If your home’s plumbing uses hard water, you might be considering installing a water softener so that your skin, hair, and clothing feel softer and silkier. You may not have, however, given much thought to the financial benefits a water softener can bring over the years. There is an initial investment in the appliance and ongoing costs for salt to keep your water softener running, but you should enjoy significant economic advantages for years. Here are some financial benefits of having a water softener in your home.
Appliances Last Longer
Appliances such as a water heater, dishwasher, and even a coffee pot collect mineral scale over the years when your home uses hard water. As the scale builds up, the performance of your appliances suffer. Parts can clog and cause the appliances to malfunction. In some cases, mineral scale can be removed, but doing so would involve paying for a professional appliance repair service.
If the damage is bad enough, you may need to replace an appliance before its expected lifespan is over due to the build-up of hard water scale. When you have a water softener installed, your appliances don’t have mineral scale buildup, so they could have much longer lives and need fewer repairs, and that saves you money over the years.
Energy Efficiency Is Improved
Another economic benefit of a water softener is the improved efficiency of your appliances and plumbing, which could result in lower electricity use over the years. Without scale buildup affecting the appliances, they can operate more efficiently.
Mineral scale can have a major impact on your water heater. When the inside of the heater has scale buildup, the appliance becomes less efficient, and it may even have trouble regulating the temperature of your water which could leave you with cooler showers than you like until repairs are done.
A water softener is usually installed on a pipe that leads to the water heater to ensure the water heater is protected from the mineral scale. Your plumber can help you choose the ideal location for your new softener so your entire house and all appliances can enjoy the benefits of soft water.
Fewer Cleaning Products Are Needed
Soap, detergent, and shampoo lather much better in soft water than they do in hard water. That means you can use less detergent when you do the laundry and wash dishes. You’ll also need less shampoo and soap when you bathe.
The savings can add up over the years and be an economic benefit of having soft water. Plus, you can enjoy the feel of soft, silky skin after bathing. Your laundry will also come out cleaner and softer when you have soft water, and that’s a benefit that makes having soft water even more appealing.
Fewer Plumbing Problems Develop
Just like mineral scale builds up on appliances, scale can build up inside your plumbing pipes and around your faucets and fixtures when your home uses hard water. At the least, this could mean you need to clean harder and use special products to break up scale, and at the worst, hard water might lead to clogged pipes that need to be replaced.
Mineral scale builds up inside of pipes slowly over the years and given enough time, the diameter of the pipe shrinks and causes problems with water pressure and clogs. Scale can also build up around shut-off valves and freeze them in place so you can’t turn the water off in an emergency. Plus, scale around your faucets is unattractive if you don’t keep up with cleaning it away.
All these problems are eliminated when you get a water softener and scale buildup becomes a thing of the past. Paying to replace a faucet or pipe is an expense that might be prevented by having a water softener installed.
If you’re concerned about hard water in your home, call Arnold & Sons Plumbing, Sewer & Drain Services. We can test your water to verify if it’s hard. If so, we can help you choose the right water softener for your home, install it, and help maintain it so your home is protected from the unpleasant effects of mineral scale buildup.
