dallison

we have a lot of calcium in our water, and not much iron. there are quite a few deposits on our faucets. i was looking at the ones in lowes. the guy who is coming to repair the manabloc says it would cost about 1500-2000 for the complete deal.


will something from lowes work just as well, esp since we are only planning on living here for 5-7 years

Slimey

I know that Culligan will rent whole systems -- cannot recall when the break even point was (5 years?), but if you're not planning on being in your home long term a rental might make sense.

We have a super duper Culligan unit with both a water softener and an iron filter.

dallison

what about those units at lowes for $300-500

dallison

anyone?

JLatimer

I dont have a whole lot of advice, but Sears' Kenmore units are actually made by GE. They have decent warranties and the extended warranties arent too much if you want some extra coverage. Sears frequently has discounts on them.

If you know basic plumbing, you can DIY the install, but follow the instructions and dont hook it up backwards like I did...

Water Softeners are pretty standard - the differences between them are in the efficiency, not in the capabilities.

stogie1020

Bump.

Dallison, did you get one from Lowe's? I am thinking about it, and was looking for some advice. Would you plan to DIY the install, of have Lowe's do it?

The Dougler

iTrader: (1)

I would DIY, plumbing is easy.

dallison

i would diy, i didn't buy one b/c of the space requirement. We are planning to move in 2 years. i think when we buy our next house, we are going to have a professional come in and install one. I could get one from the plumbing supply place next door to us. It is the same thing that the plumbers charge 2-3k for. I think they said it would cost around 5-800 to buy and install myself.

jlukja

What kind of maintenance does a water softener need. I heard from one person that says you have to change or add salt or something like that about every 2 weeks. Is that true?

Street Spirit

We have a Kenmore softener that we bought from Sears and we waited til they had a decent sale, which pretty much happens every few weeks. Ours was under $1,000...probably around the $800 mark if I remember correctly.

Ours looks like this:



There are only so many parts involved with a softener, so as long as you're getting a quality product, there's not much difference between brands (eg: Kenmore, Culligan, etc).

There are different models with only slightly different features, but what you need is one that will accommodate the amount of water you use, etc. There's only the two of us here, but we got one that would accommodate more people for down the road. Ours has been problem-free (aside from adding salt when needed) but we've only had it for a year and a half.

I haven't noticed any set schedule of when it needs salt, I just add it as needed. I know for sure that ours has not needed salt every two weeks, and our water is pretty hard. In fact, it probably goes at least a month off one bag of salt but probably more like 2 months, and one bag of salt goes to about the "3" marker on the inside of the tank ("1" being at the bottom of the tank and "10" at the top). We usually throw in two bags at once (taking it to "6" on the fill line) and that lasts us probably for 3-4 months. We don't give it any more attention after that because it doesn't require any aside from moving the salt around that's at the bottom if you want to be sure it won't clog or stick together in clumps. That's also another reason why we don't put more than 2 bags of salt at once...we always want to make sure we can use a stick/broom handle to stir the salt at the bottom -- if it's too full/deep/heavy, it makes it really hard. You can set the reminder to notify you when it's low based on the "low line" of your choice. We have ours set to remind us we need salt when it hits "2" - which still gives us tons of time (weeks) to buy a bag if we don't have one. The amount of salt you use will also depend on how soft you want to make your water (there are settings). We just set the water to be as soft as it would be from the municipalities around us who get "good" water right from their taps.

Ours recycles in the middle of the night (another setting), so you can't hear anything and you're never without soft water (while it recycles). We installed it in the basement (unfinished) near the wall/furnace because our walls are still open to the pipes. We have a bypass valve (came with the softener) that allows you to run the water in your home without it using the softener at all. Originally we bypassed it when doing something like changing the water in our aquarium (figured it wasn't good for the fish), but since then have pretty much left it on without any probs.

There was an immediate difference as soon as we hooked up the softener....the water physically felt better, soap cleans better, things clean easier, no more hard water stains, etc. Just to note, even with the softener on, there's no "salty" taste to the tap water like there might have been with the old time softeners.

jlukja

Thanks SS. This will go far in helping us with the decision of whether to get one or not.

One last question, is the amount of salt needed (and the refill frequency) directly related to how much water you use? i.e. if you don't use any water for two weeks will the salt level stay the same?

tony4311

For the most part yes. It only uses salt when it regenerates. Depending on how many people are in the house it could run as little as once a week. When it runs it should only use about 7-8 pounds of salt per regen. Depending on what size brine tank you have you could fill it up and come back 6 months later and still have some salt in it. (300-350lb brine tank) Fill it to the top and check it every coupole of months. If it's next to the heater keep an eye out for whats called bridging. What can happen is it'll harden in a layer and use the salt under it. Then you'll have a dome of salt that's hollow underneath. It'll look full but it's not.

As for type I suggest "solar salt". Brand doesn't matter. Solar salt stays in the crystal form and doesn't turn to mush. Pellets and bricks can turn to mush at the bottom and the water won't filter through as well.

Street Spirit

It's also good if you can get one with a bypass valve (only a few dollars) so you don't "waste" the soft water for things like using the sprinkler or watering the flowers for long periods of time. No need to use salt for stuff like that.

The Dougler

iTrader: (1)

We had ours installed with a bypass that feeds all the outside taps, so there's no need to turn a valve when you want to water the lawn or top off the pool. Of course the unfinished basement made this easier than otherwise finished basements.

Dan

Avoid softeners from the big box stores, they are not made to last. Look for a unit with a Fleck or Clack valve on it.



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