Well Water & Condensation

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Yuber

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Hey Guys,

I'm a DIY'er that's in the process of completing a complete bathroom gut/reno, and I'm in need of some help figuring out a condensation problem.

I own an old (100+ year) house that had it's bathroom completely rot out due to the problems from a renovation by a previous owner. Since everything was coming out, I took the opportunity to replumb the water supply lines with Bow SuperPEX (PEX-B) in a homerun config with copper manifolds. Installation went well, no huge issues other than a leaky manifold that was exchanged. At the time, reading in various places that PEX was not as susceptible to condensation as copper I didn't bother to insulate any of the cold water pipes, either in the crawlspace or the walls.

Now, unfortunately what I didn't know is that water from a private well is a good 10 degrees Celsius colder than municipal water, making any pipe material even more susceptible to condensing. This is where I am now, my pressure tank outputs through the 1st floor ceiling, feeding into my manifolds in my boiler room. I am seeing bad condensation on this manifold and the PEX that feeds it whenever there is consistent cold water draw. I'm also seeing it on the opposite side of the run during consistent flow. The fixtures themselves don't seem to condense terribly during normal use, just a light mist at worst, but today I've noticed heavy condensation on our washing machine box connection after heavier than normal use. I don't remember seeing this on the old copper taps under the same usage before, but the pipes in the walls were in bad shape when I pulled them so it could have just been dripping somewhere else

As far as I've been able to tell this is normal, but I need to come up with a plan to deal with it so this work lasts and it's not back in the same state in a couple years. Right now my goal is to wrap all parts of the cold lines I can access with split self-sealing foam insulation, sealing the joins between pieces with duct tape. I'm also planning to wrap the copper manifold itself in the same insulation (1 1/4" diameter) as best as I can and then seal any gaps with the tape.

The issue I am seeing is that I don't have any way to access the parts of the runs that are now enclosed in the walls, and I will have to have gaps in the insulation around pipe clips and where lines run through the joists/framing. Is this something that would causes issues? I would assume that small amounts of condensation mist will dry out safely via wall cavity air movement, but I can't leave anything like a drip or larger unresolved.

Is there anything else I should be doing in order to help with this issue? Is there a way to increase the temperature of well water to help prevent this?

Thanks for any suggestions or wisdom offered.

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CountryBumkin

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It could be contributing factor if the air in your house is too humid.
Is the PEX manifold installed in the "living space" or unconditioned space?
Do you have a dehumidifier or AC in the house to remove moisture?
 
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Yuber

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The humidity of the air is definitely contributing to the issue. The manifolds had to be installed in our boiler room, which is unfinished but not really separated from our living space. It's actually sandwiched between our living room and the bathroom in question, separated by a slab bi-fold door (no vents, but there are unsealed gaps between the jamb and door to allow air flow).

We do have a window AC unit that runs pretty constantly during the summer months, it's actually installed in a window within 4ft of the door to the boiler room. I am thinking that the air from the crawlspace is probably contributing, as it did seem fairly humid while I was framing. The crawlspace is unvented, but there's lots of gaps around the perimeter. I'm thinking that the moist dirt is raising the moisture levels in the house. My plan is that during the Winter I may start trying to remove as much of the debris as I can and get a layer of thick poly down on the dirt. I have to dig out a section to fit a proper sump basin anyway.

I checked today after the wife and I finished getting ready and I'm noticing only a very light mist on the cold manifold, no dripping. So this may not be something that is an issue under our normal use. I just want to make sure I have a plan to go forward and minimize any sort of issue.
 
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