To manifold or not to manifold?

[silverback4jack]

That is my question. I am currently building a house and was curious on everyone's or anyone's thoughts. Also what are the biggest and cons to the manifold system? Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[Redwood]

Manifolds are for people that do not know how to size pipe. You have a bunch of spaggetti running to each fixture from the manifold. It is also impossible to run a recirculation loop and you end up waiting at each fixture for hot water to arrive.

I run branch and trunk lines. Less pipe, neater appearance, recirculation loop from the far end provides instant hot water. In a large home I often use mini manifolds for individual bathroom groups and mount them in a nearby closet.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[NHmaster]

I use Uponor Wirsbo PEX primarily and though a standard manifold system has a few advantages, it does use more piping. What I do like about it is the lack of fittings and the elimination of possible leaks along with flow reduction. most cases I use a modified manifolds set up whereby 3/4 or possibly 1" PEX is run to a location near the fixture grout served and from there smaller manifolds are attached and individual lines run to the fixtures. This keeps the feeder lines short and pressures more even along with a better delivery time for hot water. You can get all this info from Uponor's web site or the Wirsbo installation manual. As for the sizing issue, it's still an issue. Using PEX and manifolds does in no way circumvent the need for proper pipe sizing. And as for the spaghetti problem, PEX can and should be run neatly and hung properly. Most inspectors will not allow shoddy workmanship in this area either.

 

[silverback4jack]

maybe I should have also made mention that the house is being built on a slab and I was curious if the manifold would be better than just the pipe being looped in the wall from fixture to fixture.

 

[Redwood]

What size is this home? How many bath?

 

[silverback4jack]

nothing huge just 1600 sq ft with 2 bath

 

[Redwood]

A slab that size I would homerun it. Up here we have those underground storage units... Makes a world of difference, In those I would trunk and branch.

 

[silverback4jack]

thanks for the info