Does the heater core and hose have coolant running through it all the time, or does it just cycle through when you have the heater on?

I'm wondering if I need to inspect the hose for fear of the problem I hear about I think over number 4(???) on the passenger side leaking and causing misfires..But then I was wondering if there is any need, since I live in Florida and have never once used the heat....

 

on the fact of the heater hose developing a leak.but if you keep your a/freeze fresh with regular maintenance and your not moving the hose to much with the removal of plugs and wires ,you shouldnt have any problems until the trucks golden years. i had the same problem with water getting down into the plug well and cracking the insulator on the plug. upon further inspection i discovered that the water source was the suction side hose of the a/c(the larger diameter hose) thats sweats in higher humidity climates and will drip down on to the heater hose which routes the water over to the area above the plug. my solution to the problem was to go to an a/c supplie house and buy a spray product , that when applied to the mettallic part of the hose will prevent the hose from sweating. the product i bought goes by the name of "no sweat". another thing that i did was to pull the # 3 and 4 plug boots and apply a liberal amount of delectric grease to the outside part of the boot,mainly where the three sealing rings are,to prevent water intrusion to the plug well. as with any thing mechanical and in response to your question as to wiether to remove the heater hose, there is an old saying,"if it aint broke, don't fix it"