I already asked some questions about our gas supplier in another thread—thanks again for the feedback.
Now we are facing the decision: "Water softener system—yes or no?"
Our house is about 10 years old (just bought it). Unfortunately, we have very hard water here (around 23). You can already see it on the faucets (where the water comes out), and of course, this isn’t ideal for cleaning or for the pipes either.
We were advised to install a water softener system (we had the idea before, too). However, the local utility company advises against it, and I have also read that these systems can be prone to bacterial growth if they are not properly maintained. Also, chemicals are said to be added to the water (I initially thought it worked through a special salt). Maintenance and service costs also seem quite high, on top of the initial purchase price.
How have you dealt with this? What do you think are the advantages and disadvantages?
At the moment, I am leaning toward not installing one.
Now we are facing the decision: "Water softener system—yes or no?"
Our house is about 10 years old (just bought it). Unfortunately, we have very hard water here (around 23). You can already see it on the faucets (where the water comes out), and of course, this isn’t ideal for cleaning or for the pipes either.
We were advised to install a water softener system (we had the idea before, too). However, the local utility company advises against it, and I have also read that these systems can be prone to bacterial growth if they are not properly maintained. Also, chemicals are said to be added to the water (I initially thought it worked through a special salt). Maintenance and service costs also seem quite high, on top of the initial purchase price.
How have you dealt with this? What do you think are the advantages and disadvantages?
At the moment, I am leaning toward not installing one.
Tolentino schrieb:
Then you have a good plumber. Many don’t install products supplied by the client because of warranty and similar issues.That’s true. So far, we’ve had a great experience with all the tradespeople. In this case, he seems to be making an exception for some reason. The same plumber explicitly told me that they definitely are not allowed to install other plumbing fixtures, but here “the site manager will probably give the okay.”
And even if not, it’s possible to prepare the piping so that you can either connect or clamp it yourself later, or have someone come to do it.
In my opinion, that still represents a decent saving of over 1000 EUR compared to the builder’s total price of 3900 EUR.
H
hampshire21 Jul 2021 18:53The main reason for our decision was the potentially longer lifespan of appliances, rather than ease of cleaning, although that is a nice side effect. Besides the usual white goods, which often include built-in water softeners in the service components, there are other devices such as espresso machines, boiling water dispensers, tankless water heaters, steam cookers, ovens with steam burst functions, irons, refrigerators with ice crushers—did I miss anything? In any case, I want these appliances to have a long service life and not be damaged by limescale. Our water hardness is around 25°dH.
Of course, a water softening system also involves operating costs: salt, resin, and if you don’t perform the maintenance yourself, servicing (which includes the resin).
Our small BWT system occasionally flushes itself and therefore requires a wastewater connection; that should not be forgotten.
Of course, a water softening system also involves operating costs: salt, resin, and if you don’t perform the maintenance yourself, servicing (which includes the resin).
Our small BWT system occasionally flushes itself and therefore requires a wastewater connection; that should not be forgotten.
S
Strahleman22 Jul 2021 21:19rdwlnts schrieb:
Which appliance really breaks down because of limescale? How exactly does the damage occur? That’s just marketing nonsense from descaling companies. For me, it’s not primarily about protecting appliances. That’s what Dieter Bürgy and his colleagues focus on. It’s about comfort—having fewer limescale deposits, less cleaning, and so on. Washing hair also feels nicer with softer water. Our water hardness is 20°dH (357 ppm), so for us, the question isn’t “whether to install a system,” but “which system to choose.”
H
hampshire23 Jul 2021 09:00rdwlnts schrieb:
Which appliance actually breaks down because of limescale? What is the failure mechanism? Any appliance that can experience flow problems due to limescale buildup.
Any appliance that can suffer from overheating caused by limescale.
With some basic physics knowledge, it is possible to understand that operating points shift with limescale accumulation, which also affects the load on components and not just changes energy consumption.
This was our basis for decision-making, as even an average 10% longer lifespan of the appliances justified the investment. Of course, there is no strictly necessary technical requirement for a descaling system.