advice needed on water filters on american style fridge freezers

[glenthorpe]

My partner wants one of these as she loves iced water (and so do I).I read up about them and it seems that there is an inline water filter.Apparently these cost approx £50 pounds each and have to be renewed after every 500 gallons of water that passes through it. As we currently drink water from the tap and it tastes good esp when chilled, does any one know if we can plumb in the fridge/freezer and leave out the water filter,whilst having no ill effects to the appliance.We live in a soft water area.(It appears the filta would be a brita).

Why not fit the filter and if you don't use it a lot, then you won't need to change it for ages? We have had one of these for the past 20 months now, use it for water and ice all the time (about 4 times a day) and the filter doesn't need changed yet (there's a light that lets you know when it does). It is great though, having ice when you need it without faffing around with ice cube trays!

I'm unsure though if it is ok to install it without the filter.

I get my filters from here. They offer good service and seem cheaper than most.

I get my filters from here. They offer good service and seem cheaper than most.

Thanks very much Gua and Soup,I think I will install withe filter in case it adversely affects the guarantee.
I do think with the water quality we have (ie no furring up of kettles/ and general cleanliness of the water supply in the UK etc) that this might a smart marketing idea to extract money off people .....