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Water Softner Suggestions

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  • Jul 3rd, 2007 9:05 am
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Banned
May 29, 2005
2255 posts
45 upvotes

Water Softner Suggestions

Been looking at water softners for the new house, to be placed in the basement, OZZ corp that provides the hot water heater, has the basic one for 1800 dollars

Does anyone know of a company that does it for less, and do you have one yourself right now, how is it working for you?
23 replies
Deal Fanatic
Jan 17, 2003
8993 posts
1532 upvotes
OZZ.... oh what can I say about OZZ. Don't know much about their Water Softeners but i know a lot of people who have complained about them.

ANyhow, we have a Culligan System in our home. The really nice thing is that it only regenerates when needed. Not every night like some other brands.

Loving the soft water!!
Sr. Member
Jul 21, 2006
654 posts
9 upvotes
My suggestion is to go with a Kinetico softener. They don't use hydro and therefore don't need to be reset when the power flickers. If you don't use water, they don't regenerate.

www.kinetico.com

Jay
Banned
May 29, 2005
2255 posts
45 upvotes
thanks you two, any chance of seeing the pictures of your setups, and how much did you pay for your system?


Tia
Member
Jan 23, 2004
359 posts
16 upvotes
I use kinetico as well, little more expensive than the other brands, but worth the money. Besides it doesn't use hydro, it uses less salt as well, plus it have two tanks so you don't have to worry about no soft water to use when it's doing the tank cleaning and you don't have to setup timer to do that also.
Banned
May 29, 2005
2255 posts
45 upvotes
why is no one mentioning the price, is this a big secret? How much do they cost and do you have pics of your setup to show?

Am beginning to think these are kinetico salespeople trying to plug their products on here :idea:
Sr. Member
Dec 25, 2002
660 posts
229 upvotes
We rent a Culligan. I didn't want to put out the money for one until I saw if I wanted to keep it....plus it is nice that if anything happens to it they come and take care of it. We pay $29 a month - contract for 2 years, installation was free.

We really like it and will probably buy one once our contract is up next year.

Kelly
Sr. Member
Jul 21, 2006
654 posts
9 upvotes
glaswegian wrote:why is no one mentioning the price, is this a big secret? How much do they cost and do you have pics of your setup to show?

Am beginning to think these are kinetico salespeople trying to plug their products on here :idea:
You need to contact your local kinetico dealer as the system will be tailored to your individual needs and requriements. It also depends on what kind of things you need the water softener to do.

Just go to their website, contact your local dealer and they can properly quote you.

I don't have one yet as we haven't taken posession of our house, but my parents had one for about 15 years and no problems at all during that time. These units are also vitually maintenance free.

Jay
Banned
May 29, 2005
2255 posts
45 upvotes
Since we are with OZZ, I think we might just go with them, as we have the water heater through them as well, we might get a discount
Deal Addict
User avatar
Oct 4, 2001
1468 posts
134 upvotes
Melfice wrote:I use kinetico as well, little more expensive than the other brands, but worth the money. Besides it doesn't use hydro, it uses less salt as well, plus it have two tanks so you don't have to worry about no soft water to use when it's doing the tank cleaning and you don't have to setup timer to do that also.

how much more expensive? Anyone tried installing diys?
All is not golde that outward shewith bright...lydgate
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User avatar
Nov 10, 2003
1608 posts
144 upvotes
Hampton
I have installed a water softener - bought from HD for just over $1000 incl taxes 2 years ago - I opened a HD card and got 10% off - it was one of those weekends. The unit was a GE one and was the biggest they had since our well water is pretty hard (around 27 grains). The unit cycles only when it needs to and does not lose its memory when the power goes out. I just top up the salt every now and again.

You need some basic plumbing skills (ie pipe soldering ) - even if you had a plumber come in to do it you would still be ahead of some of the prices I am seeing here.
Deal Fanatic
Jan 17, 2003
8993 posts
1532 upvotes
We got our unit with the house. That is why i haven't posted a price.

Try to stay anyway from anything from OZZ. Call around and ask, don't let OZZ rip you off like they have with other people!!!
Deal Addict
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Aug 7, 2003
1187 posts
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Toronto ON
Right now I rent one from Culligan. I like the price, and it does the job - but when it decides to do it's re-cycling thing, MAN is it loud! It wakes me up.

I called them to come and fix the "jet in the basement" and they did tone it down a bit, but I can still hear it.

Since I'm likely to sell my home next year, the rental is the best option for me.

Previously, I had purchased one at Sears. I was happy with that. They did the install - it was about $1200. One day it simply died and leaked all over the basement (unfinished), and because it was Sears, they came and replaced it.

Sears has sales on these things a number of times a year, and since I have used their "satisfaction guarantee" on a number of occasions, I find that to be a good selling feature too.
Deal Addict
Feb 22, 2005
2431 posts
8 upvotes
Toronto Water confirmed to me that the average water hardness reading in Toronto is 121 m/L which is very hard according to some charts I found online. What is the ideal water hardness reading that these products aim to operate at in order to bring down to moderately hard levels instead (75? 80? mg/L)?
Deal Addict
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Nov 10, 2003
1608 posts
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Hampton
With the more sophisticated units you tell it how hard your water is and then it softens based on that. If you want some residual hardness in theory you could understate how hard your water is. In reality however, the setting just tells the softener how often to regenerate the resin beads to ensure optimal softening. A resin exchange softener will always reduce the hardness of water to NIL until the resin is saturated with calcium (at which point the system should regenerate automatically because you told it how hard the water is and it has kept a track of how much has flowed through and done the math). If you understate hardness you get a period of soft water, followed by a period where the water is coming through as hard as it was before you had the softener, followed by softwater again after the unit has regenerated. You will never get a "partially softened" scenario.

Btw - another measure of hardness you will see is grains per gallon - 1 grain per gallon = 17.1mg/L. Our water is 25 grains - so over 400mg/L !! When you have that sort of hardness you have to bear in mind you are pumping a lot of sodium into your drinking water which might lead you to install reverse osmosis or use potassium crystals for health reasons.
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Jul 15, 2003
3566 posts
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Ontario, Canada
The only thing i can suggest is getting one that has a separate brine tank from the resin tank, like in the pictures posted. I know some are one big unit, with the resin tank being essentially inside the brine tank. The problem is that eventually you are going to end up with crud in the bottom of the brine tank and you will want to clean it out. This is a simple unhook, rinse it out with a hose, hook it back up if the brine tank is separate. Otherwise i wouldn't want to think about cleaning out an all-in-one unit.
Deal Addict
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Oct 4, 2001
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I think you also need to think about your space, if you have a finished or a small basement area, the single unit is better for looks/space savings.
All is not golde that outward shewith bright...lydgate
Deal Addict
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Sep 5, 2004
4657 posts
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Guelph, ON
Any comments on renting vs buying? Better to rent or Buy?

Any comments on Kenmore water softeners?

Thanks

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