water softner help in chosing and is this true

onewhoasks

WendellG wrote: »

In the end I narrowed it down to a choice between the Scalemaster softline 150 and the Plumbsoft Solo. I went for the Scalemaster as it's lot cheaper and single cylinder. I don't recall it being mentioned in this thread but the boiler differences just change the fitting types - the actual softener is the same.

Getting it fitted on Wed, the plumber quoted £150-£180 depending on how trick the connections to the existing pipes are.

Hi was considering the Scalemaster softener myself as we have very hard water in our area. Just curious to know how are you getting along with the softener and how much salt you are getting through?

RubiconCSL

Has anyone seen the Groupon offer today from EW Technologies. £650 installed for their EWT500 Gold water softener. No prices shown on their website, but the Groupon claim is a saving of 52%, making their claim of the full price at £1350. It has a lifetime parts warranty and 1 year call-out.

Bearing in mind, that is the fitted price and fitting looks to be a minimum of £150 from reading this thread, does that look good? I'm quite tempted, as that isn't much above B&Q prices and being fitted by the company, I'm guessing there's less issues with arguing whether it's the product or the plumber that got it wrong, should there be problems.

Anyone know if this product/company is good, or whether I should steer clear of them? Is it really their own product, or a re-badged one? Groupon is showing the company as having 340 likes on Facebook - whatever that really means.

Answers on a postcard please - or better still on here today

RubiconCSL

Well, I contacted them directly yesterday and surprise, surprise, they quoted £675 for the exact same water softener, which also included a drinking water filter for the kitchen. That also included a 90 day money back guarantee if not delighted, rather than 30 days with the Groupon offer.

So I have no idea where their 52% discount comes from, if the normal pice is in fact £675 - WITH a water filter and longer money back period.

Has anyone else dealt with them? Is it a good product and are they a good company to deal with? Googling doesn't show up any bad reports and to be fair, they did respond to my emails very quickly all day yesterday.

gjchester

RubiconCSL wrote: »

Well, I contacted them directly yesterday and surprise, surprise, they quoted £675 for the exact same water softener, which also included a drinking water filter for the kitchen. That also included a 90 day money back guarantee if not delighted, rather than 30 days with the Groupon offer.

£674 in today's Metro paper too. Withe drinking water system and fully installed.

gulams

I am thinking of installing the Monarch twin cylinder water softner

Any feedbacks from current users on its reliability and cost of running it

Gulams

Lube

ElanaBarr you not allowed to promote your site in signature and you have joined forums before spamming that site enjoy your short stay

kdv87

Hello All,

Have read this forum intently, am thinking of installing a water softener. Despite all the reading I find it highly confusing (I'm not a DIY man, nor am I particularly "handy", best i've done is fit a few radiators with instruction!).

I have a house with a combi boiler (Vaillant) in the kitchen and a water inlet from the mains in the cellar. I live in the east of london and the water is supposed to be very hard. I need help on choosing a softener, and have been advised by a few, admittedly salesmen, to go for:

Harvey's; Ecowater; Monarch Midi; Kinetico; Hague. I find it hard to get prices for these as supply only, if my own plumber was to do the work. I understand that the Tapworks is very similar to the Ecowater from this forum.

Has anyone got any opinions on how much i'd be looking to spend for supply only for any of these? Tapworks is £438 online, Monarch Midi is very similar also, prices for the other 4 are not readily available.

Also, can anyone recommend which I should be going for, I'm looking for something that will last 10 years+, not particularly cheap but effective and low yearly running costs?

Many thanks for this forum!

K

Doc_N

You'll not perhaps be surprised, kdv87, when I recommend the Tapworks you mention. I've posted before on it, I've owned one for a few months now, and I think it's extremely good value for money.

I've had the more expensive, but very similar, Ecowater softeners before, and they've been very good. But the Tapworks models are very similar (not identical, but most components are the same, apart from the electronic timer) at a fraction of the price.

If you're loaded, go for Ecowater (the Audi). If not, go for Tapworks (the Skoda, but almost the same thing).

Combi boiler? That's beyond my knowledge, though I do know that you need to take care with the way it's plumbed in. Someone with better knowledge may help you here.

watsoft

springdove wrote: »

I haven't got very far with my plans.

The Kinetico dealer has now offered me the 2020c at £1,275 including installation, 5 year on-site labour warranty, 10 bags of salt and the usual 10 year parts warranty.

Plumber #2 who I contacted for the installation of the Tapworks model has now confirmed a £280 installation quote, and I am still trying to get a quote from Plumber # 3. Looks then like the total cost without any salt = c. £720. I think DOCN you said that the Tapworks model comes with a 2 year parts warranty.

If the 10 bags of salt cost £55, I'm essentially paying £500 for
- the additional warranty - (labour and parts)
- for the two resin cylinders v/s one
- and the savings in electricity / maybe salt consumption.

Is it worth that much really!?

DOCN/Windlepoons, how's your Tapworks model functioning? All ok so far?

springdove - could you provide the details of the dealer who provided you quote for Kinetico 2020? Did you haggle for it?

Thanks

RubiconCSL

Well, having checked out the plumbing in the flat, I'm not too confident doing it myself. The inlet is not near the kitchen sink, the pipework is cluttered and I can't readily see a drainage point nearby either. So I am perilously close to actually making a decision and going for the EW Technologies one. £675 isn't the cheapest, but isn't expensive either and it does include full installation "no matter how complicated" and the kitchen sink filter too, so hopefully no surprise extras costwise.

Plumber quotes on here seem rediculously high for an hours work, so £675 inclusive doesn't seem too high - plus I won't get the possible issues people have mentioned regarding manufacturer v fitter if things go pete tong.

Also, if I can get anyone else in the building to go for it too, we get £50 off.

Before I pull the trigger though, anyone else got any useful input? Does anyone know know about the EWT500 Gold water softener they are offering - I know it's metered, which suits my needs, but I know little else about it.

Thanks.

RubiconCSL wrote: »

Well, I contacted them directly yesterday and surprise, surprise, they quoted £675 for the exact same water softener, which also included a drinking water filter for the kitchen. That also included a 90 day money back guarantee if not delighted, rather than 30 days with the Groupon offer.

So I have no idea where their 52% discount comes from, if the normal pice is in fact £675 - WITH a water filter and longer money back period.

Has anyone else dealt with them? Is it a good product and are they a good company to deal with? Googling doesn't show up any bad reports and to be fair, they did respond to my emails very quickly all day yesterday.