40 degrees is not a good operating temperature for carbon. Yes, cartridges are normally rated to 40-45 degrees, meaning they will not disintegrate at these temperatures, but they can't be used much time. This is why you never see carbon based shower filter, the water in the shower is rarely even 40 degrees, but carbon would last for a couple of days maybe a week. For the hot water the only solution is KDF based filter. Custom filter would work best, for example, sediment followed by KDF followed by UF or disruptor type (electoadhesion). All these cartridges will withstand 40-45 degrees and will not deactivate.

TBH I only know there's a specific range of temperature the filters must work in after checking on our own products, without fully understanding why, so a bit of googling told me hot water can actually damage filters, but they never mention how hot

Doing further search, I still couldn't find any source specifying the maximum temperature carbon filters can work in general, most only says hot water could:
1. Damage it; or
2. Release pollutants trapped inside the carbon

But none says it disintegrates carbon... Would u mind to share where should I look?

This post has been edited by ironcrowz: Nov 7 2023, 09:17 PM

No no, I wasn't clear probably. So "up to 45 degree" means that for example that the glue that holds the parts in the cartridge together will not melt, this is what I meant by disintegrate, structurally.

The carbon doesn't disintegrate, it gets disactivated and yes, it will also release what it trapped at lower temperatures. So in practical terms it means it will not be effective for nearly as long as it is designed for and it may go through trap-release cycles. This is why in hot water applications, such as quality shower filters, KDF is used, you rarely, if ever, see carbon shower filter (unless it is installed before the heater).

Do u mind to share source where it says how hot the water must be to deactivates carbon?

I search around only found general statement that "hot water damages carbon filters", but they never mention how hot, so I took the LG labeled max temperature 45°C

Also found shower filters with activated carbon so I'm not really sure whether hot water really deactivates them or not

I can't find a study with an actual water temp vs life of a cartridge. However, we have done a test and if interested you can repeat it if interested. We tested out large carbon block for shower filter (10 by 4.5). In about a week or 10 days the chlorine that would go through was pretty much the same as the inlet, however, in the beginning it was catching most of the chlorine (not all, because shower flow is a bit too high). We then took KDF and its performance remained pretty much the same for weeks. You can repeat the experiment with simple test kit that shows free chlorine. Note that temperature in the shower is about 40 degrees.

As for some who sell carbon based shower filter, yes, they do, but they are the same as "vitamin c" shower filters. They will last a few days / weeks at the very best unless installed prior to the heater.


Also eSpring and many other manufacturers found out the same through their tests:
"Tests have shown that optimal removal and adsorption efficiency occur when
the water is at an average 25° C temperature. Higher temperatures will reduce filter efficiency.
Contaminants remain bonded to carbon in cool water. When exposed to hot water, some difficult-to-remove
contaminants may detach from the carbon and enter the treated water stream. Finally, the use of hot
water may cause the structural integrity of the unit to be compromised."

Also discussed here https://www.chemicalforums.com/index.php?topic=69498.0

However, when we are talking about sediment filters, they are usually rated to 45 degrees, because the temperatures above that would damage it structurally (bonds, glue etc). So this is why LG is mentioning 45 degrees. The cartridge will still be ok, but the carbon part will have difficult times getting through these temps. Not saying this to say LG is bad, they are all like that pretty much. For our products, if someone mentioned to me that he will be using at 40-45 degrees, I would just not recommend to install or install at his own risk.

Very cool

Wait my current filter finish then let's do a little test

My unit is a 845 soft unit, just came across the idea of doing filtration system for the whole house instead of driving water only.

Can anyone provide a objective comparison among each other? Thanks sifuu

Filtering whole unit to drinking water quality is neither useful nor cheap nor practical. What would be the point of that anyway, you will be flushing toilet with drinking expensive water. If you absolutely want, get a PoE and PoU, Poe will remove some sediment and PoU will provide drinking water

Yea as bro hestati said, no point wasting money and flush toilet with filtered water

Just get a simple POE filter to filter sediments/dirt/sands, usually for the kitchen sink so u wash dishes and veges with filtered water

But to get drinking water quality, filter sediments alone is not enuf, u also need to filter heavy metals, rust and viruses, so need to get a POU filter like Cuckoo, LG, Coway etc.

Any recommended counter top 3 or 4 stages water filter (without hot/cold water) with reasonable price filter cartridges for future replacement?

Had a look at Aquasana but counter top only have 2 stages.

PS: already have POE sand based water filter outside the house

Don't need all these cold/hot water, just a simple 3/4 stages purifier

[Delete

This post has been edited by hestati: Nov 11 2023, 06:43 PM

Can consider the following
Jiksoo Mini 3 stage at RM49/month

If your concern is about energy usage, tankless purifier like Cuckoo Titan or LG only heat water on demand; standby consumption for LG is about 6watts or 0.36 units per day.

I'm not sure about others as haven't tested.

This post has been edited by dayalan86: Nov 11 2023, 09:29 PM

I think how many stages are not important, cuz most manufacturer combine few stages of filtration into 1 filter, to reduce size of the machine while maintaining water quality

I check that Aquasana is rated 0.5 micron, which should be able to filter most bacteria but not viruses, LG is rated 0.1~0.3 micron, will filter out even viruses for safer drinking

If u choose to purchase LG outright, already free 2 yrs filters to u, after that filter package only costs RM320/year, while Aquasana is RM320/box

Aquasana filters both are rated 1800L, while LG 1st filter is rated 1800L and 2nd filter is rated 3600L

So for the same RM320, LG gives u 3600L but Aquasana only gives u 1800L (cuz LG filter package count by year but Aquasana count by box / no. of filter)

In short, LG filters are smaller micron, more capacity for the same RM320, and even Free 2 yrs to u

This post has been edited by ironcrowz: Nov 11 2023, 10:33 PM

Wow, LG resellers are fairly active/aggressive in promoting in this thread but thanks anyway. Not looking for such high end purifier

No prob, just highlighting the pros and cons for u when no one did

This post has been edited by ironcrowz: Nov 11 2023, 11:41 PM

I’m interested to get a LG at promo RM50/month, but my dillema is I still have a unit of cuckoo king top, finished payment, but I want to sell it instead of discarding it.

Don't think they are worth much, since nowadays many new technologies are coming out and all brands are similarly affordable

Maybe can sell for RM200? But will the new owner have problem with servicing?

Why not keep Cuckoo? You already paid for it, why not just use it? Just curious.

Any reason you want to change? If the reason is due to power consumption, then possibly have to calculate and see if its worth discarding or sell for scrap.

Other option is donate to charitable organisations, and there are many idependent service available as well for cuckoo and coway.

LG does offer significant energy savings compared to cuckoo King Top, Some of my customers did manage to reduce up to 50% from their energy bill.