Recent content by Wren

I'm getting ready to install a new heat pump water heater in our basement and need to make a few modifications for the condensate drain, etc. I'm also planning on a complete repipe of the house in PEX A piping. The plumbing is contained inside a plumbing wall. Because of some remodeling...

Any thoughts on attaching to the side of the WH with sheet metal screws? That's the only part that makes me nervous.

I would like to use a bracket even if I were to use PEX all of the way to the nipple. I just can't find brackets in the photo or I'm not looking in the right places. Any ideas?

I'm about to install a Rheem heat pump water heater and the inlet/outlet pipes are on the side instead of on top. From watching a video produced by Rheem, it appears that the best practice is to use copper for the vertical piping and then transfer to PEX near where the pipes meet the wall above...

Well, I ended up using Tapcons, and they were about as crappy as ever, but I managed to get the hose bib anchored. If the hole spacing on the bib was a little wider, it would have gone a lot better. By the time you drill out a large enough hole for the 1/2" galvanized, there's not much meat...

What's the best type of fastener to use to anchor a hose bib into concrete block? I've got one that needs anchoring but it appears that the holes for the fasteners have to be very close to the hole for the pipe that I had to drill. I used galvanized for the bibs because I needed to go through...

Any tips as to the best solder and approach to use regarding sweating a piece of 3/4" pipe to the inlet of the pump? I'm a certified weldor, but whenever I have to solder plumbing pipes, I get nervous.

I think what I'll do is fill it with water and set it up so that the output that I'm soldering to is on the top. If I work quickly, I think I'll be OK.

Thanks very much for the reply. I wasn't sure of the nomenclature for what I needed to buy. Are there any pitfalls to watch out for when sweating a fitting to the pump? Should I remove the impeller assembly, etc. or fill the pump with water so it doesn't get overheated? I've sweated plenty...

Yes, I have a dedicated return line that I'm installing. Any comment regarding if it's best to put the pump on the outlet of the WH or to put it on the return side close to the drain bib?

I'm curious about the best way to install the Grundfos pump that I bought. The outlet of the pump is a 3/4" union fitting while the input has a 3/4" sweat connection. I'm planning on having the return go back into the water heater through the drain on the bottom after adding a tee and...

What sort of thermostat would you recommend for use with PEX tubing?

What sort of thermostat would you recommend? I could see using one in conjunction with the light switch so that the pump would turn off when the water at the bathroom came up to temperature.

My thoughts about having the pump run whenever the bathroom light are that it wouldn't be an excessive amount of time as some systems run the pumps for hours a day when using an adaptive, pre-programmed controller. I would be happy using some sort of relay system whereby the lights coming on...

I'm not looking at keeping the water hot all of the time. I'm interested in having the pump come on when the light switch in the bathrooms is switched on. Lights go off and the pump goes off. The full bath/laundry room only has one window and the light would have to be turned on whenever...