that dezincification is still a possibility and that manufacturers will not warrant against it.

How common is dezincification in this application and can anything be done to prevent it from happening?

If I get a leak from dezincification is there any way to repair it or does the towel warmer have to be replaced at that point?

I like the idea of having a towel warmer (electric warmer isn't feasible in this case) but not if the lifespan isn't loooooong as I would expect it to be since it has zero moving parts and zero electronics.

Thanks!



Edited 2 times.

Dezincification occurs to brass because brass has zinc in it. Stainless steel doesn't contain zinc.

Ugh. I had that thought in the back of my head when I posted that. But I read something on Houzz from someone who suffered dezincification. I assumed it was a stainless steel towel warmer because it was on an open system but I just double checked and it was a brass warmer on an open system. That is a recipe for dezincification. My bad.

Now, let me take my own thread off topic, but still related to towel warmers.

On an open system, if I have a recirculating pump on the water heater for my home, can I also put in a second recirc pump just for the towel warmer? That way I can put the towel warmer's pump on its own timer to make sure I have warm towels when I want them. To a plumber this probably sounds like a stupid question but I'm no plumber so excuse the dumb question