Bob,

On Mon, 18 Sep 2006 23:20:07 -0400, Bob J. wrote:

> I ran one 1" trunk line for both hot and cold water down the
> center of my house

That would be "warm", then?  :-)

> I also placed a small water heater near the bathrooms in the crawl space so
> that we wouldn't have to wait long for hot water.  Nearly instantaneous hot
> water.

On the Continent of Europe it's apparently quite common to have the hot water pipes in a circuit from the hot tank, around all the taps and back to 
the tank, with a pump to move the hot water around so that it comes out of the taps hot almost instantly.  I don't know the details of how this works 
(I'm sure the pump doesn't run 24/7 but not sure how you control it sensibly) but it would solve the problem with long runs.  As well as the saving of 
time waiting for the water to go hot, it also saves water, but at the expense of some energy.  The return pipe from the furthest tap could - should! - 
be small-bore to reduce the capacity of the circuit and thus the heat wasted in the return leg.

Traditionally water pipes in the UK have been copper (depending how far back you measure tradition - before that it was iron and before that lead, 
hence the name "plumber").  But recently plastic piping has appeared and is gaining in popularity.  The name HEP springs to mind, but I don't know if 
that's a trade name or a generic one.  You can buy it in a roll, and it is very quick and easy to install, with no joints except where they're needed for 
tees and such, it just bends by hand round corners, is very unlikely to split if it freezes, and it has a level of self-insulation, which copper obviously 
doesn't.  How is it done in the US these days?

Cheers,


Howard Winter
St.Albans, England


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