Culligan Water Conditioning

I am not a very active social network user and very seldom write reviews. However, a particular experience with Culligan Water has compelled me to share it here so others have the opportunity to make a more informed choice before its too late.
Our family lives on a rural property and we therefore draw our water from a well. To help keep our drinking water safe we currently use a Culligan UV light system. It has performed as it should over the years. So far so good right? Well, the UV light bulb requires replacement on an annual basis, and this is controlled by a controller/ballast unit that powers the light. There is a replaceable controller chip that plugs into the controller that tracks the number of days, and at the end of the year it beeps until you replace the bulb. With each new bulb you get a new chip. The price for a new Culligan bulb and chip I was quoted this November was $193.47 + Tax. Here is the issue. The Culligan product is manufactured by a company called Luminor, based in Guelph Ontario. Luminor also markets the exact same product under their own brand name. The Luminor replacement bulb and chip set are currently available for $132.00 + Tax. So just get the Luminor one you say? Yes, except, the chips that Luminor produces for Culligan can only be used in the Culligan branded controllers. They are produced with a proprietary code that blocks the use of the Luminor chips.
If you are considering a new UV light system, I want you to know that if you purchase the Culligan branded product you could very well be completely locked into their non-competitive pricing schedule for the life of the UV system. Based on the pricing above that would be about $700.00 over 10 years. Maybe you are cool with that. Maybe the Culligan name holds that much value to you. But if it doesnt, now you have the opportunity to look at other brands and can perhaps ask more informed questions about how the operating system of those brands works.
If this little post helps one person avoid the frustration I have over this set up between Luminor and Culligan, it will be worth it. Good luck in your search for a water system.