Are water softeners worth it?

Emma18

Hi
I've been reading the recent thread regarding water softeners and we are considering putting one in............but can I ask of any people living in Surrey, who have one, (very hard water in our area) whether the difference they make is really noticeable and therefore worth the cost? And what are the ongoing running costs like?
We (will) have a 5 bed detached home, so co. we saw at show said we would need a large softener in the garage as opposed to under the sink type.

We saw a couple of companies and of course they are saying they are the best thing since sliced bread etc - and I can hear the arguments for needing less shower product/shampoo's etc/feels nicer on your skin (my children and I do suffer with very dry skin/eczema).

Mostly though, I'm hoping it will keep the amount of limescale down on the shower screens/taps/baths as it's a nightmare to keep these looking nice!

What do you think? Do you recommend and think we will be very pleased with benefits?

Thanks

Emma18

Der............sorry! I hadn't noticed that the previous thread re softeners was actually about 35 pages long! Have had a quick skim and some people are talking about the benefits!

Will try and find a couple of hours to read the rest of the comments on that one.

If anyone wants to give me an immediate yay or nay re the dry skin/eczema and clean shower screens though and save me time, please feel free LOL

greatgimpo

I think the volume of water (number of occupants, amount of baths, showers etc) you want will decide the size, not the house. I reckon they may be talking you up a bit.

Emma18

greatgimpo -thanks

Yes, we have 4 children, so with 6 altogether, I think the reason they recommended the larger one in garage is so I don't have to keep filling it up with salt so often.....

greatgimpo

Yes, but what will it cost you for that convenience? Incidentally, you'll still need to squeegee the shower screens, but won't have the limescale to contend with if you forget. When you're looking at different water softener machines, remember that tablets are cheaper than block salt as there's more competition amongst suppliers.

marybishop

Hi Emma

We're in Surrey and installed a water softener nearly two years ago, the block salt type. I can't remember how much it cost but we took advantage of their instalment option and also the trial period before committing to it. The on-going cost is buying the salt blocks and how quickly they go down depends on how much water you use!

Our reasons for getting one were daughter with bad eczema and wanting to reduce limescale as we'd just refurbished our bathroom!

Can't say it made any difference to daughter's skin, she still had bad flare ups but it's made a huge difference to the limescale i.e. there isn't any! I recently cleaned out the washing machine drawer for the first time since we bought it two years ago (just before the softener was installed) whereas in the past I had to clean out the black gunk every few weeks.

Im the only one out of the four of us who doesn't like the taste (much prefer the taste of hard water) and I'm also not keen on the feel of it in the shower as it feels as though the shower gel, shampoo and conditioner don't wash off properly, no squeaky clean feeling! That's probably not a bad thing but thought it worth a mention.

Hope that helps a bit!:)

Emma18

marybishop wrote: »

Can't say it made any difference to daughter's skin, she still had bad flare ups but it's made a huge difference to the limescale i.e. there isn't any! I recently cleaned out the washing machine drawer for the first time since we bought it two years ago (just before the softener was installed) whereas in the past I had to clean out the black gunk every few weeks.

Ooh! I didn't know that the hard water was what causes the black gunk in the washing machine drawer! It could be worth buying a softener for that problem alone! lol

Thanks Mary.

marybishop

Neither did I but I can't think of any other reason for it! Hasn't stopped the grey gunk around the drum that sometimes makes it way onto the washing sadly:(

greatgimpo

Too low a temperature? No problems here, wash at 60ºC, stuff the extra few pennies and look after the washing machine.

Mankysteve

Have you got a water meter installed ? That will give you an idea of your usage. You can buy them if you wish to check yourself without switching to a metered supply.

Emma18

No - my whites always go on at 60! No grey-whites here!

I had heard that it's the fabric softener as it has natural biological ingredients, flowers and blossoms etc that it is a build up of those.

Maybe with the water softener fitted, you therefore don't need to use as much softener product and it builds up slower....?