Thinking of Buying a Water Softener (merged threads)

loopylass

Hi
I bought a water softener last year the reason being i had heard its good for people with eczema
My son has eczema and it has greatly improved his skin
i dont have to put the steroid cream on him in the winter months i still do it in the summer as it still gets dry because of the sun
I think as well you cut down on washing powder and conditioner because you dont need as much but i still use the same(can anyone help with quantities please)
I bought mine off one of the E bay shops its got a lifetime guarantee and it was £329 the same one was selling in the shops at £750:eek:
As for plumbing my plumber (who was doing loads of work before my kitchen was installed he had never fit one but he said it was easy) at no cost
My sister has got the same water softener as me and her hubby fitted it(needed a plug socket where the water softener is to go easiest place in the cupboard under the sink)

loulou41

What's the name of yours? Will check e-bay? Can you drink the water? do you recommend using it, what about the salts, are they expensive? Sorry about all these questions. Thanks

loopylass

Its a calsoft water softener (suitable for upto 8 people)
lifetime guarentee
I got a seperate drinking tap(£49.99 from mfi when i had new kitchen)
although they do say you can drink it (i e-mailed company and asked)but i didnt fancy it
I have just drank a glass from the kitchen and it tastes fine not salty at all

loopylass

As for the salt its about £5 a bag and that lasts you a month
check out garages because i have found the cheapest salt in a garage also the plumbing centre sometimes have them cheap hth

lisyloo

I know several people who have water softeners and they all say they are a great investment. (The plumbers I know also say the same).

In two houses I've had the cheaper devices where you wrap wires around the pipe (this is NOT a softener but a scale inhibiter).
I would say these are somewhat effective but not totally.

I have one on my list of things to buy (but it's at the bottom unfortunately).

loopylass

salt bags are 25kg and mine cost me £5 from a small village garage and its so easy to fill just lift the lid and tip it in i just make sure its topped up so it dont get low
The water softener gets plugged in to a time switch(which came with it) and it goes on for an hour a night we have put ours on at 3am as it makes a little hissing sound but at that time we are all asleep so dont hear anything lol

gromituk

loopylass wrote:

I have just drank a glass from the kitchen and it tastes fine not salty at all

It won't, because it contains sodium carbonate rather than sodium cloride, i.e. salt with "all the fat but none of the taste".

gromituk

economiser wrote:

You certainly don't need to pay as much as £1000 for one although like all things I suppose you get what you pay for.

To some extent, yes. The cheaper ones do not meter the water, nor are they able to supply water while regenerating, so simply regenerate every night while water isn't supposed to be being used. This can be very wasteful of both salt and water as they're set up to anticipate the heaviest possible usage - remember that you may be metered for water too (and in this day and age we shouldn't be throwing it away).

More expensive ones can meter but can't supply water while regenerating, so tend to regenerate in anticipation. The most expensive ones meter and are dual cylinder so can regenerate at any time, using water and salt in proportion to the amount of softened water you use.

gromituk

My dual cylinder softener uses about £10 of salt a year, despite it being a block salt softener (block salt not being the cheapest type). This is for two adults but often guests staying.

gromituk

Oh, and most softeners use electricity too.