water softner help in chosing and is this true

Doc_N

£1600 is a ludicrous price for a domestic softener - whoever makes it and whatever the guarantee.

I know nothing about EWT (though there are several references within this thread you can search for) but I do know that you can get a perfectly good softener with a decent warranty and a decent reputation for under £500.

They're essentially very simple pieces of equipment. Nothing much to them, and not a lot to go wrong. Anybody charging over about £750 is simply profiteering, and exploiting the ignorance (entirely understandable) of most new customers.

Smoke, mirrors and snake oil come to mind.

malc_b

HP_Source wrote: »

For those reasons I would only choose a softener that uses a well tried and tested industry standard valve - Autotrol or Fleck. Not only have these valves been proven over time but spare parts are easily available and all water softener engineers are familiar with them.

So my advice would be to find out which valve each of the softeners you mention uses and go from there.

I'd add to this, find out which version of Autotrol they use. They is s summary here but basically 255/76x is metered, 255/74x is timed. Metered is more efficient. 760 is basic metered, 762 is more adjustable. You'll find 255/762 is often called the water save or some such name but the key is to find out exactly what valve is being used.

I'd also suggest adding a PRV (pressure reducing valve <£35 from screwfix), after checking your pressure of course (£10 for a gauge from toolstation). Then you can set a lower pressure which will reduce the backwash water usage as the units will be set up to work on lowest water pressure so as to suit all houses (I think about 2 bar which is 20m head of water).

haribizzle

Unfortunately they were unable to provide much detail on the valve itself.

I gave them a call this morning and they did a good job reassuring me that all should be fine. fingers crossed

Soulistic

What a forum... 47 pages! I've recently become quite aware of how badly the hard water in my area is effecting every day life. I've inquired on a TwinTec water softener from a local supplier who have quoted £1394 for all in (fitting, etc.) price. Also includes about 10 packs of the salt.

Any suggestions here?

Doc_N

Soulistic wrote: »

What a forum... 47 pages! I've recently become quite aware of how badly the hard water in my area is effecting every day life. I've inquired on a TwinTec water softener from a local supplier who have quoted £1394 for all in (fitting, etc.) price. Also includes about 10 packs of the salt.

Any suggestions here?

Two suggestions:

1 Don't pay anything approaching that!

2 Read the last few pages of the thread for suggested alternatives.

atsgmo

Hi, this is a great thread, but I wonder if I can get some specific information please . We inherited a Mayfair M10 unit when we moved into this house, and it must be at least 10 years old . the tank is now no longer emptying water, so I spoke to the dealer who installed it and he has offered me a service exchange unit fully fitted with a 2 years guarantee for £360 + vat. Or I can upgrade to a block salt unit.

I am not sure if either of these is a good deal, or if I should buy a new monarch midi unit. What would be people's recommendation be please?. I am a total novice at this and would like to get a unit that will last us the next 10 years or so.

One final question I don't understand . My current unit is plugged into the mains in my utility room so must be electric. But all the recommendations here such as the Monarch seem to be nonelectric can somebody advise which I should actually buy?

Many thanks
Michael

HP_Source

Only you can decide which way to go. It's a simple choice really - is the extra cost of a new unit worth it for the longer guarantee you'll get. That said £360+VAT for a service exchange unit seems a bit OTT to me. I've just replaced my softener and paid less than £250 inc VAT for a manufacturer refurbished one although, admittedly, I did fit it myself.

Block salt v tablet salt? The one advantage of block salt is it's more convenient. Against that it is significantly more expensive.

Electric v non-electric? Nothing to choose really and many of the recommendations made on here are for electric softeners. e.g. the Tapworks and the Atlantis.

atsgmo

Thank you, could you just give me a dummy's explanation of what is meant by electric vs non electric? Is the Monarch Midi unit I am looking at non-electric?

Thank you

Doc_N

atsgmo wrote: »

Thank you, could you just give me a dummy's explanation of what is meant by electric vs non electric? Is the Monarch Midi unit I am looking at non-electric?

Thank you

One needs to be plugged into mains electricity - the other doesn't.

atsgmo

I suppose I asked for that!