Water Softeners

I need a plumbing makeover and am capable of doing all the work myself. I have fairly recent copper supply pipes to the kitchen and bathroom, but most of the plumbing in my basement is old galvanized steel pipe, which is starting to corrode and actually drip in at least one place. When I replace this, I would like to install a whole house water softening system, but I am not familiar with any of the products on the market. Does anyone have any recommendations, advice or things I should look out for? Thanks,

Howie-
I have had H2O softeners in various homes for the last 20 years and really have not noticed a big difference between the various brands regarding performance. I would be sure to go with models that recharge based upon your actual water use as opposed to one that charges on a set schedule.
Also, a good idea to bypass at least one faucet in the house from the softener to reduce the sodium intake...especially if you are on a low sodium diet.
Have you looked at PEX as opposed to copper? We partially had our home re-plumbed with PEX a few years ago and been pleased with it.
Good luck.
BP

Thanks for the tips, Bill. I plan on having my outside faucet bypass the water softener. I'm comfortable working with copper and, I believe, it is NY State building code. I'm not on a low sodium diet, but I did find the following from: http://www.lenntech.com/processes/softening/faq/water-softener-faq.htm

5.2 Is softened water safe to drink?

Softened water still contains all the natural minerals that we need. It is only deprived off its calcium and magnesium contents, and some sodium is added during the softening process. That is why in most cases, softened water is perfectly safe to drink. It is advisable that softened water contains only up to 300mg/L of sodium.
In areas with very high hardness the softened water must not be used for the preparation of baby-milk, due to the high sodium contant after the softening process has been carried out.

5.3 Can salt from softening installations enter drinking water?

Salt does not have the opportunity to enter drinking water through softening installations.
The only purpose of salt in a water softener is to regenerate the resin beads that take the hardness out of water.

5.4 How much sodium does one absorb from softened water?

The sodium uptake through softened water depends on the hardness of the water. Averagely, less than 3% sodium uptake comes from drinking softened water.
Estimates say that a person consumes about two to three teaspoons of salt a day, from various sources. Assuming a daily intake of five grams of sodium through food and the consumption of three quarts of water, the contribution of sodium (Na+) in the water from the home water softening process, is minimal compared to the total daily intake of many sodium-rich foods.

5.5 Will softening drinking water deprive it of essential minerals?

Softening will not deprive water of its essential minerals. Softening only deprives drinking water of minerals that cause the water to be hard, such as calcium, magnesium and iron.

I can not answer your specific question. I hate softened water. My husband loves it. Our compromise is to soften only the hot water. The cold water is unsoftened. Drinking water to the kitchen and bathroom is filtered. My husband did the plumbing ---lots of pipes !

When we bought our house, we removed the existing water softener. I can't stand the slimy feeling of never being dry.