Eddy Electronic Water Descaler Review – Good Water Softener Alternative?

by Curtis Grossi | Last Updated: March 14, 2024

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Intro

Are you on a low sodium diet and don’t want to use a water softener that uses salt or potassium, or just tired of having to lug bags of salt around every time you need to replenish your water softener? There are a number of alternatives, but for an absolute no-maintenance option, the Eddy Electronic Water Descaler is a great choice.

It is easy to fit, doesn’t require any plumbing or alterations and once it’s in place, you can forget about it – except that it will keep on reminding you of its presence by the improved water flow and quality. Installation is as easy as wrapping two 6-foot (1.7m) wires around the inlet pipe to your house, and plug in the power supply; it’s that simple.

The Eddy Electronic Water Descaler will treat the calcium and magnesium ions and compounds in your water so they don’t create lime-scale, and will actually remove some or most of the existing scale in your household pipework, water fittings, and appliances. In addition, there will be a noticeable improvement in the lathering of your soaps, so you’ll save money in that regard as well.

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The Eddy Electronic Water Descaler does not replace health-giving calcium with sodium, as with salt-based ion-exchange water softeners, so your water will still be full of healthy compounds, they just won’t be such a nuisance to the pipes and appliances in your home.

How does it work? According to an official Eddy staff response, “Eddy changes the behavior of the crystal mineral solids in such a way as to encourage them to stay in solution with the water rather than precipitate out onto surfaces as hard limescale. In this way, the solids stay in solution and are washed through to the drain.

Ironically, this means that the hardness reading after fitting may even be seen to increase slightly.
Despite this, limescale deposits should be greatly reduced, and any small remaining lime scale deposits should be of a much softer type that is easily removed by light brushing or wiping, without the use of caustic chemicals.”

Who is Eddy

Eddy Electronics was founded in 1999 by two electronics engineers living near London, England, who, after much research, developed an electronic water descaler, the ED1503P.

This 3-coil design was replaced by the updated two-coil ED5002P model in 2003, and in 2006 they decided to introduce the more powerful ED6002P Professional model as the standard unit, which is the currently available model.

Important Features

1. Double Rated Components

All the components in the Eddy Electronic Water Descaler are double-rated to ensure very long service life and low failure rate.

2. No Salt Required

The Eddy Electronic Water Descaler does not operate on an ion-exchange principle, so no salt needs to be added to the system. This also means that sodium levels in the treated water will not be increased and it will be safe for people on a low-sodium diet. In fact, the unit is maintenance-free and does not need setting or monitoring as other systems do.

3. Reduces Existing Lime-scale

The operation of the Eddy Electronic Water Descaler not only reduces the amount of lime-scale produced by water flowing through its coils but also acts to reduce and remove existing lime-scale in pipes and water fittings such as faucets and shower heads.

4. Easy to Install

The Eddy Electronic Water Descaler works on the principle of pulsing low frequency electrical waves through the water as it flows in the pipes, so there is no need to cut and join plumbing pipework in order to install it.

Simply locate about 12” to 14” (30cm to 35cm) of exposed pipe on your water feed pipe and wrap the two lengths of insulated wire supplied with the system around the pipe about 2” (5cm) apart, as per the instructions, and secure with the cable ties provided or some insulation tape.

Insert the leads at the ends of each wire into the corresponding sockets in the control box (which can be stuck to the adjacent wall with the supplied double-sided tape) and attach the dedicated power supply. Plug in and switch on.

5. Can Be Used On A Variety Of Water Pipe Materials And Sizes

The Eddy Electronic Water Descaler will operate on metal or plastic pipe materials, including copper, galvanized iron, and PVC.
It should not, however, be used on lead piping, as the removal of scale will lead to the leaching of lead into the water, which can have very serious health impacts.

The system is supplied with cables sufficient for wrapping around pipes of up to 1.5” (38mm) diameter, which includes most domestic water feeds that are either 1” (25mm) or 1.5” in diameter. For those domestic homes and business enterprises with larger diameter water pipes, longer coils are available for purchase (buy on Amazon).

6. Excellent Customer Service and Returns Policy

A quick browse of customer reviews will show that Eddy’s stands by their undertaking to provide a full refund if the customer is not satisfied with the product within one year of purchase, and will replace any system that is faulty.

Water Capacity, Pressure, and Temperature Range

The Eddy Electronic Water Descaler is not plumbed into the pipework it operates on, so it operates at whatever is the water capacity and pressure of the plumbing system.
The cables supplied with the Eddy Electronic Water Descaler are sized for pipes of 1” to 1.5” (25mm to 38mm) diameter in the USA and for pipe diameters of 5/8” to 1” (15mm to 25mm) in the UK and EU countries.
Longer cables for pipe diameters of 1.8” to 2.5” (46mm to 64mm) can be purchased in the USA.
The Eddy Electronic Water Descaler should be placed on the cold water input line for whole-house water treatment.

Water and Salt Consumption

The Eddy Electronic Water Descaler is an electronic device that does not use salt, nor does it require regeneration or flushing. As such, it consumes no water or salt.

Power Rating Consumption

The Eddy Electronic Water Descaler uses a plug-top type of power supply, with a power rating of 5 Watts.

The power supply adjusts automatically to the mains voltage available, in the USA it is rated at 110V AC, while in the UK and EU it is rated at 240V AC. The power supply comes with a 5’5” (1.7m) lead; an extension can be purchased if needed.
Units sold in the USA have a power supply with a USA-style plug configuration.

Size, Dimensions and Shipping Weight

The dimensions of the Eddy Electronic Water Descaler are: 6.75” (17cm) wide by 3.5” (9cm) high by 1.6” (4.0cm) deep. The weight of the system is 1.4 pounds (0.64kg).

Price Range

The Eddy Electronic Water Descaler can be purchased in the price range of US$150 – US$250.

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Warranty

The Eddy Electronic Water Descaler comes with a ‘no quibble’ full refund for up to 12 months after date of purchase, and has a lifetime repair or replacement guarantee in the event of electrical failure or mechanical malfunction.

Reviews

Customer reviews for the Eddy Electronic Water Descaler vary widely from a large number of people indicating that it performs as expected, to those saying they had expected more from it, to those who say it doesn’t do anything!

Having looked at scientific articles on electronic pulse descaling, there is evidence that the process has some merit, with a 2010 study by Dr Peter Fox and colleagues of Arizona State University, Tempe, showing that electromagnetically induced physical water treatment reduced scale formation by 42% compared with 96% for template assisted crystallization by cation exchange.

An 80% reduction is required for DVGW certification as acceptable water softening device. The study also confirmed that the scale formed during electromagnetic water treatment was softer and easier to remove than that forming in untreated hard water.

Interestingly, although the manufacturers of the Eddy Electronic Water Descaler do not make claims that it is a water softener, more than half of the customer reviews on Amazon state that, in addition to reducing existing scale and making scale easier to remove, the treated water also lathered more easily – indicating some properties of water softening.

Most reviewers who were not satisfied with the performance of the Eddy Electronic Water Descaler found that the supplier honored the returns policy and, where Amazon’s standard handling fee was deducted from the refund, Eddy assisted customers in obtaining a full refund.

Some who found it partially effective were concerned that the price is relatively high for the level of performance, but all were in agreement that the ease of installation and lack of need for maintenance or addition of salt made it a very attractive proposition.

Do Salt Free Water Softeners Really Work? Check The Video Below!

Conclusion

It is still not clear what the exact chemical mechanism is that promotes descaling via electronic or electromagnetic treatment, but there is ample evidence that it does, indeed, assist in reducing hard water scale.

No maintenance, no salt addition, no backwashing, and very low power consumption make this alternative very attractive. The returns policy that provides a full refund if the product is returned within 12 months of purchase in the event that the customer is not satisfied with the results is almost unique.

Eddy Electronic Water Descaler will reduce the build-up of lime-scale in your household pipes and water fittings, and any scale that occurs is soft and easy to remove.

There are reports that lathering improves with the Eddy Electronic Water Descaler and that is why it can be loosely termed an alternative water softener, but one of its main benefits is that it does not require an increase in the level of sodium to achieve the descaling effects.

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Curtis is the founder and owner of softeningwater.com. He is the lead guy concerning all the water-softening accessories in this site's guides and reviews. If he is not writing a reviews, guides or any other useful tips, you will find him testing them to find out their suitability. He is passionate about softening water. You will find him extremely helpful and always willing to educate the general populace all there is concerning water and its effects on their health and appliances.