We’ll go into the pros and cons of each one of GE Appliance’s products. We'll also give you tips on which water softener size is best for you. And, finally, we'll include a brief history of the company (including why GE Appliances isn't General Electric).
GE Appliances produces three different water softeners to handle various amounts of hard water:
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The GE GXSF30V Water Softener (30,200 grains)
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The GE GXMH40H Water Softener (40,000 grains)
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And the GE GXSH45V Water Softener (45,100 grains)
GE Water Softener Review: Why Does Grain Count Matter?
What does the grain count even mean? And how can it help you decide which softener is best for you?
The grain count refers to how many grains of hardness can accumulate on the resin before the resin needs to regenerate. This is important because, unless you have a dual tank water softener, your softener can’t regenerate and produce softened water at the same time.
Some water softeners and conditioners -- like those offered here at FilterSmart -- don’t undergo a regeneration process, so the grain count doesn’t matter. FilterSmart systems work with template-assisted crystallization and not ion exchange, but we’ll get to that in a moment.
Generally, as a rule of thumb:
If you live in a 2-person household or less, go with the lower grain count (the GE GXSF30V).
If you live in a 2-3 person household, go with the GE GXMH40H.
And if you live in a 4-person+ household, go with the GE GXSH45V.
But, as we mentioned above, regeneration only matters for ion exchange systems...
How does the GE Water Softener Work?
The GE Water Softener is a salt-based ion exchange water softener. Since we’ve talked about how ion exchange works before, click that link if you want a detailed explanation.
Pros and Cons of the GE Water Softeners
Benefits:
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Easier install since there aren’t separate tanks for the brine and resin.
Unlike most other ion exchange systems, there aren’t separate tanks for the brine and resin. That makes it easier to install and lowers installation costs. Of course, if you went with a TAC system, you wouldn’t have this problem either. With TAC, there’s no discharge line, brine, or resin refill requirements.
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The GE Water Softeners can handle a large amount of salt.
The GE GXMH40HGE has a salt tank that can store up to 230lbs of salt (that’s $150 worth of salt!), and it even comes with a screen that will notify you when the tank needs to be refilled. Even though you’ll probably have to spend quite a bit on maintaining GE Water Softeners with so much salt, at least you’ll think about maintenance a little bit less than in other systems.
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Each system can soften up to 95 grains per gallon.
It’s unlikely that your water is hard enough to get up to 95 grains per gallon, which is good because, at that level, every gallon of water you’d be drinking would have a pretty ludicrous amount of sodium in it.
Cons:
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Only has a one-year warranty, and might break down after the warranty expires.
There are plenty of reports of appliances failing regularly, right after the warranty expires
For example, one reviewer on Amazon said that, “After a year or so the regeneration feature stopped working. I made five calls to GE's toll free number to make good on the warranty on multiple trips to Colorado. Each time I waited 30+ minutes and gave up. I emailed GE no response. I finally gave up.”
Another one said, “quit working after 6 months. ran through all the "do before you call" procedures in the manual. called GE and they said... i had to find someone ON MY OWN and when repaired to send the bill via email to them, BUT, so far out of 4 places called, none of them will work on GE products because they can't get parts from GE.”
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Has all the same drawbacks as salt-based ion exchange water softeners, because it is one.
Salt-based water softeners produce a brine discharge that’s bad for the environment, require regular and costly maintenance in the form of brine and resin renewal, waste water and electricity in order to put extra sodium into your drinking water, exacerbating high blood pressure issues.
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Isn’t actually made by General Electric at all.
If you trust General Electric as a company (as a lot of people rightfully do), keep in mind that the GE Water Softener isn’t actually a General Electric company. They just happen to use the GE logo...
“GE Appliances” is not a General Electric Company or Division
If you hear “GE Water Softener,” you’re probably going to assume that the product was made and endorsed by General Electric, the same General Electric that was formed by Thomas Edison and Charles Coffin back in the early 20th century.
However, the GE Water Softener is actually made by GE Appliances, which isn’t owned by General Electric at all. In 2016, Haier bought GE Appliances.
Haier, a home appliance company in China, actually builds the water softening products and then uses the GE logo to market it.
Overall, this is probably not a good thing for General Electric, seeing as how a lot of the negative reviews often rave about “NEVER BUYING A GE PRODUCT AGAIN!”
That’s not to say that there’s anything necessarily wrong with the GE Water Softener, but it’s better off referred to as the Haier Water Softener.
Q&A
Who will buy GE Water Softeners?
Who would prefer GE Water softeners over any other type of water softener?
People who have extreme hard water problems. If you test your water with a hardness testing strip and get a hardness rating of above 35+, you might want to look into buying GE Water Softeners, because they handle hardness up to 95 grains per gallon. That’s an astonishing amount.
What size water softener for a family of…?
That depends on the type of water softener you’re buying. But, assuming you go with the GE Water Softener, we have a little guide for you above that we’ll restate here:
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The GE GXSF30V Water Softener… studio apartment / 2-person household.
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The GE GXMH40H Water Softener… 2-3 person household.
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And the GE GXSH45V Water Softener… 4+ person household.
This is because the grain capacities allow for higher amounts for each household.
However, if you bought something like the FilterSmart, we would have a different guide for you. Just check out our product page.
GE Water Softener Review Conclusion
There are three different GE Water Softeners that have different capacity counts before regeneration.
Generally, the GE Water Softener is a pretty good system that will likely get rid of your hard water problems, if you’re looking for a salt-based water softening system. It’s NSF certified and it can get rid of up to 95 grains per gallon -- which is more than you’ll probably ever need.
However, there are plenty of complaints and negative reviews from customers whose systems have broken down after less than a year of use, which calls into question the quality and craftsmanship that went into building the GE Water Softening systems. We recommend reading all the reviews on Amazon -- positive and negative -- before making a decision.
Finally, keep in mind that GE Appliances isn’t owned or operated by General Electric, and it hasn’t been a General Electric company since 2016.
Questions? Concerns? Feel free to get in touch:
Call us: 866.455.9989
Email us: sales@filtersmart.com
