I'm just about to put in a water softener and I have a few questions as I'm a bit confused about the information that is out there. Is a water softener good or bad for a hot water heater? FWIW it's a Bradford White 50 gallon. 2 years old.

Our water stats before the water softener:

Hardness - 30 (other neighbors of mine say in the summer it goes as high as 40)
Chlorine - just over 2 parts per million
TDS - over 550

With our water being so hard and having so much chlorine I would think that it would be really hard on our water heater, but maybe the opposite is true? Should I have it flushed once a year? Checked?

 

In my opinion it will be far better for your water heater to use softened water. Water heaters should be flushed at least once a year with the best water and more often with lousy (read hard) water.

 

That's what I would think. Just so much confusing information out there. Thanks for the clarification!

 

Water softener will certainly help extend life of the water heater. One thing you need to watch out for is the sacrificial anode rod in water heater if you use water softener. Soft water will have more salt and that added salt will consume sacrificial anode rod rapidly (Hot water heater anodes and rust protection). If you ignore the anode inspection, water heater tank will rust and you will have bigger problem at hand.

However that should not deter you from installing water softener. Benefits will outweigh the expense of replacing anode rod.

 

Thank you for the update. How often should I replace the rod? I had hard water for about two and a half years before I got the softener and now it's been 3 months with it. I am having to program the softener for about 60 grains of hardness due to the hard water levels spiking out here. What do you suggest?

 

I would suggest you visit Hot water heater troubleshooting | Smelly water heater solutions for more information. I would suggest you should inspect anode rod at least a once a year.