water softner help in chosing and is this true

sloughflint · 15 February 2007 at 4:18PM

moonrakerz wrote:

Selling water softeners seems to be taking over from double glazing as a good way to rip off the public.

I know what you mean moonrakerz!

Have PMed you bernlyn.

ritesh · 15 February 2007 at 7:03PM

Hi All

I have been following this thread with interest. We are having our whole house re-done (new extension, complete rewire, new CH system, system boiler, megaflo) and as we live in a hard water area (Hertfordshire) decided on installing a water softener. After a lot of research I decided to go with Kinetico 2020c system. My reasons were it does need electric supply, it has twin cylinder (so whilst one cylinder is regenerating it uses the other cylinder), soft water all day long and ..................because a new development in the area recently had to go back to install waters to all the flats as hard water was causing havac to the boilers. The softeners that they usesd were Kinetico 2020.

I also know other people (three people) who have the kinetico system and have not had any problems with them.

My only gripe with the company is that when they came around they wanted ca £1000 however I was able to get the same thing from a plumbers merchant for a few hundred quid less! Installation is very easy indeed so I guess a local competent plumber could do this for a small fee.

bernlyn · 15 February 2007 at 7:13PM

thanks ritesh

did you or are you going to install yourself. if so was it difficult.

bernlyn · 15 February 2007 at 7:14PM

sloughflint wrote:

Have PMed you bernlyn.

hi have sent you PM

ritesh · 15 February 2007 at 8:02PM

ritesh wrote:

Hi All

I have been following this thread with interest. We are having our whole house re-done (new extension, complete rewire, new CH system, system boiler, megaflo) and as we live in a hard water area (Hertfordshire) decided on installing a water softener. After a lot of research I decided to go with Kinetico 2020c system. My reasons were it does need electric supply, it has twin cylinder (so whilst one cylinder is regenerating it uses the other cylinder), soft water all day long and ..................because a new development in the area recently had to go back to install waters to all the flats as hard water was causing havac to the boilers. The softeners that they usesd were Kinetico 2020.

I also know other people (three people) who have the kinetico system and have not had any problems with them.

My only gripe with the company is that when they came around they wanted ca £1000 however I was able to get the same thing from a plumbers merchant for a few hundred quid less! Installation is very easy indeed so I guess a local competent plumber could do this for a small fee.

EDIT I meant to say "it does NOT need electric supply"

sorry

ritesh · 15 February 2007 at 8:05PM

bernlyn wrote:

thanks ritesh

did you or are you going to install yourself. if so was it difficult.

Hi bernlyn

No, I am not going to install myself. My plumber, who is doing all other components, said he can do this for me at no extra charge as it takes no more than 30 mins. The job has been made easier as the softner is going to be placed right next to the soil pipe in a cupboard in the new extension so the discharge from the softener will go directly into there.

I will get the details from him as to what is actually involved as pass them on to you.

moonrakerz · 15 February 2007 at 8:33PM

I have had a water softener for nearly 30 years, so I can speak with a little experience on this.

I really don't understand the mania to buy a softener with all the extra pointless gizmos on it !

"it has twin cylinder (so whilst one cylinder is regenerating it uses the other cylinder)"

Why, in effect, buy TWO softeners ?? A conventional single cylinder unit can be set to regenerate at night, it may use slightly more salt until you get it set right for your particular circumstances - but it's half the price ! At £6 a bag, that is an awful lot of salt.
If you are a couple of hours late in regenerating, it doesn't matter in the least, you are not going to fill everything with hard water, it just isn't quite as soft as it was before; you won't notice the difference.

I recently replaced my hot water tank after 21 years using a single cylinder softener in this house - the plumber split it open out of curiosity - it was still bare metal inside, not a scrap of scale anywhere.

Would you buy a car with two engines, a TV with two screens ? There are an awful lot of very slick salesmen out there who are doing just this with softeners.

Come on chaps, you're meant to be "money savers".

bernlyn · 15 February 2007 at 11:50PM

thanks moonrakerz

it is good to hear from someone that has had a softener for 30 years. on my part i am just trying to thrash out the pros and cons of the differenrt softeners out there and then to make an informed decision on which 1. i have done searches on this site and others there arent any threads out there that look deep enough into which water softeners to satisfy me. i think that we all can say that water softeners are benifical to the household but which one.

also i have come to the conclusion that hardly anyone has had problems with thier softeners be it the cheapest or the most expensive ones.

ritesh · 16 February 2007 at 5:52PM

moonrakerz wrote:

I have had a water softener for nearly 30 years, so I can speak with a little experience on this.

I really don't understand the mania to buy a softener with all the extra pointless gizmos on it !

"it has twin cylinder (so whilst one cylinder is regenerating it uses the other cylinder)"

Why, in effect, buy TWO softeners ?? A conventional single cylinder unit can be set to regenerate at night, it may use slightly more salt until you get it set right for your particular circumstances - but it's half the price ! At £6 a bag, that is an awful lot of salt.
If you are a couple of hours late in regenerating, it doesn't matter in the least, you are not going to fill everything with hard water, it just isn't quite as soft as it was before; you won't notice the difference.

I recently replaced my hot water tank after 21 years using a single cylinder softener in this house - the plumber split it open out of curiosity - it was still bare metal inside, not a scrap of scale anywhere.

Would you buy a car with two engines, a TV with two screens ? There are an awful lot of very slick salesmen out there who are doing just this with softeners.

Come on chaps, you're meant to be "money savers".

Thanks moonrakerz. Your point is very good indeed. As a first time buyer and gutting the whole house I opted for this system as it was no electric gizmos and can deliver soft water 24 hours a day. I know in Hertfordshire the water is particulary hard (I am on my 2nd kettle and 4th iron) so it just made sense to go for this as i can not afford to pay for this to be done again. So in my mind that extra bit of money was well spent if it preserves the life of my central heating, new shower and washing machine.

Incidently what appliances can/can't have softened water running through them???

Canucklehead · 16 February 2007 at 6:04PM

Hi

A lot of boilers do not like soft water .If you have an older cast iron one then that's ok . Aluminium in either older or new condensing do not.
If in doubt consult the manufacturers.
To fill a heating system with hard water just use the softener by pass arrangement.

Corgi Guy.

water softner help in chosing and is this true

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