PEX vs Copper – PEX is Much Faster
PEX vs Copper | The red and blue pipes will supply hot and cold water to each plumbing fixture in this new home as soon as they’re connected to a distribution manifold inside this closet. Part of the problem of comparing pex vs copper is the fluctuating price of copper on the world market. (C) Copyright 2019 Tim Carter
PEX vs Copper - And the Winner Is!
QUESTION #1: Can you help me make a decision, Tim? I’m building a new home and have the option of using PEX piping for my hot and cold water in the house as opposed to traditional copper. Do you have an opinion about both materials? Have you used both? What do you have in your own home? Linda P., Rocky Point, NC
You may be building a new home or planning a large room addition that will have a new bathroom, kitchen, or some other plumbing fixtures that require hot and cold water. Your builder or plumber may lay at your feet the same decision Linda has to make. I can help you as I’ve been a master plumber since age 29.
When Was PEX Introduced?
Plastic PEX piping was first introduced in the late 1960s and its use as radiant floor heating exploded in Europe in the 1970s. The PEX plastic water piping for drinking water has been around for almost three decades now.
When Did You Use Copper?
During the early part of my plumbing career, I only installed traditional copper water lines. It was a mainstay in the Midwest. However, the plumbing codes started to permit the use of PEX and once plumbers became comfortable using it, its use started to grow like dandelions in the spring.
Do You Have PEX in Your Home?
I have PEX piping in my own home for both the radiant heating system and all of the hot and cold water that’s supplied to each faucet. It’s important to realize there are different brands of PEX. While the piping chemistry may be the same or very similar, the method you connect the pipe to fittings is different.
What Brand of PEX Do you Trust?
The one that I’ve come to trust and use is AquaPEX by Wirsbo or Uponor. It employs an ingenious expanding compression collar at each end of the tubing to create a leak-proof connection. Watch this video showing this expansion collar.
Is Copper Installation Complex and Time-Consuming?
Installing traditional copper can be a complex and time-consuming process if you solder the tubing to the fittings. In the past decade, there’s been a shift to connecting copper tubing and fittings with a pressing tool that crimps the fittings onto the end of the tubing without using molten solder. Watch this video to see how to solder copper.
An inner rubber o-ring in a raised collar on each fitting along with the crimping creates a leak-proof joint. I have these press fittings in my own home where the copper water lines connect my modulating boiler to the heating distribution manifolds.
Watch this video to see how to do press copper fittings:
The copper press fitting system saves enormous amounts of time. It only takes seconds to create a leak-proof connection. However, you may have to install quite a few of these press fittings to supply water to just one fixture. PEX piping eliminates all these fittings.
How Do You Install PEX Tubing?
PEX water piping installs just like electrical wiring. It’s flexible and you can run long lengths of it from a central distribution manifold all the way to the plumbing fixture without any joints. These long runs of tubing from a fixture to a manifold are called home runs. You can install one PEX pipe in just minutes if your home is framed using open floor trusses. The home run system allows you to turn off the hot or cold water to just one fixture and still have water working at all other fixtures.
What is Faster? PEX or Copper?
The fastest way to install hot and cold water lines in a home or room addition hands down is the PEX piping employing an uninterrupted single pipe between each fixture and the central manifold. To put this in perspective, my son-in-law and I installed all of the hot and cold water lines to his new four-bathroom home in less than three hours. You could never accomplish this feat using copper, even with the wonderful press fittings.
I have a video here on my AsktheBuilder.com website showing you how fast and easy it is to create one of these PEX connections using the simple expansion compression collars. I suggest you go there and type Connect Pex Pipe into my search engine and watch it. You’ll be astonished at how simple it is to work with PEX water lines.
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