11 gpg hardness with no iron or manganese and 5 people in the house a 1.5 cu ft softener with a Fleck 7000SXT is a good choice. If you set it up for efficiency you should be happy.

No need for SST60.

Your RO will have much less impact on your water bill than you think.

Questions...

How many bathrooms in the house?
Any water hog appliances like a Jacuzzi?
Are you irrigating with untreated or softened water?

We have 3 bathrooms and no water hogs. Fortunately the irrigation splits off before the softener.

I appreciate the help.

OK then, a 1.5 cube softener with a Fleck 7000SXT is a good choice and so is a Clack WS1. Either one will match up nicely to your 1" supply and both have great programming flexibility.

The key to happiness is a sano install and setting up the softener to operate efficiently.

Before I pull the trigger on the Fleck, I will try to find a local Clack dealer I can work with to get a proposal for a WS1. Thanks.

You said Kinetico sold Clack? Tell her exactly what you want and have her quote you a price...

1.5 cu ft softener with Purolite or Sybron hi-capacity resin

Fleck 7000SXT or Clack WS1 with appropriate convectors.to the plumbing (they both come with their proprietary bypass valves)

top basket for control valve

gravel underbed (don't be talked out of it)

brine tank with Fleck 2310 safety float/brine valve

The local Kinetico salesperson said she would also sell me Clack, Fleck, or Autotrol. She was very imprecise on her sizing and was happy with regen every 3 days.

What is the top basket for the control valve?

I see little reference to gravel in other sites. How important is it?

""The local Kinetico salesperson said she would also sell me Clack, Fleck, or Autotrol. She was very imprecise on her sizing and was happy with regen every 3 days"

You don't need her to size the softener... a 1.5 cube unit is the right size and regeneration frequency for single resin tank softeners that are correctly sized are optimum at 7-8 days as long as there is NO iron or manganese in the water.

"What is the top basket for the control valve?"

It is a basket with slots like on the bottom of the distributor tube that prevents resin from escaping the resin tank.

"I see little reference to gravel in other sites. How important is it?"

Gravel underbed reduces pressure loss. It is a positive with no negatives except the softener sellers have to pay for it. It is usually provided at no charge if requested.

If it wasn't important I wouldn't have mentioned it or said "gravel underbed (don't be talked out of it)"

You are the customer... tell her exactly what you want and ask for a price.

The new Clack WS1 1.5 ft3 softener is in. I have read enough to know that I need to program it for greater efficiency. The installer was very thorough with the installation, and helping to spec the equipment, but he didn't understand why I wanted to change the salt from 15 pounds default. I was also not smart enough to explain it to him.

As a refresher, we have 5 people in the house. The city water has tested at 7 and 11 gpg hardness at different times. No iron.
I would like to change the programming for better salt efficiency.

Justalurker, you've been a big help so far. Can you help with my programming?

"I was also not smart enough to explain it to him"

Actually you were smart enough to not explain it to him. He wouldn't have believed you.

Set hardness @ 11
Set capacity at 27300
Set salt dose @ 8
Set calendar override @ 8

You'll regenerate every 7 or 8 days and be getting about 3400 grains removed per pound of salt... VERY efficient.

I appreciate the help! It's all reprogrammed and on the job.

May the soft be with you...