yNotry
Member
Hi all,
I’m planning to upgrade my 50 year old 1/2” trunk+branch copper plumbing so my 90 yr old Dad can live downstairs. I’ve been doing a bunch of research and reading from this forum. Lots of great helpful questions, info and feedback. I’d appreciate feedback to confirm and improve what I’ve got so far. Basically I’m thinking of replacing the 1/2” copper trunk with 1” PEX from the well tank to new manifolds with 1/2" PEX runs of 10 to 30 ft to six groups (2 kitchen, 3 bath, 2 washer) per attached sketch. The house is one story so runs will be through the ceiling of basement then up or down. My understanding and assumptions thus far are:
1. Bend PEX instead of using elbows. Use long elbows instead of short. In my case around the well tank and cold manifold.
2. Orient tees to either equalize or give preference/reduce pressure due to added equivalent length.
In my case and per sketch (except for Kitchen, Bath, Washer Groups):
a. Orient first trunk tee straight 1” with 1/2" to side for Hose Bib run
b. Orient Hose Bib 1/2” tee straight for longer Front Bib run, off to side for shorter Back Bib run
c. Orient ByPass 1” tees straight for House Filters, side for ByPass
d. Orient Cold Water trunk tee straight 1” to HW Heater with 1” to side to Cold Water manifold
e. Orient RO Filter tee straight 1” to Cold Water manifold with 1/2” to side for RO Filter run
f. Orient Kitchen Group run DW tee straight to Sink with side to DW (not shown in sketch)
g. Orient Bath Group run Sink tee straight to Tub+Shower with side to Sink and then Toilet tee straight to Sink with side to Toilet (not shown in sketch)
h. Orient Washer Group run 1/2” tee straight to Upstair Washer (longer run) with side to Downstair Washer (not shown in sketch)
3. Size tees+side runs to give preference to a fixture ie Tub+Showers over Sinks and Sinks over Toilets or DW’s. Does this mean 3/8” side to Sink off 1/2” run to Tub+Shower OR 3/8” side to Toilet off 1/2” run to Sink? And 3/8” side to DW off 1/2" run to Kitchen Sink?
4. Size H+C manifolds and trunks 1”, up to 3/4” HW Heater inlet and 1” from 3/4” outlet to HW manifold.
5. Each Manifold group is within 6 WSFU limit for runs less than 40 ft and House Total of 22.4 is within 1” source total of 32 per ICC and state codes.
6. Change 40/60 psi pump switch to 50/70 with CSV set at 60psi. Should be no issue with pipes et al. Any issue with a 1/2 hp 10 gpm submersible Gould pump 100 ft down in well 75 ft from house?
7. Change well tank (and draw down) from 20 to 36 gal (from 5 to 10 gal draw) if/when tank goes to increase (double?) pump life. Most use is small (toilet, hands, dishes, no DW) with high use (shower, wash) only 3-4 times a week. House electricity monitor shows pump on 15x on low use days for total of 75 gal (5 gal draw x 15), 30x on high use days for total of 150 gal. With 2.5 gpm showers, this would mean going from average (half tank) 1 to 2 min or worst case (full tank) 2 to 4 minute wait time for CSV constant 60 psi. Big difference tho will be wait time ‘low’ will be better at 50 psi than current 40. Do I have this right?
All feedback and heckles from the peanut gallery welcome.
I’m planning to upgrade my 50 year old 1/2” trunk+branch copper plumbing so my 90 yr old Dad can live downstairs. I’ve been doing a bunch of research and reading from this forum. Lots of great helpful questions, info and feedback. I’d appreciate feedback to confirm and improve what I’ve got so far. Basically I’m thinking of replacing the 1/2” copper trunk with 1” PEX from the well tank to new manifolds with 1/2" PEX runs of 10 to 30 ft to six groups (2 kitchen, 3 bath, 2 washer) per attached sketch. The house is one story so runs will be through the ceiling of basement then up or down. My understanding and assumptions thus far are:
1. Bend PEX instead of using elbows. Use long elbows instead of short. In my case around the well tank and cold manifold.
2. Orient tees to either equalize or give preference/reduce pressure due to added equivalent length.
In my case and per sketch (except for Kitchen, Bath, Washer Groups):
a. Orient first trunk tee straight 1” with 1/2" to side for Hose Bib run
b. Orient Hose Bib 1/2” tee straight for longer Front Bib run, off to side for shorter Back Bib run
c. Orient ByPass 1” tees straight for House Filters, side for ByPass
d. Orient Cold Water trunk tee straight 1” to HW Heater with 1” to side to Cold Water manifold
e. Orient RO Filter tee straight 1” to Cold Water manifold with 1/2” to side for RO Filter run
f. Orient Kitchen Group run DW tee straight to Sink with side to DW (not shown in sketch)
g. Orient Bath Group run Sink tee straight to Tub+Shower with side to Sink and then Toilet tee straight to Sink with side to Toilet (not shown in sketch)
h. Orient Washer Group run 1/2” tee straight to Upstair Washer (longer run) with side to Downstair Washer (not shown in sketch)
3. Size tees+side runs to give preference to a fixture ie Tub+Showers over Sinks and Sinks over Toilets or DW’s. Does this mean 3/8” side to Sink off 1/2” run to Tub+Shower OR 3/8” side to Toilet off 1/2” run to Sink? And 3/8” side to DW off 1/2" run to Kitchen Sink?
4. Size H+C manifolds and trunks 1”, up to 3/4” HW Heater inlet and 1” from 3/4” outlet to HW manifold.
5. Each Manifold group is within 6 WSFU limit for runs less than 40 ft and House Total of 22.4 is within 1” source total of 32 per ICC and state codes.
6. Change 40/60 psi pump switch to 50/70 with CSV set at 60psi. Should be no issue with pipes et al. Any issue with a 1/2 hp 10 gpm submersible Gould pump 100 ft down in well 75 ft from house?
7. Change well tank (and draw down) from 20 to 36 gal (from 5 to 10 gal draw) if/when tank goes to increase (double?) pump life. Most use is small (toilet, hands, dishes, no DW) with high use (shower, wash) only 3-4 times a week. House electricity monitor shows pump on 15x on low use days for total of 75 gal (5 gal draw x 15), 30x on high use days for total of 150 gal. With 2.5 gpm showers, this would mean going from average (half tank) 1 to 2 min or worst case (full tank) 2 to 4 minute wait time for CSV constant 60 psi. Big difference tho will be wait time ‘low’ will be better at 50 psi than current 40. Do I have this right?
All feedback and heckles from the peanut gallery welcome.