Whole-Home Water Softeners: Pros and Cons

whole house water softener canisters mounted on wall

Whole-home water softeners are available in different sizes and styles to accommodate the size of your home and the size of your family. A typical water softener comes with a water softener tank and a brine tank that gets installed wherever water enters into a home including a utility closet, garage, or basement. It’s one of the most important home appliances you could add to your home, according to the 2020 fleck water softener reviews. However, if you’re still unsure about whether or not a water softener system is right for you and your family, check out the pros and cons of adding a water softener to your home. If you have a well, see what water softeners for well water are available on the market today.

Pros

Before installing a whole-home water softener system, it’s important to know how it can benefit you and your family. Below you’ll find several reasons why a water softener system is one of the most important updates you can make to your home.

Prevents Buildup

One of the biggest benefits of having a whole home water softener is that it helps prevent the buildup of limescale and soap scum on your kitchen sink, showerheads, bathtubs, and other important areas of your home. This not only makes your home look better, but it also makes it easier to clean surfaces without having to scrub or use abrasive chemicals.

Better For Your Skin

Hard water tends to clog your pores and dry out your skin causing you a variety of unsightly skin issues. This occurs due to the hard minerals and other materials found in common tap water. By filtering these minerals out through a water softener, your skin can moisturizer itself naturally, avoid more clogged pores, and help improve the overall appearance of common skin conditions like eczema.

Prolong The Life of Other Appliances

Due to its ability to prevent limescale build-up, a water softener system can help prolong the lifespan of other appliances such as washing machines, dishwashers, and boilers. The reason behind this is that there’s less build-up in the pipes connected to these appliances, which would cause the machines to malfunction. In addition, without this limescale build-up, the appliances won’t have to work as hard to complete its normal functions. More so, by working more efficiently, these appliances will consume less energy and bring down your overall electrical costs per month.

Reduce Consumption

When you use soap, detergent, shampoo, and other cleaning products in soft water, they tend to lather more effectively. This means you can use less product then you would’ve with hard water, and cut the cost spent on these products every month. In fact, many manufacturers claim you can save upwards of three hundred dollars per year on cleansers.

high performance whole home water softener system

Lengthen Clothing Quality

When you wash your clothing in hard water, you’ll notice how quickly the fabric begins to deteriorate with each wash. That’s because hard water breaks down the integrity of the fabric leading to fading, piling, and other unsightly signs of wear. With soft water, the fabric stays loose, soft, and won’t fade or pile as quickly when you wash them.

Designate A Drinking Area

Since you shouldn’t consume soft water on a regular basis, it’s important to know your options when it comes to your drinking water. A great feature to whole-home water softener systems is the ability to designate an area for drinking water. You can choose to treat all the water in your home except say the water from your kitchen sink. This allows you to reap the benefits of a water softener, and still have consumable drinking water in your home.

Cons

Like any other home appliance or product, installing a whole home water softener has some downfalls. It’s important that you weigh the pros and cons before purchasing your water softener to make sure it’s the right choice for your home.

Cost

One of the biggest cons associated with adding a whole home water softener is the cost. The initial upfront cost to purchase a water softener system and the installation cost can range anywhere between a couple of hundred dollars to a couple of thousand dollars. In addition, most water softeners require you to add a salt rock to the water softener every few weeks. The exact amount and frequency you’ll need to add the salt rock depend on how hard your water is. Typically, you’ll spend an extra forty to eighty dollars every year.

More so, much like other appliances, you’ll need to do regular maintenance on your water softener to keep it working properly. These tasks may be completed on your own, however, most people have a service company come out to perform these tasks. This means you’ll spend a couple of hundred dollars per year on maintenance fees in addition to unforeseen costs due to malfunctions or broken equipment.

Takes Up Space

One downside to having a whole home water softener is the amount of space a unit takes up. Most homes do not have a designated space set aside for a water softener unless there was one previously installed in the home. By having a water softener installed, it can limit the amount of space you have in a room that you utilize frequently. In addition, you could need some plumbing installed to soften the water in certain areas of your home. This extra plumbing could take up some of your cabinet or storage space depending on where your new plumbing is installed.

Increased Water Bill

It’s well-known that water softeners tend to waste water during the regeneration process. This could cause an increase of 10 to 15-percent in your water bill if your water is metered. However, you can decrease the amount of water wasted by installing a lower wattage water softener. You can find out the wattage of each appliance by contacting the manufacturer.

Not Suitable For Drinking

When it comes to soft water, many people do not like the way that it tastes. In fact, it’s recommended that you avoid drinking softened water on a daily basis. Unfortunately, soft water can pick up other elements in your plumbing like heavy metals and deposit them into your drinking water. In addition, soft water can increase the amount of sodium in your body that could lead to a variety of health issues including high blood pressure.

If you’ve decided that a whole-home water softener would benefit you and your family, then check out the 2020 fleck water softener reviews. With these reviews, you’ll find the perfect whole-home system that’s perfect for you and your family.

About Amanda

I love to buy a lot of products for the home, and dissect them out. I split them into duds and winners, and share the findings here on my site. As a reader of my site, I'm aiming for your next purchase to be an informed and inspired one.

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