Bow's SuperPEX??

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JCH

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This thread is helping a lot :)

Because I'll be running a new PEX line from the meter in to my house, the question is how do you protect/seal it where it goes through the foundation? The old galvanized line comes up through the slab so I won't be able to reuse that way in.

I've read that PEX needs to be "sleeved", either with rigid pipe or with insulation wrap when it goes through a foundation but need some more details.

If I'm running 1" PEX then I *think* I need to go up 2 pipe sizes for the sleeve (2"? Or 1-1/2"?); extend the sleeve at least 12" beyond the outside wall; spray foam the gap inside the sleeve; and parge the inside surface of the wall (i.e. covering the exposed spray foam) to prevent ants/termites from burrowing through the foam.

Does this sound right? Or is there a better way that you'd recommend?
 

Ballvalve

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Seems like using short sticks of pex defeats the advantage of few or no joints in the walls. What is this drain heat recovery unit??
 

JCH

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Seems like using short sticks of pex defeats the advantage of few or no joints in the walls.
It's a pretty small house (1-1/2 stories) with all the wet rooms in a vertical line and I'm planning on doing branch and tee. 20' should be long enough to make each run without couplings. (I hope)

What is this drain heat recovery unit??
It uses the hot waste water (from the showers) to heat the incoming water.
Here's a video:
http://www.renewability.com/video.html

For a 4" x 5' unit, it recovers 58% of the energy. This chart shows the efficiency of each size:
http://www.renewability.com/order_powerpipe_online.html

If you've got a house full of teenagers who seem to fall asleep in the shower, it can save you a lot in hot water costs... And (in Canada at least) there are federal and provincial government rebates for installing one.
 
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Benze

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It uses the hot waste water (from the showers) to heat the incoming water.
Here's a video:
http://www.renewability.com/video.html

For a 4" x 5' unit, it recovers 58% of the energy. This chart shows the efficiency of each size:
http://www.renewability.com/order_powerpipe_online.html

If you've got a house full of teenagers who seem to fall asleep in the shower, it can save you a lot in hot water costs... And (in Canada at least) there are federal and provincial government rebates for installing one.

Have you tried one of these before? I've seen them in Home Improvement shows, but they just seem to be a gimmick. The idea is excellent, but I have trouble with the actual execution. From their description, the best recovery comes from shower waste; I assume that's where the biggest flow is. After that, I would guess dishwasher/kitchen sink. So given that you shower typically once a day, even if you spend a collective 1 hour in the shower, at best you are warming up the incoming water for a 1 hour period. The rest of the day, the water is just coming it at it's regular city temp.

I can't see that really being all that cost-effective on a grand scale.

Am I missing something?

Eric
 

Jadnashua

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They only reasonably work with a fixture where you are dumping water down the drain, as in a shower. It warms up the 'cold', so you can use less hot (i.e., less hot and more 'warmed' cold to achieve the same shower temperature). In a more typical sink or tub use, there's no hot going down the drain while you need it to fill the vessel - no gain. But, since most people take more showers than baths, decreasing the amount you have to heat can save money.
 

Benze

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I talked to my plumber again yesterday. Feeling a lot better about this....

He recommended (as did Jerome, above) that I run 1" SuperPEX from the meter into my house, then transition to 3/4" once I tee to the water heater and cold supply risers. I'll be installing a PowerPipe drain-heat-recovery unit (which will feed the water heater, and the cold supply for the showers) so it'll be 1" up to there, and then size down afterwards. He said he'd lend me his 1" crimper. :)


Because our city water is at 90-100psi, he recommended installing a PRV and expansion tank. He also suggested that I consider running my hose bibs at city pressure (which would make it possible to actually spray to the top of our fruit trees). He said that I don't need to replace the existing bibs, but could screw on a vacuum breaker to them.
.../j

I was wondering how your project was going along. I decided to go the Superpex route as well, figuring that it would be slightly easier than using a manual expander for 3/4" wirsbo for all the fittings. But I'm a little stuck when it comes to fittings and manifolds.

Have you had any trouble finding 1" Pex fittings? I'm want to run 1" pex from my entry to my HW tank, and 1" out from my HW tank to the individual risers. I started the plumbing (a pain in the arse with 1" - not all that flexible!), and realize that I need to tee off 6 risers / fixtures from more or less the same point. So I started looking for a 1" -> 3/4" Pex manifold. Can find one anywhere! It seems that they don't make a whole lot of 1" anything.

I'm even realizing that I'm going to have a little trouble going from my 3/4" copper entry to my 1" pex; they don't seem to make those either! I found 1" pex to 1" copper, but that means going 3/4" copper to 1" copper to 1" pex. What a waste!

How have you managed to make out so far? Have you had any success?

Thanks,

Eric
 

JCH

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Let me start off by saying my project is stalled (yet again).

My plumber is a one-man-shop and his truck (full of 30+ years' of tools) was stolen from in front of his house. Once he gets back in action, he'll finish off the drains and then I'll get started on the supplies.

Lots of curve balls.. :)

.../john
 

Basement_Lurker

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...Uponor Aquapex tubing and fittings are readily available to professionals here. Don't worry about using Bow Superpex, it's good quality stuff.
 
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