Soft water can help reduce this mineral buildup in a water.
Can a water softener damage a water heater.
The main reason that water softeners can shorten the life of your water heater has to do with the anode rod.
Soft water will extend the life of a hot water heater.
Potentially harmful to the environment.
Water softeners use salts to remove the minerals from the water but they do not salinate the water.
Hard water is worse on a hot water heater as the water is heated the hardness particles calcium manginess expand and drop out of suspension and build up in the bottom of the heater tank.
The popping sound a water heater can make while heating is sometimes caused by the interior mineral buildup expanding and contracting.
Water softeners periodically go through a regeneration cycle to keep them functioning.
Especially if you are regenerating the system often.
No longer does soap coagulate and leave film however water softeners can shorten the lifespan of your water heater.
A water softener will not damage a hot water heater.
Water softener hot water will damage inner softener parts.
To reduce the risk of hot water backup piping between the softener and water backup piping between the softener and water heater should be as long of a run as possible.
Made of metal and constantly heating water this appliance will eventually corrode.
Sodium is a great conductor of electricity.
Why hard water water is dismal for a water heater.
However what many people don t know is that a water softener can have damaging effects on their water heater which can cause them to have to replace their water heater sooner than expected.
They normally last about 8 12 years.
It destroys tank water heaters.
Lets dig a little deeper into it.
These minerals aren t harmful to consume.
Some of the minerals especially iron leave deposits that are prone to oxidation.
Hard water is water that contains a high mineral count of magnesium gypsum and or calcium.
This fixes all the problems we mentioned above and it may save your water heater from an early replacement.
It speeds up the decay of the steel tank by about 5 times.
A plumber can install the best solution a whole house water softener.
There are a lot of anecdotal accounts of softeners prolonging a water heater s life span as well as some anecdotal accounts of water softeners causing water heaters to fail sooner so this really needs to be clarified qualified.
Improves efficiency of hot water heaters by 22 to 29 percent.
Keep outside faucets on hard water to save soft water and salt.
Cons of a water softener.
The ion exchange that happens inside the softener swaps calcium and magnesium for sodium.
Adds a small amount of sodium into the water still falls well into the safe drinking zone yet may be an issue for some folks.
Hard water contains higher amounts of minerals water softeners remove them.
