Is SodaStream worth it? Here’s What You Need To Know

SodaStream machines are a popular kitchen appliance that can make all of your favorite carbonated beverages right in the comfort of your own home. But is it worth it? Does it save you money?

Well, that depends on how much you drink and how much you are willing to pay for convenience. This article will look at all the factors that go into a Sodastream purchase and help you decide if it’s a good investment.

The Price of Using SodaStream

How much does it cost to create a liter of soda in a SodaStream instead of purchasing a liter of soda from a store? This is the primary issue that has to be addressed.

Currently, a two-liter bottle of store-brand soda costs $0.79 at my neighborhood grocery shop or around $0.40 per liter. That’ll serve as our starting point. (If I wait for deals, I can get name-brand drinks for around $0.99 apiece, which costs about $0.50.)

A 130-liter CO2 cylinder from SodaStream costs around $50 in your area. That cylinder costs $53.99 on Amazon. However, you may swap a CO2 cylinder locally, and a 130-liter CO2 cylinder change costs $30. The cylinder costs $20 upfront, $30 for every 130 liters of CO2 afterward, $30 for every 130 liters of CO2 afterward, and $30 for every 130 liters of CO2 afterward. We’ll disregard it and remain with the price of $30 for 130 liters of CO2 since I’m going to add that $20 to the pricing of the unit below. This comes to $0.23 per liter in total.

The syrup, what about it? SodaStream offers bottles of their branded syrup on Amazon for $5 apiece; each bottle is said to have enough syrup to make 12 liters of soda. Accordingly, the syrup costs $0.41 per liter.

By purchasing items at this rate, you will pay $0.23 per liter for CO2 and $0.41 for syrup, for a total cost of $0.64 per liter. Utilizing SodaStream is costlier when compared to buying generic soda for $0.40 per liter or moniker soda for $0.50 per liter.

Cost-cutting SodaStream

One obstacle to lowering the cost of CO2 for a SodaStream machine is that their CO2 tanks employ a proprietary nozzle. As a result, unless you’re prepared to hack the system or an elevated Co2 cylinder, you’ll be stuck paying their somewhat high cost of CO2 cylinder refills.

You may undoubtedly acquire CO2 for a lot less money if you purchase an adaptor that enables you to utilize other CO2 containers that can be filled in other locations. With such an adaptor, you may purchase a much bigger tank, such as a paintball tank, and have it filled with food-grade CO2 from a provider. This reduces the cost per liter for water carbonation to about $0.05 and makes your setup resemble one of those big soda dispensers at restaurants.

The disadvantage in this situation is that a SodaStream device cannot fully accommodate a second CO2 canister. The container will need to be kept separate, implying it will take the extra room. Some advice is utilizing tubing, keeping the container behind the counter, and connecting a short tube to the SodaStream machine for simple dispensing.

The expensive expense of the SodaStream flavor is the other difficulty. Purchasing snow-cone syrups is the most cost-effective flavoring solution I’ve discovered. Since this substance is thick, you should only use a few drops per liter; for me, this is plenty. For my intent, each container would flavor around 50 liters of Coke and is available on Amazon in a 10-flavor box of ounce bottles for $40. Doing this reduces the price to roughly $0.08 per liter.

You may easily reduce the price of carbonated soda made at home in a range of flavors to roughly $0.13 – $0.15 per liter if you’re prepared to make these changes to your setup. That is far less expensive than purchasing soda, which costs roughly $0.40 per liter. You can save roughly $0.25 per liter compared to purchasing soda if you’re prepared to customize your SodaStream equipment and utilize different flavorings.

Your price per liter will be roughly $0.31 if you’re willing to utilize the substitute syrups but don’t want to adapt your equipment. This implies that you will only save $0.09 per liter compared to purchasing store-brand drinks. This will serve as our starting point moving forward.

There is also another aspect to consider. In reality, 556 liters are equivalent to 147 gallons, so at that point, the expense of the water itself is beginning to become noticeable. Given that water costs $4.35 for 1,000 gallons in our region, drinking that much soda results in an extra $0.64 in water use during that time period. Even though it’s a little expensive, buying a soda from the shop saves you from paying for it.

What do other customers say?

It is always a good idea to look at other online reviews to gauge whether the product is worth it. Here’s what people on Reddit say about whether SodaStream is worth it:

• AmNotLost said: The cheapest way to buy Coke is store brand 2-liters, by my math. I tried to justify buying one, and just couldn’t make the math work — especially when you add in time involved vs. buying 2L bottles. Soda stream, to me, is more about controlling the exact ingredients you want. The air capsules aren’t cheap. You might save a little over, like, name brand 20 ouncers.
• LoPan80 said: I love my soda stream. There is cola, diet cola, root beer, ginger ale, lemon lime, dr pepper, red bull, cherry cola. You can buy actual syrup from coke or Pepsi and make your own. They also sell lemonade, peach tea, and stuff like that. I also use the carbonated water I make with the soda stream for cooking and baking to aerate the flour. Also, you can use the carbonated water with single serving powder packets and liquid flavoring like mio or Kool aid etc. I use mine daily.
• beachape said: I bought one because I wanted carbonated water but lived in an area where it wasn’t practical to drive. Carrying a 12-pack in addition to groceries for half mile isn’t fun. The CO2 refills are way overpriced, but that’s how they make their money.

As you can see there are pros and cons to buying SodaStream but it’s definitely worth it in the long run.

Does SodaStream Save You Money?

Overall, SodaStream is a convenient and cost-effective way to make your carbonated drinks home. It can save you money in the long run by eliminating the costs associated with buying pre-made soda from the store.

The upfront cost of the machine can be a bit pricey, but it will pay for itself over time. With SodaStream, you can customize your drinks to your tastes and preferences, making it a great choice for anyone who loves fizzy drinks.

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