Wondering whether whole house water filters are worth the investment? We get that. When you’re spending upwards of $500 on a single product, you want to make sure you’re spending your money wisely.
In this guide, we’ll be answering the question, “Are whole house water filters worth it?“
But first, the short answer:
A whole house water filtration system definitely is worth it, as long as you buy a top system from a reliable brand that removes your problem contaminants.
Not all whole house water filter systems are worth spending your money on. Equally, some might be worth spending money on, but they’re just not right for your needs.
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📰 How to Decide Whether a Whole House Water Filter Is Worth It
Let’s dive into the things to consider when deciding whether a whole house water filter is worth it.
Test Your Water
You don’t know which whole house water filtration systems are worth the investment until you know what your drinking water contains.
Test your water (we recommend private testing from a certified laboratory, like Tap Score) and make a note of the contaminants that are most prominent. You may find harmful chemicals, dissolved solids, heavy metals, hydrogen sulfide, iron, bacteria, lead, and more.
You can then focus your search on water whole house water filtration systems that can remove these contaminants. These are “worth it” because they remove the contaminants your water contains.
But there’s more thought that goes into choosing a water filter that’s worth your money.
Consider Whether Whole House Filtration Is Necessary
Some people are set on buying a whole house water filter because they appreciate that this type of filter cleans the water in their entire plumbing system.
But you might only want a water filter to provide filtered drinking water. In this case, a whole house water filter might not be worth it for you. Save money and buy a point of use filter, like an under-sink filter.
If you do want to eliminate contaminants in your whole home plumbing supply, a whole house water filtration system is worth it for you.
Read Product Reviews
Not all whole house water filters are worth your hard-earned money. It’s essential to read product reviews before you buy a filtration system, especially if the system is considerably cheaper than its competitors.
Product reviews tell you a lot about how a whole house water filter system lives up to customer expectations in terms of performance, usability, durability, and maintenance. You’ll get an idea of the experience real people like you have had with a product, and any problems they encountered.
You’ll find the occasional handful of bad reviews for most whole house water filtration systems, but you can look at the overall customer viewpoint to decide whether a water filter is worth it for you.
Estimate Your Potential Savings
If your home’s tap water is contaminated with impurities that taste bad and damage your pipes and appliances, and are potentially dangerous to drink, you’re probably losing money right now. Money spent on bottled filtered water, money spent on inefficient appliances, and money spent on repairs and replacements to appliances that were supposed to last much longer.
Work out a rough annual spend on anything you buy to deal with the effects of unfiltered water. This will tell you how much you should save when you install a whole house filter. Many people spend hundreds of dollars on bottled water a year, so cutting your bottled water habit itself will help you save a significant amount of money.
If your potential savings don’t look so impressive, that’s not to say that a whole house filter isn’t worth it. For many people, the other benefits of a water filtration system – like the reassurance that comes from drinking clean, filtered water – are more important than the financial savings.
Make the Right Choice
Some whole house filtration systems might not be worth it for your particular needs and budgets, while other whole house filters might be perfect.
Choose between the options available and find the right choice for you. Don’t listen to your neighbor or your friend – they might have different water contaminants than you, or they might just care about certain contaminants more than you do.
More isn’t always better, either. For instance, you don’t have to opt for whole house reverse osmosis systems just because you’ve heard they remove the most.
Related Post: Whole Home POE Filters vs RO Systems Compared
If you’re dealing with a rotten egg smell, an air injection system will probably be more suitable. Or if you have chlorinated city water, a whole house carbon filter will probably be ideal.
Make sure you know what’s available to you and you buy a suitable whole home water filter system for your needs. When you buy the right water filtration system, that system will be worth it for you.
Keep in Mind your Water Source
You might know already that your water contains harmful contaminants. But where you get your water from will determine which types of whole home water filters are worth it for you.
Public water supplies are treated by water treatment facilities according to regulations set by the Environmental Protection Agency. That means if you get your drinking water from a city source, you’re unlikely to deal with bacteria-contaminated water, but you’ll probably have chlorinated water. In this case, a filter for removing chlorine will be worth it for you, but a system that targets microbiological contaminants probably wouldn’t.
If you get your drinking water from a well, a system that removes common well water impurities will be worth it for you, while a system that removes chlorine probably won’t.
To reiterate: get your point of entry water tested to find out what it contains, then choose a water treatment system that deals with these contaminants.
Assess Your Budget
Whole house filters cost $350-$2,500, depending on the system you have in mind. The obvious starting point is to assess whether you can afford one of these systems, even if it means saving up for a couple of months before you buy.
But that’s not the only financial consideration to make. You might need to pay an extra $200 for a professional installation, and you’ll certainly need to pay to maintain the system by replacing the filters or media. Some whole house systems will increase your water bill because they use water to regenerate.
Depending on the filter, the annual cost of owning a whole house filtration system is as little as $10 and as much as $150. If you can comfortably pay to operate your system properly, a whole house water filter is worth it for you.
Keep Your End Goal in Mind
There’s nothing more satisfying than identifying a solution that entirely solves your problem. Finding the right whole house filter can do exactly that.
We all have goals and intentions for installing whole home water filtration systems. Most of us want to improve the quality of our drinking water, remove dangerous contaminants, and ultimately enjoy clean, safe, filtered water all around our homes.
Ultimately, when deciding whether a whole house system is worth it, you need to consider your end goal. How happy would you feel to have an all-in-one solution to your entire home’s water quality issues? If the answer is “very happy”, a whole home filtration system is worth it for you.
🤔 So, Are Whole Home Water Filters Worth It?
If you’re in any way concerned, disappointed, or unhappy with your water quality, and you’re worried about the effects of using your water on your family’s health, a whole home filtration system is usually worth it.
Whole home filtration systems:
- Protect your water line and the appliances in your entire home, including your water heater
- Filter water to remove potentially dangerous impurities
- Provide clean water for showering
- Give better-tasting drinking water
- Allow you to use clean water all around your home, including cooking water and bathing water
- Provide an all-in-one solution, so you don’t have to install different filters at different locations
- Don’t typically affect your water pressure (as long as you size the system properly)
- Help you to save money and do your bit for the environment by reducing your energy bills and eliminating the need for single-use water bottles
Just make sure you buy a system that you can afford, and that removes every water contaminant that concerns you, so you get the best results from your investment.