Hard Water and Your Appliance Warranty: The (Not So) Fine Print

Water Quality

Not only is refined, conditioned water good for your health, it’s good for the health of your home and appliances too. And the manufacturers of tankless water heaters have found this to be especially true. Hard water is tough on plumbing and appliances.

As a matter of fact, use of hard water may void the warranty of your dishwasher, refrigerator, washing machine or water heater due to its corrosive nature. A typical water heater warranty, for example, could state that the heater is covered for anywhere between 5-10 years. If you read on, the warranty will usually list circumstances that not covered, and “scale buildup due to water quality” is typically found on that list. Read the fine print.

Research and Science

Research studies have shown that adding a water softener has helped water heaters and other water-using appliances operate more efficiently, while preventing the problems that lime scale build up creates. Some research has shown that standard water heaters using conditioned water kept their original factory efficiency rating for as long as 15 years. Hard water cut that efficiency by 48% due to scale build up and shortened the life of the heating elements. In some test instances, tankless water heaters failed after 1.6 years of use.

Protection and Savings

Conditioned water will not only help protect your appliances and plumbing, you’ll use less soap and detergent too. Your owner’s manual will have a guide showing how much soap to use in hard water vs. soft water conditions. The savings can be fairly significant too. Soft water can use as little as half the detergent as hard water, while achieving the same cleaning results.

Switching over to conditioned water will save you money by:

• using less energy through increased efficiency of the appliance
• using less soap and detergent because the removed minerals
• extending the life of your appliance
• keeping your warranty in tact