Absolutely, you should… if you rent your home. There is no way I would buy a water softener and install it in a home I rented. However, if you happen to own your home, maybe the choice is not so simple. Water softener companies such as Culligan have built their business models around renting water softeners and selling those rental customers salt. Once every month or two… or three… they deliver the salt and test the water to make sure it is as soft as it should be. They charge $30 to $60 a month plus the salt. After five or ten years, they may have thousands of customers and bring in millions of dollars a year.

It's a great business and a fantastic business model, and maybe thirty years ago when electronics were not reliable, it made more sense to rent a water softener, but today, water softeners, regardless of the brand are very reliable. Old timers remember all of the problems in the past with water softener timers. Today, if they work out of the box, they work for many, many years.

Do the math: If you pay $30 a month for a rental water softener that equals $360 dollars a year. In five years, you would have paid $1,800 for the system and in ten years it would be $3,600. Now, five out of four people struggle with math, but we sell water softeners for under $1,000.00. Of course, we have more expensive models with salt and water saving technology and other features that many people want, such as Bluetooth Smartphone Integration or WiFi Connectivity, but nothing that is close to $3,600!

Do you rent your TV, refrigerator, washer, or furniture? Odds are, if you have established good credit, you know that simply is not wise. Sometimes people have financial problems and they may have to temporarily rent things like this… maybe even their furniture, but when they solve their problems, they don’t continue to rent these household items.

An argument could be made that it might be smart to lease an automobile, but only about 25% of cars are leased. If your goal is to have low monthly payments and drive a new vehicle every few years with little hassle, then leasing may be worth the additional cost. Be sure, however, that you can live with all the limitations on mileage, wear and tear, and the like. They charge extra for all of that.

Now, there are circumstances where renting a softener may make sense, but usually, it revolves around renting or leasing a house for a short term. Most water treatment companies’ rental rates start at $30.00 monthly and go up. They may require a 12 to 60-month lease agreement and they will run a credit check, sometimes dinging your credit score temporarily.

In conclusion, there are circumstances whereby it could make sense to rent a water softener, but in most cases, it is an appliance that will outlast your washer, dryer, water heater and dishwasher - all the while prolonging the life of each of these appliances. Additionally, with the money you save by using up to 50% on soap and cleaning products, a water softener is the only appliance you can put in your home that not only makes life easier, but actually saves more than it costs. Think about that one for a minute…