Have you heard of the SodaStream machine? It’s a home carbonation machine that’s currently taking the world by storm, growing more popular as people come to realize how bad commercial soda is for them—and the environment. The SodaStream machine allows consumers to make healthier soda and stop throwing out all those plastic bottles and cans.
The SodaStream machine may drastically reduce your impact on the environment, but does the SodaStream save money?
Well, that depends on what you’re drinking—and what you have been drinking. Let’s take a look at the facts:
The Cost of Making Soda with SodaStream
Using a SodaStream to make sparkling water costs about $0.25 per litre, which is extremely economical when you consider that many bottles of premium sparkling water cost $3.00 or more and even the cheapest bottles cost more than a dollar.
If you’re using SodaStream mixes to make your soda, you’re adding about $0.42 to your cost per litre, putting each litre of soda at a cost of about $0.67. Considering the price of 2 litre bottles in most stores, the average litre of brand name soda is about $1.19, so if you drink a lot of soda the savings can really add up.
Still, the potential savings from a SodaStream machine are far greater. By making some alterations to how you use the SodaStream, you can end up saving hundreds of dollars.
How to Save Even More Money With a SodaStream
One of the biggest costs of the SodaStream is the CO2 canisters. While an increasing number of retailers are participating in the recycling program (so you don’t have to send your canisters all the way back to Israel), these canisters still cost $15 and purchasing an extra can cost as much as $30.
To significantly increase the savings from your SodaStream you can switch to paintball CO2 canisters. You’ll need to purchase an adapter so your SodaStream will accept the paintball canister, but it will be well worth it. There are many different places where you can refill paintball canisters, including paintball ranges and most sporting goods stores, and these refills will usually only cost you $5-7. All in all, this will reduce the CO2 cost of every litre to somewhere between $0.02 and $0.10 per litre.
You can also save money by using a different drink mix. While you can add different powdered drinks from the grocery store, these often don’t taste nearly as good when added to carbonated water.
The best way to truly enjoy your SodaStream and save money at the same time is by using snow cone syrup. It is significantly cheaper than SodaStream syrups and comes in many different flavors, including commercial soda flavors.
You’ll need to purchase the snow cone syrup in bulk to save money, but this will let you bring the cost down to about $0.20 per litre for the drink mix. With the SodaMod adaptor and a paintball tank, you’re now spending $0.30 for every litre of soda you formerly spent at least $1.00 on.
The only catch of using snow cone syrup is that you’ll have to use a different dilution ratio of 1:6 rather than the 1:24 used for SodaStream drink mixes. Your other option is to buy concentrate and make your own syrup at 1:24.
When it comes to the SodaStream, how much money you save all depends on how you use it. Even using SodaStream mixes without an adaptor will save you around $0.40 per litre of soda, which adds up quickly if you’re drinkingsoda on a regular basis.
If you’re using the SodaStream drink mixes, you’ll definitely save money, but it will have a greater impact on the environment than it will on your wallet.
On the other hand, if you purchase an adaptor, start using a paintball tank and switch to snow cone syrup, you’ll save yourself a small fortune on soda. Thanks to its small size, you can even take it out of town with you and continue saving money at the cottage while enjoying delicious homemade drinks.
By the way, you still don’t have a SodaStream machine, check out comparison guide before you buy.