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Hot Water Heat PEX

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pmarinello489
pmarinello489 Member Posts: 23
edited August 2020 in Plumbing
As the title says, I am renovating my basement and decided to replace my main floor hot water baseboard heating loop with 1" Oxygen barrier pex, I read up on some things, blah blah job came out pretty good question is I have a lot of expansion, I am trying to keep it close as possible to the beams etc as I don't want it to be resting on my drop ceiling and I want it snug as possible because I want to get good height from my ceiling as well... I guess my question is how do you guys work with this stuff with the expansion? Of course after I did the job I read some more and realized it expands a ton, so I got nervous took some of the talons I had holding it up off to give it some play and tested the system and lo and behold it looked good but some spots were stressing the old black pipe I didn't need to change in sections, Some of it started hanging way too low so it would be touching my ceiling etc. How do you guys do this? I mean if I have to do it again so be it, I just thought it be a good learning experience and I'd still be ahead doing it twice than if I did it in copper.
Thanks guys.

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  • Jamie Hall
    Jamie Hall Member Posts: 23,280
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    It's going to expand. A lot. don't know how others handle PEX handling hot water, but if I have to use it... which I don't like to do... I lay it in a trough, and make sure that there are free bends at the ends so it can expand without buckling somewhere in the middle. And I fit it and lay it cold.
    Br. Jamie, osb
    Building superintendent/caretaker, 7200 sq. ft. historic house museum with dependencies in New England
  • hot_rod
    hot_rod Member Posts: 22,131
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    Make sure you do not restrain the ends, and allow the mid portion some room to bow sideways as it heats.
    With ODR you can minimize wide temperature swings.

    Some of the brands with the shiny EVOH barrier can squeak if it rub on framing or itself. Most heating pex now has a dull UV protective coating which reduces.
    No harm in insulating pex heat lines for heat loss and less noise potential.
    Bob "hot rod" Rohr
    trainer for Caleffi NA
    Living the hydronic dream
  • pmarinello489
    pmarinello489 Member Posts: 23
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    Alright luckily I do have room on the ends of the runs when I meet up with the black pipe to add a coupler and a loop for expansion on each side. I was trying to teach my father a new trick but I should of just listened to the old man and went with the copper. I also have 1/2" coming off the monoflows and the tees that I'll add expansion loops to as well before they get connected to the copper from the radiators. . You live and you learn. I'm still gonna do a 1/2" full loop for my basement in PEX. But now that I got some tips and tricks I'm feeling much better. 

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