Water softener help for novice

mouche

Hell...apologies for starting another water softener thread but I read through the existing thread without being much the wiser. I am an absolute novice at DIY and would really appreciate if someone could help me understand this in words of two syllables!

We live in a very hard water area which is taking it's toll on our boiler and other appliances. We got a quote from Harevy Water softeners and it was for £1,750 approximately (including installation). This seems high for me but I am not sure. From what I understood, they have a two cylinder system that uses no electricity. At this price, we can't afford it.

Can someone recommend a way in which we can get soft water that won't cost so much? We want a proper water softener but are just confused as to whether this price is normal.

We have a four bedroom house with a bathroom, a shower room and a toilet. HOWEVER, we are only two adults and a toddler and out water consumption is pretty low as we time our showers and toddler doesn't bathe every day (doctor's advice). We do have a dishwasher and a washing machine and our boiler is a combi boiler.

One complication is that our kitchen is an extension so our main water stopcock is in one of the cupboards - not under the sink and not approachable from an outside wall. We got a quote from a different company a year ago (unfortunately lost the details) and the engineer said they couldn't install the standard model for that reason and we would have to go for a different - not so good - one. I'm sorry I don't have more details.

Would really really appreciate some advice.

ryder72

A water softner from Harvey (or comparable quality) will cost you about £1100. Installation will depend on the complexity which its hard to estimate without seeing it. In any case £1750 seems excessive.

However as softeners go, a Harvey or Kinetico is about the best that there is out there.

Tis

We had one installed 6 weeks ago and it's been brilliant as we too are in a very hard water area.
Ours cost £675 and the company is EW Technologies based in Maidstone. Their number is 02033840204.
If I were to recommend you I could get you a small cashback but even without this it's a good deal and the company are great.

southcoastrgi

It might sound a strange question but what is the make & model of your boiler, as some must be connected to the hard water side at least for filling the heating

yangptangkipperbang

http://www.diy.com/search/water%20softener/-specificproducttype-water_softeners

Cheap, cheerful and just as effective as a £1750 model !

Sausage101

Have you seen the crown water softener from Fountain Softeners, its made by Harveys Softeners and is only £765, my softener was fitted for less than £200 by a local plumber so you can save yourself £1000 for the same brand.

Chunks

If you simply want to get from a to b low cost, go for something like this:

http://www.eastmidlandswater.com/Details.asp?ProductID=8

I bought one of these and plumbed it in myself piece of proverbial. One of the best decisions I have made

southcoastrgi wrote: »

It might sound a strange question but what is the make & model of your boiler, as some must be connected to the hard water side at least for filling the heating

This is a fair point but in the case of the above machine (and I guess others too) your softener should be plumbed in with the appropriate isolation so you can take the machine out of the supply side (so to say) allowing any filling of open (or closed) heating systems to take place with unsoftened water from the mains (should your bolier manufacturer so recommend).

Do it (or something similar) but make sure you opt for kit that doesn't use expensive block salt. Twin tanks for example, especially in your case, would be overkill IMHO.

My machine (above) copes with a house of four adults including power shower and baths. Uses more salt than a metered machine but at £70 odd per year (tablet salt, delivered) I am not
worried.

Good luck.

browneyedbazzi

I saw an interesting option for water softening at the Big Green Home Show recently that looks interesting. It claims to be cheaper and more environmentally friendly than standard water softeners....apparently they've been used for years in Australia but are new to the UK. Might be worth a look:

https://www.ecosoftwater.co.uk

Avoriaz

browneyedbazzi wrote: »

I saw an interesting option for water softening at the Big Green Home Show recently that looks interesting. It claims to be cheaper and more environmentally friendly than standard water softeners....apparently they've been used for years in Australia but are new to the UK. Might be worth a look:

www.ecosoftwater.co.uk

Everybody with something to sell claims theirs is better and cheaper etc.

I'd put money on that being an expensive piece of useless rubbish compared to ion exchange softeners.

browneyedbazzi

Avoriaz wrote: »

Everybody with something to sell claims theirs is better and cheaper etc.

True, that's why when looking to buy anything we should take an objective look around and compare the options. The people who sell ion exchange softeners would like us all to believe their kit is best and worth the money...if we never look at options available on the market how would we know if they're right or not?

ey143

I plan to put a water softener in during my large renovation phase of the house. If I am planning to gut out the house, can anyone give me some tips on:

- where best to position the water softener (I plan to move my stopcock once I renew the mains supply)

- what consideration to give when selecting a brand and model?

- Does the filtered water supply or bypass garden taps and toilet cisterns but still feed showers / baths and sink taps?

- Do people drink filtered water or still prefer the taste of hard water?

- How is the water pressure post filteration, can you still achieve a couple of bars?

- For a 4 bed house, typical usage, how much would you expect to pay on salt each month (or does it last longer than a month assuming 2 adults and a baby)?

Thanks.