Because my city water supply is so loaded with lime and sometimes just plain dirty sediment I usually need to run a cleaning cycle at least once a week or more often. But that only takes a few minutes. I have also used vinegar in water with fairly good results at removing the lime deposits with no scrubbing. When the extra heat will be a benefit, instead of added cost, because the distilled water is definitely more pure than even a very good reverse-osmosis system. Easy to use, Wish I would have purchased this a long time ago.