Water Softeners and Installation Question

[Moonlake]

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[omnivore]

Do any of you have water softeners? Would you like to share what you have learned? Do you know how to install one?
I went to a home improvement store and found a Whirlpool model for $400 dollars and found they wanted $425 to install the unit. At another house I had a Culligan unit , but I have forgotten what we paid, (two thousand I think). Still, installation costs seem high to me.

I do have the shower-head filter installed but I don't always use the shower to rinse my hair, especially with all the fruit in my hair from conditioning packs. :stirpot:

I may end up being the odd person out, but I hate soft water! Where we currently live has it and to me, it feels slimy, tastes bad, and takes forever to rinse any type of soap or soap-like product off/out of anything. Anything. Dishes, people, dogs, cars. Also, I feel that it leaves my hair feeling kind of slimy, and then it turns sticky after it dries. This is probably due to the fact that I just can't spend 30-45 minutes rinsing a two dimes size blob of shampoo out of my hair.

One of my friends has a shower head filter and I really like it. Soft hair, non-reptilian skin, and no slimies. Housesitting for her is the best!

I grew up on really hard well water...maybe that ruined me for life?

[Moonlake]

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[omnivore]

Oops, I must have misread your original question. Apologies. :blossom:

[Moonlake]

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[Anje]

Unfortunately I had mine installed. I can tell you that you probably want to set it up to soften both the hot and cold water (as opposed to just hot).

My guess is that your best bet, if you're not comfortable doing the soldering and plumbing work yourself, is to hire a plumber or get a handy friend to do it. Roughly where are you? There's a possibility (probably slim) that someone here can recommend a plumber near you. The going rate varies and I'm not certain what it is any longer, but I would expect to pay in the neighborhood of $50-80 per hour, similar to an auto mechanic who owns his/her own shop.

Oh, this may be a silly-sounding point, but make sure you don't get a bigger softener than you have space for. We had to cram ours in this tiny closet between the water heater and the furnace, and there wasn't much space. Also, you should consider either having a tap that dispenses non-softened water or installing an RO system for drinking water. There have been several studies that indicate drinking softened water is bad for cardiac health, long-term.

[Moonlake]

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[Anje]

I think it can be. Depends on how much you have to soften it, I suspect. We've got something along the lines of 27 grains/gallon hardness here, and I miss my softener now that I've moved away from that house.

ETA: Spidermom's husband is a plumber. She might know more or might be able to ask him, if you want information. Ultimately, though, it's a matter of whether you want to install it or have an expert do it.