Water – Should I replace all the copper pipe in the heating system with PEX

copperhot-waterpexwater-heater

I am replacing my existing faucet plumbing with red / blue PEX all over the house. Everything that goes to the sink, dishwasher, washer, bathroom sink and so on will be color coded and installed correctly.

Although, I was pondering on changing my water heating system with PEX while I was at it. Of course, I would leave my baseboards with a copper pipe so that it gives off more heat. What I would like to do is to have quick-connects from the PEX to the copper, so that if ever I need to remove the baseboards (redoing flooring, walls, etc), I just disconnect the whole thing and pop out the baseboard.

PEX is better at keeping the heat in the pipe compared to copper so I would be losing less heat if I go from the boiler to the baseboard with PEX. Then I'd have copper inside the baseboard which would feed into the other PEX that would go to another baseboard…

Is this recommended in 2014? I feel like copper is old and out dated.

My boiler is powered by bi-energy electrical elements, which then gets pumped through the whole system with approximately 12-15 psi.

Will I eventually regret putting PEX? Should I keep going through this old house and fixing the copper whenever there's a leak?

Best Answer

I did this very thing (replaced copper with PEX for baseboard heating). But I did this because my copper had frozen and split in about 200 places.

So, if your copper is shot, I'd replace with PEX. But if the copper is fine, save the hassle!

But if you do decide to do it, some tips:

  • Sharkbite connectors are great and make it super easy to connect copper to PEX (at the baseboards)

  • Be sure to get oxygen barrier PEX. This is designed specifically for heating systems and has a metal liner inside to prevent air from permeating in.

  • pex is a pain for tight corners. You'll either need room for a gradual bend (they make elbow clamps for PEX to handle radiused corners) or you'll need to use elbow fittings for sharp corners (either those designed for the PEX you are using or, again, sharkbites--though sharkbites can get pricey)