# Why are appliance water filters so expensive? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 22, 2026, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-appliance-water-filters-so-expensive/1033290 "2026-09-22T20:22:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2026, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-appliance-water-filters-so-expensive/1033290/21 "2026-09-24T05:41:38Z")
In the case of a refrigerator, some models do offer a device that can be installed in place of the filter to bypass it. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2026, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-appliance-water-filters-so-expensive/1033290/22 "2026-09-24T11:08:31Z")
As to old water filters. … First they quit filtering. Then eventually nasties begin growing on the crud trapped in the filter. > **Story time ...** > > A few years ago I bought a condo that had a three-stage whole-house filter installed. The seller fancied himself quite the DIY guy. He said that since all his water was filtered he didn’t bother changing the oh so expensive filter in his fridge ($25). Just do [this arcane procedure] to reset the fridge’s “change filter” light whenever it came on every few months. Gee, thanks for that info Bob. > > The tap water in his unit tasted fine. The fridge dispenser and ice tasted nasty. He’d gotten used to the flavor, but it was clearly contaminated with something. I changed the fridge’s filter and after some flushing the fridge water tasted fine too. > > Moral of the story: no filter is healthier than a long-overdue filter. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2026, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-appliance-water-filters-so-expensive/1033290/23 "2026-09-25T13:48:57Z")
I know one of our plumbed-in refrigerators came with a plastic doohickey that you plug in to bypass the filter (allowing unfiltered water flow). I assume you would want one of those if you have an external water filter, because just leaving the old filter in the fridge would, of course, eventually accumulate or incubate nasties. ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2026, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-appliance-water-filters-so-expensive/1033290/24 "2026-09-25T15:49:16Z")
For a refrigerator, is there a way to just turn off the filtering mechanism so that unfiltered water goes through? If so, would that wreck the refrigerator somehow? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2026, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-appliance-water-filters-so-expensive/1033290/25 "2026-09-25T16:06:25Z")
Assuming the tap water isn’t sludge, the fridge doesn’t care whether the water going to the icemaker or door dispenser has had more filtration. You’re not going to clog up any valves. As to whether there is or can be a bypass, each model of fridge is going to be different. Some folks have said their fridge came with a bypass plug that fits the filter connector(s) of their fridge but does no filtration; it just passes the water through. I’ve never owned such a fridge (out of about a dozen over the years) but I don’t doubt their story. I have an impression I used to own one where the water still worked even with the filter removed. Suggesting the fridge had an internal bypass that comes into play when there’s no filter installed. But I’m not sure how reliable that memory is. ETA: As an experiment I just pulled the filter out of my apartment’s Whirlpool fridge. The water worked fine with no filter. So evidently at least some low-mid grade fridges have that feature built in. ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2026, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-appliance-water-filters-so-expensive/1033290/26 "2026-09-25T16:13:21Z")
Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2026, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-appliance-water-filters-so-expensive/1033290/27 "2026-09-26T13:34:47Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Some folks have said their fridge came with a bypass plug that fits the filter connector(s) of their fridge but does no filtration; it just passes the water through. I’ve never owned such a fridge (out of about a dozen over the years) but I don’t doubt their story. Thanks for the vote of confidence, but I decided to link what I have as a concrete example: > **[LG Accessories Water Filter Bypass Plug ABN73019101 | LG USA](https://www.lg.com/us/appliances-accessories/lg-abn73019101-filter-bypass-plug)** > > Replacement water filter bypass plug ABN73019101, designed to fit select LG refrigerators perfectly. Ensures continued water flow to the dispenser and ice maker when the filter is not installed. Order online at LG USA. That said, your refrigerator’s way of doing it (automatic bypass for simply not having a filter installed) is distinctly superior. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2026, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-appliance-water-filters-so-expensive/1033290/28 "2026-09-26T14:36:02Z")
I buy filters of all sorts (water,oil,air) for maintenance in a manufacturing facility. Yeah, they are stupid expensive. Once a supplier knows they are the sole-source OEM they jack prices up on a regular basis. I had a supplier selling tiny air filters that were nothing more than a foam 2” cylinder closed on one end for $84/ea. Of course they knew we used about 20 per month so they were enjoying my regular reorders. I finally found a generic certified substitute by deep diving into the internet that would sell them for $6/ea. The OEM has been bugging me about re-orders and I’ve just been avoiding their calls. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2026, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-appliance-water-filters-so-expensive/1033290/29 "2026-09-27T02:45:10Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > no filter is healthier than a long-overdue filter. If you have a fridge with a filter, how do you omit the filter? ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2026, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-appliance-water-filters-so-expensive/1033290/30 "2026-09-27T03:29:42Z")
The last few posts have been about filter bypasses. You may wish to read back a bit. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2026, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-appliance-water-filters-so-expensive/1033290/31 "2026-09-27T13:39:20Z")
I have a new LG refrigerator but it did not come with that. I’ll have to see if it is compatible with mine. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2026, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-appliance-water-filters-so-expensive/1033290/32 "2026-10-03T08:28:24Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > no filter is healthier than a long-overdue filter. I misread that with the opposite meaning to the one [presumably] intended. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2026, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-appliance-water-filters-so-expensive/1033290/33 "2026-10-03T20:53:29Z")
Oops on me. The intent was “The absence of a filter is healthier than an old clogged-up grody filter with crap growing in it.” The other reading “The healthiest filter is long overdue and grungy; there is none healthier than that” is, as you say, perfectly plausible English. At least in US usage it’d be seen as 40+ years of archaic, figurative, unnecessarily convoluted, and flowery. But yep, still perfectly legal. I wonder if current UK English still uses that comparative formulation “none better than …” more frequently than US does? ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2026, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-appliance-water-filters-so-expensive/1033290/34 "2026-10-04T21:58:19Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > I misread that with the opposite meaning to the one [presumably] intended. 😁 My 6th grade math teacher said that nothing is better than perfect happiness, and a ham sandwich is better than nothing, so… ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2026, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-appliance-water-filters-so-expensive/1033290/35 "2026-10-05T12:30:08Z")
I would simply reverse the sequence: “A long-overdue filter is much worse than no filter.” ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2026, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-appliance-water-filters-so-expensive/1033290/36 "2026-10-05T12:33:07Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I wonder if current UK English still uses that comparative formulation “none better than …” more frequently than US does? Not as far as I can tell. Only in advertisements, I think. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-appliance-water-filters-so-expensive/1033290.md?page=1)