We have very mineral filled water, but no water softener. I am thinking getting one would be better for appliances as well as bathroom hardware, but they do seem very expensive. Is there any big difference between options? A $1100 option is available at Costco, but reading the reviews it says after 600k gallons you have to buy a whole new system, that seems like a poor choice.
We have very hard water where I live so we’ve been using water softeners for 20+ years. They’re absolutely worth every penny if you have hard water.
How much money you spend is really going to depend on the size of your house or the total demand you’ll be placing on the softener. The expense in a softener is the valve, which controls the flow of the water and regeneration cycles, and the resin tank. Those are sized to the overall demand - e.g. if you have a 5000 sq ft house with 5 bathrooms you need higher throughput than if you have 2 bathrooms and 2000 sq ft. The softener valve should also match the size of your plumbing, e.g. 3/8”, 1/2”, 5/8”, etc, so you don’t want to just randomly buy something off the shelf without checking for that.
I would recommend you call up a few local companies that sell and install softeners and talk to them. They should come out to your house to determine what size you need, and discuss the options. There’s no need to pay a big premium for a “name brand” softener like Culligan. As long as a locally-produced softener is using a name-brand valve like Fleck or Clack you know you’re getting quality parts.
I’ve had quotes ranging from 1k to 4k (Culligan, lol), but then I have a large house. In my previous house the 1k locally-produced softener (Fleck valve) lasted until we moved 8 years later. In the current house our softener (from the same company, also a Fleck valve) lasted 10 years and just recently sprung a leak so we just replaced it. So they should last quite a while assuming you buy something decent.
In terms of features the only major one to watch for is “demand regen”, which basically means the softener monitors how much water is being treated and automatically regens as needed (water hardness and a reserve should be programmable). That’s as opposed to time-based regen which just works on a fixed schedule. Only the very cheapest softeners would lack demand regen.
We’ve had a softener in our house since we built it in 1996. We didn’t skimp on it, but it is time-based. Maybe the demand regen wasn’t common back then? It works well. We just have to remember to put salt in it ever so often. It’s DH’s job, and sometimes he forgets.
We have done just fine with never having a water softener in two different old homes.
Discuss the installation/use of a WS with a knowledgeable plumber if you live in a house with old pipes. Back when we lived in hard-water Upstate N.Y., our plumber advised against using them. Apparently the softened water could strip away the mineral scale inside your water supply pipes, causing old pipes to spring nasty leaks in hard-to-get-to pipes hidden behind walls and floors. That was enough for us to banish any idea of a water softener.
We can’t do without a softener, because our well water is very hard.
We have well water & have a softener. We purchased ours from a water softener company - it’s not a small unit!
We just bought a house in an area where everyone has a water softener because of the hard water that destroys pipes and appliances. I’ve never had one before and had no idea how they worked or even what one looked like. I did a good bit of research first and then got recommendations from people who live in the neighborhood. The one we got was $1800 but there were others for less (I just didn’t like the other companies as much). We also needed a reverse osmosis system for the kitchen because the water there tastes pretty bad!
First decision was that you want a water softener- good idea for hard water source. In previous houses we had one for city well water and none for city lake water source. Huge differences in hardness.
Next decision- to own or rent. Can do either in some areas.
Check with some local companies for available types and costs. You do not have to buy where you get estimates from. Home Depot, Lowes et al can be starting points. You may find the best deals with local companies.
You then sort through the maze of options. Sometimes you get what you pay for- as in a cheap softener may cost more if you keep needing to replace it.
There are two basic high end softeners, we replaced the one that came with the house. The old brand used no electricity and basically had two tanks (plus the salt container) which meant never running out of softened water, even in a long power outage. The higher end Culligan we went with monitors usage and regenerates when needed (in the middle of the night when water not typically being used). Cheaper ones regenerate on a chosen cycle, whether or not it is needed or should have been done. For the two of us with variable usage it is nice to know when company comes or we go away we aren’t wasting regeneration water/salt…
Another consideration would be the warranty and costs of service. For us the cost of salt delivery is so close to the store price it is worth having them do it. It was strange for us to move from up north (WI) to Florida. There the softener was in the basement. No basement here nor freezing conditions so it is outside! The models sold will depend your climate. btw- our water heater takes up garage space, thank goodness the softener does not- miss the extra storage space of a basement. Our upscale middle class neighborhood ranges from none, simple to complex like ours. Because this is Florida with warm groundwater we chose to have cold filtered water from our refrigerator instead of trying to add a whole house water filtration system which is expensive and can have problems, needs cartridges.