Thinking of Buying a Water Softener (merged threads)

gromituk

loopylass wrote:

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)

Just experiment - reduce the amount you use until clothes aren't washed to your satisfaction. You're probably using far too much anyway - that's what the soap powder manufacturers want you to do, after all.

Weymouth_Man

I have had a Tap Works softener for 3 years, working on a flow regenerate principal, the difference is great, less detergent to do any cleaning job, we used to use small supermarket bags only for our Dishwasher.

Now softening all the house water, cost's less buying good quality Tablet salt, compared with only the inbuilt dishwasher reservoir, not to mention the damage Hard water scale can cause within unseen pipes & tanks etc .

http://www.softwatershop.co.uk/noflash/salt.htm

Can anyone beat £6.40p for GOOD quality 25Kg bag's as link.

kittiwoz

Best value is an electromagnetic water conditioner which does not soften water but increases its ability to dissolve calcium so that is does not deposit out and cause scale. These make a very noticeable difference. Because the water is still hard you can treat your whole house including drinking water using one of these. No specialist installation is required. This is particularly good value from £95 with 190 day money back guaruntee and 5 year waranty. Running costs are under £3 a year. This will not reduce the amount of detergent you have to use but will prevent and even reverse limescale damage to pipes and appliances, prolonging their life and increasing the efficiency of your heating.

Weymouth_Man

kittiwoz wrote:

Best value is an electromagnetic water conditioner which does not soften water but increases its ability to dissolve calcium so that is does not deposit out and cause scale. These make a very noticeable difference. Because the water is still hard you can treat your whole house including drinking water using one of these. No specialist installation is required. This is particularly good value from £95 with 190 day money back guaruntee and 5 year waranty. Running costs are under £3 a year. This will not reduce the amount of detergent you have to use but will prevent and even reverse limescale damage to pipes and appliances, prolonging their life and increasing the efficiency of your heating.

Other suppliers, please see link.
http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/pro.jsp?id=13487&ts=19293

kittiwoz

Other suppliers, please see link.
http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat...=13487&ts=19293

That's much cheaper and seems to be designed to do the same job though prob worth checking the specs. I just got the other one from a comparison chart I found on this site. I'm a student in rented accomodation so I have no personal experience with them.

bootman

I bought a Water King magnetic one. To be honest we have not noticed any differnece at all. I understood that scale would still appear, but be softer so could be wiped away. My new kettle shows no signs of scale around the lid being any easier to remove than before I bought the Water King!

George_Bray

Weymouth_Man wrote:

Other suppliers, please see link.
http://www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/pro.jsp?id=13487&ts=19293

I reckon there's an 80% chance that this type of device is like snake oil - a con trick and rip-off. I installed one years' ago and didn't notice a jot of difference. I can't believe that water flowing fast through a pipe with some sort of electro-field would be 'processed' at all.

The Government should do more to (a) test and approve or (b) prosecute for fraud, for products where enough people think there's a big doubt. Another example is crystals which you hang in a car fuel tank to 'convert' unleaded fuel to leaded.

Regards
George

gromituk

George_Bray wrote:

I reckon there's an 80% chance that this type of device is like snake oil

Absolutely. No-one has given a convincing explanation of how these work, nor do I know of a properly audited scientific test which proves that they are anything more than a con. My parents have one and it has nice flashing lights on it and wastes electricity.

An alternative is something like a "Combimate" which adds a small amount of dissolved phosphate to the water. All I know is that I installed one of these on the supply to a combi boiler (London water), a year or two old and running, and the next day a huge amount of white powder came out, presumably from the heat exchanger.

Weymouth_Man

I have worked in industries which have come away from conventional water softeners to these electronic devices, they do tend to work, although in my personnel view is that they will never be as good as softeners that actually removes calcium & magnesium.



Some large companies have been offered a money back guarantee, so there must be something about them that actually works, but I’m not convince, so I will stay happy with my conventional water softener. :beer:

gromituk

Weymouth_Man wrote:

Some large companies have been offered a money back guarantee, so there must be something about them that actually works

Hmm - to me that doesn't mean anything apart from trying to persuade you that they work. After all, it's not obvious whether they work or not, so people aren't going to notice of they're doing bugg3r all and bring them back. Oh yes, the odd one or two might, but that will be far outweighed by the people who buy them convinced by the guarantee. Marketing strikes again! (Your statutary rights allow you to return them if they are not fit for purpose anyway!)

I'd bet that commercial ones are a lot more sophisticated and are used under different conditions than your average domestic installation.