Bump. #7 is worth softening, IMHO. Ion-exchange softeners are the benchmark. Everything else is controversial. That controversy has been addressed ad-naseum on this forum. Use the search function.

I did a search... and found one thread. This one. The guy at my plumbing supply house says he has sold many Housetrons, and his customers all say their water is more soft after installation. He said he is building a new house and will install a Housetron after his whole house filter (most of which do not reduce hardness). I see many people posting (here and elsewhere) that say the Housetron is snake-oil - but I've never read one review by someone who had actually tried (or tested) it and then said it didn't work.

Anyone can say it won't work; one guy who sells them says it may sound fishy, but it does work. How hard would it be to have one's water tested before and after installation? Surely someone, somewhere, has done this!

Looks fishy... sounds fishy... there are no independent scientific studies listed on the Fluid Dynamics web site to sustain their claims only "testimonials" and not publishing pricing on their web site is well... alarming to say the least. I can see why Fluid Dynamics refers to their products as a GREEN SOLUTION cause it will definitely increase the GREEN in their bank account.

You can be the first to buy one, use it for one year (they say FULL MONEY BACK GUARANTEE for ONE YEAR), then test the water before and after... then share your results and opinion. If you're not satisfied see how easy it will be to get your money back and whether you eat the shipping and there are restocking charges.

I bought it in May 2015 and had great results. My room humidifier had zero calcium deposits and no cleanup after the entire winter season. I used to have heavy calcium buildup requiring cleaning every two or three weeks. It definitely works.

I also posted the same comment on this thread, looking for feedback: https://www.houzz.com/discussions/housetron-anyone-dsvw-vd~3248418

I'm trying to decide on this device as well. Any more personal experiences? I did find that the Housetron in particular was actually studied under a federal General Services Administration "green proving ground" study conducted by the Department of Energy. They did find it performed as claimed when installed to protect a courthouse water heater that kept failing due to limescale. While this was not a large scale study, it does seem to give some legitimacy to the claims: https://www.gsa.gov/portal/category/102575

I'm getting constant calcification in my aerators and it has also caused issues with my washing machine and cost me money. I need to figure out how to deal with this problem but don't like water softeners (for many reasons). I'm considering the Housetron as well as the Hydroflow S38, although so far I'm convinced by the simplicity and longevity of the Housetron.

Any further input appreciated.

Curious why you think the Hydroflow is snake oil? In doing some more research it seems like there is merit to most of these kinds of electromagnetic devices and that the technology has been around for decades (here's a Department of Energy paper from 2002). The S38 has been around since at least the early 2000s distributed as "Steamklear S38" and maybe some other names.

I ended up getting an S38 because I found a new-in-box older version for about half the price on eBay (they've been around in this country since maybe as early as 2007 or so, but were distributed under some different channels. This one is labeled as "Savastat Hydropath S38" but looks the same as the newer ones).

What prompted me to go with the S38 in the end was that it presumably works both up and down stream from where it is installed (Housetron, Calmat and other similar ones only work downstream). Also, the flowrate issues you mentioned, and in the end it was much cheaper and simpler to not have to get a plumber.

Will report back if it solves my issues (constantly clogging aerators, limescale on shower heads and in toilet, etc.). Hopefully.

This topic has been discussed at length, both on this site and others. Here is a little light reading if you are interested: http://www.chem1.com/CQ/magscams.html

A "Technology Alert" is simply a summary of potential new technology based solely on manufacturer claims. It is not a scientific assessment of the efficacy of the technology.