Water Softener Advice

[fg12351]

I'm getting ready to purchase and install a water softener and I wondered if any of you had any advice.

It will be installed in Fishers and fed off of the city water supply. 2 people now in this small ranch home, could be 3 after a few years.

I've tested the water hardness (about 20 grains per gallon (Gpg))and am looking at the Whirlpool WHES30 from Lowe's.

Any advice on this or any Whirlpool unit? Is it worth it to go with a Kinetico which is going to cost alot more?

I have lots of Lowe's giftcards I want to use.

Thanks,

FG12351

 

[Rookie]

Personally - I don't think the cost of Kinetico offsets the benefit. Here's a tip from personal experience. I had to fix a water leak in my crawl space at 2 in the morning because of the junk PEX tubing that was used. Make them use copper.

 

[kludge]

Whatever you do, don't fall into the EasyWater bogus crap.

How much more is the Kinetico?

 

[fg12351]

Not sure on the price difference. I am going to swing by the Kinetico store after work and see what they recommend and what the cost would be.

My stepdad is going to help me install it as he master of all DIY and knows how to sweat pipe and all I know how to sweat is bullets.

A couple of people I work with swear by the EasyWater/ScaleBlaster technology. Sounds like hocus pocus to me. Salt is proven so that's what I'm going with.

 

[fg12351]

Kludge,

I was at the Danville Conservation Club on Saturday for a family reunion, nice place. Too bad it was pouring down rain or I would have walked around to enjoy it!

 

[spasmo]

We have the IQ Series that we got from Ideal Water. It is fabulous but a little expensive. We bought it when we first moved in in 2002. We have had no problem with it. It does need to be maintained. Suppose to be yearly but for us it's more like every 2 years or so.

IdealWater::Index

It is a treatment for the whole house.

 

[jclark]

The little whirlpool units aren't bad. I think I have installed 15 or 20 for homeowners. Anything made by Cole and Massey are very nice. Almost zero problems out of the many I have installed.

 

[Boilers]

What I did was schedule an in home consultation with all the softener service guys. One hour apart. And told them at the end of X hours I would be making a decision to buy.

half-way in the Culligan man said he wanted my business and dropped to a price that no one could beat. It's been here and working ever since.

Oh, schedule this for about 4 days before the end of the month. Sales quotas you know.

 

[Sailor]

My dad bought his off the net, premium components, shipped with fool proof instructions. Much better than the local stuff. I dont have the link here but will look for it. I think this is it. Quality Water Associates Gary Slusser Clack WS-1 Clack WS1 Fleck 7000 700SE 9000SE 9100SE water softeners filters

 

[SWAMPMASTER]

After 20 years and more than a few Water softners, I broke down and bought a Kinetico wish I would have done it years ago and the salt saving does add up I use about 10 bags of salt a year

 

[fg12351]

I'm going to go with a Whirlpool WHES40 from Lowe's. The Kinetico's are nice but pricey. About 5 times what I'm going to pay for this (I have giftcards that are going to pay for alot of it). We only plan on being in this house for 3-5 years and so I think a Whirlpool will do for now and then when we upgrade homes I will look at a Kinetico if it doesn't have an existing system. Thanks for all the input though!!!

 

[AFA1CY]

Sears Kenmore here. Have had it for about 5 years now. Uses little salt. Paid about $400 for it.

 

[Mgderf]

Regardless of the brand you get, go to the extra trouble of having a whole house water filter installed in-line BEFORE the softner (upstream).
I don't know what your municipality provides, but MOST brands of water conditioners can have their service life greatly increased by cleaning up the INCOMING water.

 

[El Cazador]

Whirlpool and Kenmore are basically the same system. And it's a proprietary system. Almost no one will work on it, and no one carries parts for it to repair yourself. I have found there are mostly two systems out there. The systems like the Kinetico and Culligan ones and then the Whirlpool one. I have a WHES30 I bought from Lowes about five years ago, and now I'm having trouble with it and no one wants to work on it. For what it will cost me to get it fixed, I can buy a brand new one, and swap it out.

 

[AFA1CY]

Whirlpool and Kenmore are basically the same system. And it's a proprietary system. Almost no one will work on it, and no one carries parts for it to repair yourself. I have found there are mostly two systems out there. The systems like the Kinetico and Culligan ones and then the Whirlpool one. I have a WHES30 I bought from Lowes about five years ago, and now I'm having trouble with it and no one wants to work on it. For what it will cost me to get it fixed, I can buy a brand new one, and swap it out.

I have never had problems getting parts for Sears appliances. I was even able to get a gas regulator for a 20 year old stove.

 

[Buckaroo]

Has anyone rented a system? I too am looking as my Kinetico leaks a bit and they told me they could not guarantee that they could repair it if the took it apart. (It is quite old) So, I am anticipating needing to replace it and don't want to spring for a new Kinetico.... I am thinking that if I rented I would have a good softner in the house but avoid the cost of replacement since I am not planning to stay in this house for a lot of years.

Buckaroo

 

[AFA1CY]

Regardless of the brand you get, go to the extra trouble of having a whole house water filter installed in-line BEFORE the softner (upstream).
I don't know what your municipality provides, but MOST brands of water conditioners can have their service life greatly increased by cleaning up the INCOMING water.

This is especially true if you are using well water. For city water, the chlorine will damage the resin bed.

 

[YJBrian]

I purchased a softener from Ohio Pure Water Co. (there are several other companies o nthe net as well). I got the 48000 Grain capacity with an electronic Fleck control valve. These valves are common and can be worked on by anyone. It has separate resin/brine tanks, so it is not as compact as the all in one units if space is a concern.

Came UPS, had to load the resin into the tank, assemble everything before installing, but it was quite easy. Getting the plumbing to look decent was the hard part.

I was a bit hesitant ordering something like this over the net, but all has been well for about 2 years now.

 

[jstwrit]

Don't get the "All-In-One" units

I replaced mine several years ago with a Culligan. Anyway, a friend of mine who installs softners for a living warned me on the All-In-One cheapies. He said the salt from the tank ate up the parts in the control head therefor cutting its life span by years. Good luck.