Lowes, about $400, does our whole house and guest house too, about 7000 sq ft. Culligan wanted $2500 for a massive, maintenance intensive unit. I figured for four hundred bucks I'd give it a try, toss it in the landfill if it didn't do the job. It works great, and we are very much used to soft water having lived with it for forty years. My plumber did the install for about $25 while he was doing other work. It's an on demand, meaning it senses the hardness of the water and only runs when it needs to. I'm using about eight 40lb bags a year for my wife and I and regular guests. Our water is too hard to shower or do laundry in without this unit. It sounds like you might want to give this a shot before calling in the big guns. It will probably work fine for you.

oldcrank, same experience for me. We got waterboss and splurged with higher end fittings. We are pleased. My husband did tons of research and talked to several people.