6 reasons why you should install a water softener at home
Your home is in need of a water softener. There: we said it. It is a common misconception that water softeners are nothing more than an expensive solution to an otherwise non-existent problem. Nothing could be further from the truth. A water softener is not an unnecessary luxury when you have to deal with very calcareous water at home, the so-called hard water. You will soon see that it is a valuable investment that will save you a lot of energy, time and money in the short term.
Hard water is troubled water
When rain drops from the skies and enters the ground, it collects minerals like calcium and magnesium along the way. When it reaches a certain amount of accumulated minerals, it is classified as hard water. As this water flows through the pipes of your home, the dissolved minerals combine with heat and cause a chemical reaction. What remains is limescale and buildup, resulting in the additional consumption of cleaning and maintenance products and unnecessary damage to your household appliances (coffee maker, washing machine, boiler, water heater, etc.) This can quickly turn into a very costly problem, without you even realizing.
The solution is soft water
Installing a water softener can be the proverbial bridge over troubled water that ensures that you no longer have to worry about unnecessary expenses. The hard water is treated by capturing and replacing the harmful minerals with harmless sodium ions. Stop spending a lot of money on detergents, beauty products and soaps. Invest in a water softener once, cut your use of these products in half and reduce your energy bills by up to 30%. A nice side effect is that this way you also contribute to a better environment with a water softener.
1. Removing limescale equals reducing cleaning
No more limescale buildup. For a lot of people this sounds nothing short of a miracle because those pesky, chalky deposits often mean a lot of cleaning. A quality water softener removes most of the lime particles that are present in your water. Gone are the frustrations with dull calcium residue, scrubbing tiles or dried-up water splashes on your sinks and countertops. With a water softener, you won’t have to deal with any of that and you can limit your cleaning to the absolute minimum.
2. Household appliances last longer
Your washing machine, refrigerator with dispenser, dishwasher, even your coffee machine. Every household appliance that uses tap water in any way will be affected by the harmful properties of limescale. By using hard water, calcium particles attach themselves to the heating components of your machines. Of course it can be countered with the use of cleaning alcohol or vinegar, but these too impact your fridge and its colleagues in a bad way. A water softener, however, puts a stop to this process and lengthens the lifespan of your potential household victims with 25 to 30%.
3. Soft water for a healthy body
Mens sana in corpore sano. The Romans could not emphasize it enough centuries ago and neither can we right now: it’s important to have a sound mind in a sound body. And that’s where your water softener comes in. Soft water is vital for your skin care. It lacks the mineral ions that are present in hard water and prevent soap and detergents from being completely dissolved. Bathing or showering in soft water contains less of the harmful minerals that hold moisture and removes your skin’s natural oils. Unlike hard water that dries out your skin and results in itchy, irritated spots all over your body. If you’re already suffering from certain skin conditions like eczema or psoriasis, chances are the use of hard water will make it worse.
That same thorough cleanse is not only a miracle worker for your skin care, but also makes an unprecedented difference to the vibrancy of your hair. Due to the lack of limescale in soft water, it leaves no mineral residue that can interact with your hair itself, leaving it smooth and lustrous.
4. Save energy and money
In times like these everything seems to get even more expensive, so why not take care of your energy bill by installing a water softener? Hard water can stall the heating process of your household appliances because calcium particles attach to their heating components. As a result, it takes them longer to heat up and they consume a lot more power. On the other hand, the use of soft water can save you up to CHF700 per year on energy alone, while also reducing the odds of early repair or even replacement costs.
The high concentration of lime in tap water also forms deposits in the pipes of your home’s heating system over the years. They become increasingly clogged, resulting in proportionally less hot water in the system. Less hot water also means less heat output. The efficiency of your heating system is getting lower and lower. In a period of 5 to 10 years the effectiveness of the heat distribution can even decrease by about 20%. With a water softener you avoid that problem and therefore have lower heating costs.
5. Clean clothes
Hard water not only affects your machines and body, the same also applies to clothing and textiles, as lime deposits will eventually build up in them, causing colors to fade and garments to wear out sooner. With a water softener, your laundry emerges from your machine soft and bright, while using a lot less detergent and not one drip of fabric softener. After all, soft water causes soaps and other laundry products to lather more, dissolve more into the water and therefore work better. Eventually, it’s just another great example of how a water softener reduces your spending, this time on new clothes, fabric softener and soap.
6. Help save the planet
Not only your own home can benefit from the effects of installing a water softener. While you save money, you also help save the environment. We’ve mentioned most of the reasons already:
- You need less detergent, resulting in less chemicals and less plastic bottles.
- Your appliances last longer, so there’s no need to replace them sooner than later.
- Your energy consumption drops drastically.
All of this results in less groundwater pollution, less waste and less CO2 emissions. Nature thanks you.
The end result is clear as water: if you get a water softener in your home, you will notice the difference very quickly. We assure you: once you have (literally) tasted the benefits of soft water, you will never want to go back.
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