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Home Master HMF3SDGFEC Filter Review
Our Review
- 3-stage filtering 4.5
- Little effect on home water pressure 4
- Space-saving design 4
- Adequate system useful life 4
Pros
- Impactful 3-stage filtering
- Well water friendly
- Can handle low to medium iron reduction
- Space-saving design
- Good water flow
Cons
- Requires some maintenance
- Not recommended for homes with chlorinated water
- Not designed for water with over 3 ppm of iron
- Mounting bracket slightly hinders filter changes
Overall Rating – 4.1
One whole house filter that is often mentioned when people are looking for an impactful but budget-friendly model is the Home Master HMF3SDGFEC filtration system.
This is especially true for homes that are served by well water that has a fair amount of iron in it.
It’s a canister-style whole home filter that I thought I would take a closer look at because it’s fairly popular for the reasons mentioned above.
That way if you have well water that has a small to medium size iron problem with it, you can decide if this is the right whole house filtration system for you.
Home Master HMF3SDGFEC Key Features
Here is what I like best about this Home Master canister-style whole house filtration system (also called point of entry and whole-home filters):
Impactful 3-Stage Filtering
This system will remove or reduce up to 95% of Iron, VOCs, TOCs, magnesium, herbicides, pesticides, sediment, hydrogen sulfide (which causes the repulsive rotten egg smell in well water), and other commonly found contaminants in well water.
It does this utilizing a well-designed 3-stage filter system.
Those filter stages include:
- A layered sediment filter that includes 25, 10, 5, and 1-micron layers to remove sand, silt, dirt, and other larger size impurities
- A Radial flow iron filter that can reduce iron in water that has up to 3 ppm of this substance in it. (See the chart below for effectiveness at iron removal).
- An efficient radial flow granular activated coconut shell carbon filter that significantly reduces harmful chemicals.
This level of filtration will also eliminate the staining, foul taste, and odors that are often associated with having iron in your water and many of the other impurities mentioned previously.
Little Effect on Home Water Pressure
One of the better features associated with the Home Master HMF3SDGFEC point of entry (POE) water filter is that it will have little if any impact on your home’s water flow.
Flow rates of up to 15 gallons per minute can be achieved. This is enough water flow for even larger-sized homes.
It’s yet another advantage of owning a filtration system that uses a radial flow granular activated coconut shell carbon filter. The 1” ports on its oversized filter canisters also contribute to superior water flow.
Space-Saving Design
With some media types and other whole home filters, the space they take up can be a concern. That’s not the case with the Home Master HMF3SDGFEC.
It’s made to be easily mounted out of the way in your basement garage or other location of your choosing.
Adequate System Useful Life
This system’s filters are designed to handle around 100,000 gallons of water before they need replacing (depending on contaminant levels).
That’s a generous useful life for the filters in any whole home water treatment device.
Pros/Cons
Here are the good and bad properties of the Home Master HMF3SDGFEC whole house filter:
Pros:
- Impactful 3-stage filtering
- Well water friendly
- Can handle low to medium iron reduction
- Space-saving design
- Good water flow
- Oversized filters
- DIY installation compatible
- 100,000-gallon capacity
- 2-year limited warranty
Cons:
- Requires some maintenance
- Not recommended for homes with chlorinated water (city water)
- Not designed for water with over 3 ppm of iron
- Mounting bracket slightly hinders filter changes
Installation
I feel that DIY installation with this filter system is entirely possible with even a little plumbing know-how.
The system comes already mostly set up for you so you just have to add a bypass valve and connect it to your incoming plumbing line.
It also helps that the manufacturer has included just about everything that you need to install it except for some pipe and pipe connector fittings.
Included in the package are:
- Assembled system w/ filters
- Steel mounting bracket with bolts
- Housing wrench
- Instruction book
- Warranty card
Maintenance
I talked about how this POE filter’s oversized filter cartridges contribute to water flow through the system but there is another benefit to that also. It reduces the frequency that filter changes are needed in the system.
It goes without saying that the larger a filter is the longer it will last without a filter change. This is important for you if you own a whole home filter such as the Home Master HMF3SDGFEC.
Otherwise, maintenance of them can become a little bit of a headache. So fewer maintenance worries than normal are associated with this model water filter.
How Does It Stack Up Against Competitors?
Do I feel that the Home Master HMF3SDGFEC Filter is the top whole home water filter in the marketplace?
No.
That’s because of some of its shortcomings such as only being able to filter out iron efficiently if it’s 3 ppm or less along with some maintenance being involved and the fact it is not impactful as far as removing chlorine.
What I will say is this whole house filter packs a punch for its size and simple design. It will remove many worrisome and problematic contaminants from tap water.
That also is what made it good enough to land in the #5 slot on our list of the best whole house filters.
That’s not easy for any POE filter that we take a look at because of how thorough we are in the evaluation of the filter systems that we take a closer look at.
Summing Up My Thoughts on the Home Master HMF3SDGFEC Filter
I like this affordable and efficient whole-home filtration system. That includes everything from the fair amount of chemicals it removes from well water including iron, sulfur, and sediment.
It also does not take up much space as many whole-home filter systems do and it’s fairly easy to install.
The Home Master HMF3SDGFEC Filter does have its limitations but it does a lot for the small amount of money that you will pay to purchase it.
It’s also worth considering if water flow in your home is important to you and if you want to treat 100% of the water coming into your home.
Check out our list of the best whole house water filters here.
