Review: Culligan WH-HD200-C & WH-S200-C | Don’t Buy Before You Read This!
Written by: Gene Fitzgerald // Last Updated:
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Contents
- Culligan WH-HD200-C & WH-S200-C Whole House Filters – Key Features
- WH-HD200-C & WH-S200-C Pros
- Installation
- The Package (Parts)
- Maintenance
- Manuals
- WH-HD200-C & WH-S200-C Cons
- Culligan WH-HD200-C & WH-S200-C Review: Our Verdict + Best for
Culligan offers five different whole house water filtration systems.
The line-up features a variety of housing styles, capacities and flow rates so you can install the one solution in your home that fits your needs and budget just right.
In this review we are going to take a look at the company’s two most popular whole house units: The WH-S200-C and the WH-HD200-C. The letter S stands for Standard, whereas HD stands for Heavy-Duty.
Sounds promising? Let’s find out!
 Culligan WH-HD200-C | |
| Price: | $$ |
| Flow Rate: | 3-10 gpm |
| Filtration Capacity: | 10,000-24,000 gal |
| NSF Certifications: | 372, 42 |
| Warranty: | 2 Years |
Our Rating
| |
 Culligan WH-S200-C | |
| Price: | $$ |
| Flow Rate: | 3-10 gpm |
| Filtration Capacity: | 8,000-16,000 gal |
| NSF Certifications: | 372, 61 |
| Warranty: | 2 Years |
Our Rating
| |
Culligan WH-HD200-C & WH-S200-C Whole House Filters – Key Features
As you can probably already tell, the WH-HD200-C features larger inlet/outlet ports (1″) for increased water flow as is often needed in larger homes. The WH-S200-C on the other hand comes with ¾” ports for small to mid-sized homes.
Which model is right for you also depends on the pipe size in your home – unless you want to use an adapter.
Anyway, both systems are perfect for residential homes. They help to protect your plumbing and water-using appliances including other water treatment devices from potential damaging due to sediment and scale.
As a result, they are likely to last longer and perform at their peak at all times.
Pressure range for the Culligan WH-HD200-C and WH-S200-C: 30 – 100 psi.
Did we mention that for peace of mind a 2-year limited warranty is part of the deal?
WH-HD200-C & WH-S200-C Pros
There are a couple of additional advantages that we wanted to mention:
- First of all, we have a clear housing so that you can see your filter at work. But not only that, you can also determine the state of the cartridge at a glance which makes timely replacements a lot easier.
- The built-in bypass valve allows you to replace the filter without having to turn off the water supply to your entire house. Simply put the valve in bypass position and push the pressure relief button. Now you can open the housing without having to apply a lot of force.
- What’s also cool about the WH-HD200-C whole house filtration system is that you can combine it with different Culligan filter cartridges. The CW25-BBS (polypropylene) for example is rated at 25 microns, has a lifespan of 5 months or 20,000 gallons, and traps sediment, rust, scale, dirt, coarse sand as well as regular sand. The CP5-BBS (polypropylene) helps with fine sand and silt on top of that, but has a lower life expectancy of 3 months due to the finer micron rating. There even is a granular activated carbon cartridge. Of course the same applies to the WH-S200-C. Simply choose a filter cartridge according to your needs.
- And lastly, both models have been tested and certified by the WQA (Water Quality Association) against NSF Standard 372 for low lead compliance and CSA B483.1 (Canadian standard). Above that, the WH-HD200-C has earned a NSF Standard 42 certification for material safety and structural integrity. The WH-S200-C was NSF Standard 61 certified for material safety only.
The Culligan WH-HD200-C – learn more on amazon.com
The Culligan WH-S200-C – learn more on amazon.com
Installation
If you are handy with tools you should be able to do the installation yourself. Here’s how:
Location, Location, Location
You should take some time to find a good place for the system. You should install it after all water meters, pressure tanks, and booster pumps you may have. In addition, you should leave enough free space beneath the unit to simplify filter replacements.
Setup
- Shut off your water supply at the main valve.
- Turn on a faucet and leave it running to drain your plumbing.
- Use Teflon tape on the pipe threads of all compression fittings and insert them into the inlet/outlet ports, tightening as much as you can.
- Use a hacksaw or pipe cutter to cut off a section of the main water line, and sand the edges until they’re fine.
- Use the included bracket and screws to fasten the system to the wall.
- Hook up the inlet/outlet ports to the main water line.
- Put in a filter cartridge. It should slip right over the stand pipe at the lower end of the housing, and into the filter head’s stand pipe.
- Use a wrench to fasten the housing.
- Set the bypass valve to Filter mode.
- Turn on your water supply gradually.
- Release air trapped in the system by pressing the pressure relief button (marked red) on top of the unit.
- Verify there are no leaks, and tighten any connections if you see anything suspicious.
- Open a water faucet close by and leave it running for about five minutes to flush the cartridge.
- Hold down the reset button for about two seconds to reset the filter life indicator – you should see a flashing green light.
- Optional: use a jumper wire to ground the system if you’re using water pipes for grounding.
Video
The Package (Parts)
- Filter housing
- O-ring
- Housing wrench
- P5 cartridge (WH-S200-C only)
- Mounting bracket
- Mounting screws
- Filter life monitor
- Timer battery (pre-installed)
Maintenance
Both whole house models are low in maintenance. All you have to do is change filters periodically.
The exact interval depends on which cartridge you choose, obviously.
The WH-HD200-C is compatible with the following:
- R50-BBSA
- CW25-BBS
- CP5-BBS (not recommended for wells)
- CW5-BBS
- RFC-BBSA
Capacities range from 3 months/10,000 gallons to 6 months/24,000 gallons.
This is the list for the WH-S200-C:
- P1
- P5
- CW-F
- CW-MF
- S-1A (not recommended for wells)
- SCWH-5 (not recommended for wells)
Capacities range from 2 months/8,000 gallons to 4 months/16,000 gallons.
The good news is that the battery-operated filter life monitor takes some of the guesswork out of the replacement ritual. It will flash red 90 days after each reset.
Total annual cost? A little more for the WH-HD200-C; less for the WH-S200-C – but certainly fair prices for both in our opinion.
Manuals
Manual for the Culligan WH-HD200-C
Manual for the Culligan WH-S200-C
WH-HD200-C & WH-S200-C Cons
Both whole house systems are of solid quality with one exception: The plastic threads on the inlet and outlet ports. They are used to established a connection to the main water line. At first glance they appear to be metal, however, they are plastic.
This poses a problem if you are using male threaded connectors that are metal, since they will easily cross-thread which causes leakages. The plastic threading is so soft that you likely won’t even notice that you are cutting into it – until it’s too late and the threads are permanently damaged.
To be fair, this is a common issue with most plastic filter heads. What’s the solution? Use plenty of quality Teflon tape. Also, you want to start by screwing the fitting in backwards. As soon as you feel the last thread of the male connector click into the start of the female thread, turn clockwise to tighten.
A second issue is that the built-in bypass valve may be hard to turn and using the housing wrench for leverage might actually shred the seal. What you should to instead is to either ask for a replacement or take the valve apart and use food-grade silicon grease to lubricate the valve face and small o-rings.
Culligan WH-HD200-C & WH-S200-C Review: Our Verdict + Best for
You want a basic whole house water filtration system with a built-in bypass valve and pressure relief that’s sized according to industry standards?
You want a unit that not only looks clean but also allows for quick and easy filter changes?
The Culligan WH-HD200-C/WH-S200-C could be it. They are best for people on a tight budget that are mainly interested to protect their plumbing and household appliances from sediment and scale. Just don’t expect extraordinary results in terms of water purity. 4 stars!
More Reviews:
- You can find more Culligan water filter reviews here.
- Are you also interested in other brands? Check our best whole house water filter reviews.
- For sediment filters only, check this guide: Well Water Sediment Filter Reviews
This completes our Culligan WH-HD200-C and WH-S200-C review. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment below!
About the Author Gene Fitzgerald
