Insulated PEX

[rktinc]

Has anyone used the pre-insulated PEX water line? I have a garage that will occasionally get pretty cold and thought I might be smart to buy a roll of the PEX that is factory made with an insulation surround. Its a little pricey but it is a one time purchase.

 

[mike93lx]

Isn't that the stuff that's made for underground runs? If interior, it feels like insulation wrap will be a lot easier to handle and a lot cheaper.

 

[jimy]

Sounds like a good idea.

When our house addition was built the contractor insisted on bundling the water line PEX and heating PEX together and then spray foaming around it all. I thought this was the wrong thing to do, but deferred to the expert. On a cold winter morning both the hot and cold lines to the sink would scald your hands. The heating line won the temperature fight by a long shot.

So separately insulated lines would have been much better.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Detached garage/shop ? Is it insulated ? Where does the water go ? Hand sink, washtub, bathroom or just a hosebib ?

Is this for in the garage or the run to the garage ?

 

[Firebrick43]

Has anyone used the pre-insulated PEX water line? I have a garage that will occasionally get pretty cold and thought I might be smart to buy a roll of the PEX that is factory made with an insulation surround. Its a little pricey but it is a one time purchase.

There is no reason of to insulate a cold water line if you bury below the frost line. Only hot water lines need to be insulated

And insulation will not save a water line from freezing if it is ran above the frost line, only delay it a few hours.

 

[jack stand]

How much (length) pipe will be in this garage and what's your coldest winter temperatures?
I'd be inclined to insulate it after installation to the degree necessary for your climate. It may only take some f/g or it may be some rigid or spray foam but I'm sure that every fitting of this "pre insulated" pex will need attention after it's cut back by the plumber for assembly and whatever little meager layer of insulation this stuff has may not be enough.

 

[rktinc]

running one cold water line along a wall inside my shop. The run is about 100 feet. The line will supply a sink and toilet. The building is not heated and the climate has a few cold spells per year which drop the interior temps right to freezing temps after a few days. Thought it might make sense to have an extra level of protection on those cold days. Eventually I will heat the space but not for a few years. Line is currently old copper and has not frozen so an insulated PEX would surely be safe.

Getting ready to remove the copper line on the wall to refinish it then reinstall one water supply line near the ceiling and drop into the little bathroom in that corner. The line passes over a large garage door just to the right in this photo.

Possibly overkill but for the extra couple hundred I thought it might make sense.

 

[mike93lx]

Insulating makes sense. But unless the insulation is significantly better, I see no real advantage to using pre insulated in an accessible location

 

[jack stand]

+1^^^ A "extra couple of hundred"
would buy miles of split wall foam insulation and not require a substantial hole drilled in (especially) a 2x4.
I agree with Mike above and the whole insulation ideal sounds borderline per your description.

 

[DGersic]

Has anyone used the pre-insulated PEX water line? I have a garage that will occasionally get pretty cold and thought I might be smart to buy a roll of the PEX that is factory made with an insulation surround. It’s a little pricey but it is a one time purchase.

Like this?



Having just run a bunch of PEX here re-piping my house, I have to wonder about this.

It’s Uponor, so probably it’s PEX A for expansion fittings, but it doesn’t say on the web page. You have the expander tool to work with this? If not, tack on another $400 to get one.

It looks like it’s just foam insulation. 100’ of this is a lot more than 100’ of regular PEX in a coil.

This is only 1/2” so not too hard to wrangle, but you’ll still be fighting the coil to get it where you want it. Unless the insulation is glued to the pipe, that’s going to be like routing pipe wearing oven mitts. 3/4” would be a lot worse.

How is this supported? You need something every 32” on PEX. Some kind of clip, clamp, or other doohickey to attach it to your walls. Also look for corner 90* supports, and similar things for routing, attaching, and supporting it. If you’re drilling through studs, shoving this through the much larger holes you’ll need will be challenging at best, structure compromising at worst.

If it were my project, I’d just get a regular coil of PEX and add insulation after routing it.

 

[mike93lx]

It’s Uponor, so probably it’s PEX A for expansion fittings, but it doesn’t say on the web page. You have the expander tool to work with this? If not, tack on another $400 to get one.

Pex a is fine to use with crimp fittings, too

 

[texasfiremedic]

Pool noodles and you get to select the color.

 

[reader2580]

I used PEX-A with other fittings before I even knew about expansion fittings. I used PEX-A simply because it is far more flexible that PEX-B.

 

[Pluribus]

I'm with Firebrick43 in thinking that standing water in a below freezing space will freeze whether or not it's an insulated line. Think of wrapping a water bottle in R50 insulation and putting it in a freezer. The water will still freeze.

The water needs to be kept above freezing. Thermostatically controlled heat tape might be better for your application. It's what I use. An alternative is to keep the water moving by having a valve open, but that's not always practical.

 

[PoorUB]

And insulation will not save a water line from freezing if it is ran above the frost line, only delay it a few hours.

I agree. Unless you run heat tape with the line it will freeze eventually. It will help with running water, but once it stop flowing and the temp is below freezing for a few hours the insulation will not help.