If you have very hard water then I think a water softener is definitely worth it. It’s not just your kettle that gets limescaled up it’s all the other pipes, taps, toilets, showerheads etc.
We have a posh hot water tap in the kitchen called a “Quooker” that provides instant hot water (because the house is a bungalow and the normal hot water tank is a long long way away) - when that was installed the bloke that sold it to us said it would be perfectly fine running direct off the (hard) mains cold water feed. It wasn’t - it furred up solid within 18 months and had to have its innards replaced (fortunately under warranty). It’s now connected to the soft water supply along with everything else!
The softener machine uses 4Kg salt blocks (two at a time) and I drop in a new block roughly every 2-3 weeks. It’s been in for a few years so I can’t remember how much it cost new.
The salt blocks cost £40 (€47) for 12 blocks (6 packs of 2), so the running cost is pretty low.
8kg every 3 weeks or so? What? Our salt water softener is at least 18yo ( we bought it s/hand in 2009) and a 10kg sack of salt tablets lasts well over a year. It supplies all toilets, basins, showers hot and cold except for one tap in the kitchen, which delivers mains water, untreated.
Your salt seems hideously expensive - my 10kg sacks cost about €7.
What did you do in the end (if anything), @SuKe ? We have moved from a wonderfully soft water area in the UK to a hard water area in France and I’m already noticing the difference.
I stuck to using white vinegar in the kettle, dishwasher and washing machine. Couldn’t afford the machine and can buy a whole lot of white vinegar for the same amount.
Yes, coming from Finistère where the water is so soft I never had any calcaire in 33 years, now down here its hard as rock and the kettle and other water machines are regularly de-calc’ed. My skin is also so much drier so more moisturiser needed and other products. I used to have a Britta water jug but on my own, I never used it before it expired so waste of money when I could drink the tap water up there without fear. Different story down here, no one I visit or know drinks direct from the tap.
Couldn’t afford the machine and can buy a whole lot of white vinegar for the same amount.