How to compare efficiency ratings?

[Chris Brown]

Hello, I am new here. I’m trying to figure out, understand, how to tell which water softener is more efficient, meaning which requires less salt. Can someone please help me understand? I’ve attached two pictures of charts from two different manufacturers. I crossed out model info in an effort to get unbiased responses in an effort to judge based on the specs.

 

[ditttohead]

Don't overcomplicate it. All softeners have very similar efficiency capabilities. We can manipulate the math to meet our marketing needs. Stay away from companies making silly claims, and stay far away from the online low cost leader companies.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[Reach4]

Some build more margin into one figure so as to not have to compensate for other things. So it can be a simplification thing.

If you use one set of numbers for a while, you can test residual hardness when a new regen is imminent. If the residual is more than one, reduce your capacity setting or increase your hardness setting, or increase your reserve.

If the residual hardness is much lower than 1 grain (e.g., the Hach 5-B test turns blue before even one drop was added) you could try going the other way.

However water sources can change hardness. Many cities will use more river water in the wet season (less hard), and more well water in the dry season (harder). So you could go nuts trying to tune things to keep up. Or maybe you would enjoy the tuning. Seriously.