My goodness, they are pricy. Anyone found a particular brand is a better deal than the others?
We had a Kinetico system installed when we built the house. I have no idea how it compares in terms of price, but it does work very well.
I’ve had a Kinetico as well (or rather three at three different houses). Or current house, we couldn’t find a dealer and went with the one recommended by the “free water test” process at Home Depot. It’s initial cost was less, but we end up paying an additional $150/year annual maintenance that I never had to do for a Kinetico. If I could have done it over again I would have went with the Kinetico at our current house.
Does a price over $2500 seem like a rip off or normal range?
Sounds very reasonable to me. Our Kinetico system was $4350 including the dechlorinator.
We have an Envirotec softener. We paid about $900 maybe 10 years ago and have never had a day of trouble with it. It keeps the water soft and we just add salt when needed.
Water softeners are expensive because they require this fancy valve/regulator thing called a “Fleck control”. This thing is patented, so a lot of the cost for water softeners is due to layers of reselling that drive up prices. If you want a lower price, look into buying this valve from the company that makes them and then purchasing the tank separately. (This company only makes the regulators, not water softeners).
House had Kinetico but when it died I chose Culligan. Yes, the Kinetico did not use electricity but Culligan installed the box outside (Florida- no basements and water heater takes up garage space) for free. Different brands have different degrees of sophistication. Around $3000 as I recall. Both brands in similar price range, Culligan cheaper as I recall. Also discovered the salt delivery was not really more expensive- and a whole lot easier. I like having the various features and the monitor inside as well as outside. The most important one is having the cycle when needed and not just on a routine basis regardless of salt used. Got one free year of maintenance but declined the annual fee for continued contract- so far ahead.
We’ve been very happy with Culligan. We’ve had the unit in our house since 1996.