Don Vandervort, Head Homeboy, has written more than 30 DIY home improvement books, been a segment host on HGTV, served as MSN.com's home improvement expert and written countless magazine articles.
Water softeners are sold in several sizes, each rated by the number of grains of hardness they can remove from water between regenerations.
Softener units rated from about 12,000 to 16,000 grains are considered small; medium-size units run from 20,000 to 40,000 grains; and large-capacity models can handle 40,000 grains or more.
You can calculate the size of water softener your family needs by multiplying the number of people in your household by 75, the average number of gallons used per person per day, to figure out how much water your household uses.
Then you multiply this number by the number of grains per gallon (GPG) of hardness minerals present to figure the capacity a whole-house water softener would require.
Why we like it:
• Does not require salt or periodic backwashing
• Treats water for the entire house
• Relatively easy to install
So, for example, if you have a family of five, figure 375 gallons of water are used per day (5 X 75). If your water has 10 GPG, figure 375 X 10 and you have 3,750 GPG requiring removal each day.
Compare this to the recharge cycle of the unit you’re considering to see how frequently regeneration must occur.
The idea is to get a unit that will go at least three days between recharges. Ideally, the water softener can also handle times of larger-than-normal water needs.
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