You may think that getting rid of the hard water in your home will cost a small fortune. It could if you decided to purchase a traditional water softener; however, with today’s technology there are more cost effective ways to take care of the problem. Using an electronic water descaling unit can replace your hard water with very little effort. The cost is substantially less than a regular water softener and much easier to install. As a matter of fact if you like you can install this unit yourself. You won’t need any special tools or plumbing skills to accomplish the installation. An average price for a traditional water softener is around £1100, but you can find a water descaling unit for about £130.
If you don’t understand how a water softener works it really is pretty simple. A typical unit uses ion exchange. This means that the calcium and magnesium that are in hard water is exchanged for sodium ions as it passes through resin beads. This method requires that you will need to put a salt block, bags of salt or salt tablets in the unit to cleanse the hard water ions. This is part of the expense of owning these units.
When you use a water descaler unit the coil or coils of wire use an electro- magnetic wave. This wave passes through the hard water keeping the calcium and magnesium ions from adhering to the pipes and the rest of your appliances. The limescale just floats along in the water until it is washed away. With no limescale deposits in your pipes or other household appliances you will see a greater efficiency and thus will save money. This type of water descaling unit saves you money when you buy it and continues to save you money.
The first step in attaching your water descaling unit is to locate the main cold water pipe. Generally you will find it under the kitchen sink or perhaps under the stairs in the basement. Once you have located this source you must then find a power source for the unit. There should be one close to the entry point; however, if there isn’t find one closest to that point.
If you aren’t comfortable installing the water descaling unit yourself you could have it done. An electrician or plumber is the logical choice for having it installed. The units come with easy to follow instructions though, if you would like to do it yourself.
You should start to notice a change in the way your shower head is dispensing hot water and any scaling left behind should wipe off easily. The same is true for your bathroom fixtures, tea kettle and other small appliances. Hot water heaters tend to work better, so you may be able to turn them down and still have plenty of hot water. It could take a couple of weeks before this build up starts to disperse. Running a water descaling unit usually costs approximately 10p per week to run, which is very reasonable for the benefits received.