Water softeners - talk to me
Discussion
t. I have moved recently to a house with a resin/salt based system. Today I had a man out who had serviced it previously to give the the low-down on it. It was empty of salt, but now I know where to put it, it's full. The place to put it was obvious, but contains within it a pipe and the resin cylinder which made me not totally confident about chucking salt in to it. Apparently my machine is 23 years old and will start being effective in 10 days or so when it has done 3 regens. I'll report back when hopefully I decide I can't live without a softener ever again. 
For those with softeners , you will be paying around £7.00a bag for 25kg tablet salt
If you can get over to Calais easily ( I can ) you will get tablet salt for €7.00,( @€1.35 to £ equals £5.18 )
http://www.leroymerlin.fr/v3/p/produits/sel-pour-a...axalsac_de_25_kg&numpage=1
that is almost 30% cheaper .
My last trip , resulted in 15 bags of salt (in a van ) plus loads of wine and beer etc , well worth the £25 ferry fare
If you can get over to Calais easily ( I can ) you will get tablet salt for €7.00,( @€1.35 to £ equals £5.18 )
http://www.leroymerlin.fr/v3/p/produits/sel-pour-a...axalsac_de_25_kg&numpage=1
that is almost 30% cheaper .
My last trip , resulted in 15 bags of salt (in a van ) plus loads of wine and beer etc , well worth the £25 ferry fare
MX51ROD said:
For those with softeners , you will be paying around £7.00a bag for 25kg tablet salt
If you can get over to Calais easily ( I can ) you will get tablet salt for €7.00,( @€1.35 to £ equals £5.18 )
http://www.leroymerlin.fr/v3/p/produits/sel-pour-a...axalsac_de_25_kg&numpage=1
that is almost 30% cheaper .
My last trip , resulted in 15 bags of salt (in a van ) plus loads of wine and beer etc , well worth the £25 ferry fare
Thanks for that.If you can get over to Calais easily ( I can ) you will get tablet salt for €7.00,( @€1.35 to £ equals £5.18 )
http://www.leroymerlin.fr/v3/p/produits/sel-pour-a...axalsac_de_25_kg&numpage=1
that is almost 30% cheaper .
My last trip , resulted in 15 bags of salt (in a van ) plus loads of wine and beer etc , well worth the £25 ferry fare
Zyp said:
Going through customs could be interesting... 
All they were interested in was that there were no asylum seekers hidden in the van , also stocked up on a few tools ,and dont laugh , 2 soft close lavatory seats ( cheaper over there )And of course a fill of diesel , that alone paid for the trip ,around £0.84 per litre
Edited by MX51ROD on Thursday 16th April 18:42
I looked at these a while back, didnt go for one in the end because I have such a tiny flat. Vague things I remember:
Pick one that regenerates when it needs to, not just on a timer, you don't want to be using salt when you dont need to.
I think regs are that you must have one unsoftened tap in your house. Usually the kitchen sink tap?
I think you can check how much residual salt comes out of the taps when you use a softner, in case you're drinking the softened water, worth checking sodium levels, as some of them leave more and there was something about it not being too suitable for drinking for the very young or very old.
Pick one that regenerates when it needs to, not just on a timer, you don't want to be using salt when you dont need to.
I think regs are that you must have one unsoftened tap in your house. Usually the kitchen sink tap?
I think you can check how much residual salt comes out of the taps when you use a softner, in case you're drinking the softened water, worth checking sodium levels, as some of them leave more and there was something about it not being too suitable for drinking for the very young or very old.
We've had them for last 16yrs in this house, initially a Commander http://www.softwatershop.co.uk/watersoftener/comma... but had a Kinetico 2020c http://www.kinetico.co.uk/water-softener/kinetico-... for last few years.
We find the size of the 2020c & the block salt much easier to live with - and the water superb.
We've purchased them all and our salt from http://www.softwatershop.co.uk/softenersalt.htm - fully recommend them
One point - if you've got a fridge/freezer with built in ice maker, then it is better ice with unsoftened water, and the water dispenser is our hard water drinking 'tap'... However we've also got our Quooker Fusion boiling tap on the softened water to improve life of cylinder and tape fittings etc.
For all of our kitchen water points we have plumbing for both hard & soft water for them (sinks, boiling tap, fridge/freezer, washing machine etc).
We find the size of the 2020c & the block salt much easier to live with - and the water superb.
We've purchased them all and our salt from http://www.softwatershop.co.uk/softenersalt.htm - fully recommend them
One point - if you've got a fridge/freezer with built in ice maker, then it is better ice with unsoftened water, and the water dispenser is our hard water drinking 'tap'... However we've also got our Quooker Fusion boiling tap on the softened water to improve life of cylinder and tape fittings etc.
For all of our kitchen water points we have plumbing for both hard & soft water for them (sinks, boiling tap, fridge/freezer, washing machine etc).
garyhun said:
Monarch midi is a great softener. I've had one in my last 2 houses and will in the next.
£450 approximately!
Holy bump Jesus. £450 approximately!
Im replacing the whole system in our house and need to add a softner.
Monarch seem reasonable. Is it worth paying more than double for some of the other brands mentioned?
Theres another similar thread comparing the dual chamber softeners against the singles such as monarch. We eatablished that they use less water and salt - which is good, but the higher cost meant it would 10 years to break even for a 4 person household.
Keep an eye on ebay, secondhand monarchs come up from time to time - i paid about £200 for mine a few years ago.
Keep an eye on ebay, secondhand monarchs come up from time to time - i paid about £200 for mine a few years ago.
HairyMaclary said:
garyhun said:
Monarch midi is a great softener. I've had one in my last 2 houses and will in the next.
£450 approximately!
Holy bump Jesus. £450 approximately!
Im replacing the whole system in our house and need to add a softner.
Monarch seem reasonable. Is it worth paying more than double for some of the other brands mentioned?
HairyMaclary said:
Holy bump Jesus.
Im replacing the whole system in our house and need to add a softner.
Monarch seem reasonable. Is it worth paying more than double for some of the other brands mentioned?
How big is the system?Im replacing the whole system in our house and need to add a softner.
Monarch seem reasonable. Is it worth paying more than double for some of the other brands mentioned?
All high pressure?
How big is the house?
How many bathrooms?
johnoz said:
HairyMaclary said:
Holy bump Jesus.
Im replacing the whole system in our house and need to add a softner.
Monarch seem reasonable. Is it worth paying more than double for some of the other brands mentioned?
How big is the system?Im replacing the whole system in our house and need to add a softner.
Monarch seem reasonable. Is it worth paying more than double for some of the other brands mentioned?
All high pressure?
How big is the house?
How many bathrooms?
Worcester Bosch 40cdi connected to wb greenstore 300 single coil sealed system. 20 rads.
Yes.
3100 sq ft.
5/6 with 5 bathrooms.
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