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I don't know how much people have heard about Pex tubing, but I'm wondering how much it is going to hurt demand for copper. It is supposedly much cheaper and easier to work with than copper. I spoke with someone in California who said it has been used there for about 5-6 years. Ironically, that coincides with the high price of copper. I've also heard that some states won't allow it to be used, but of course that can change. Anyone have any info on this?

Very rarely is copper used in new construction here. It's pretty much all PEX. Cheaper and much faster to install. Been around a lot longer than 5-6 years. My dad and I re-plumbed a house with it ~10 years ago, and it wasn't new then. You can certainly still get copper if you want it, but you'll pay a hefty premium.

I replaced all the copper in my house and cabin. It IS cheaper and easy to work with. The money I got for the copper in my house nearly paid for the re-plumb job.

Would Pex tubing handle hot and cold temps as well as copper?

Recyclersteve wrote:I don't know how much people have heard about Pex tubing, but I'm wondering how much it is going to hurt demand for copper. It is supposedly much cheaper and easier to work with than copper. I spoke with someone in California who said it has been used there for about 5-6 years. Ironically, that coincides with the high price of copper. I've also heard that some states won't allow it to be used, but of course that can change. Anyone have any info on this?

Im in the construction industry. Pex has been used for quite some time now. Copper is still used for line sets in certain places, as well as main lines in larger buildings.

we use ALOT of copper in line sets for HVAC systems and ALL new construction uses pex for the most part
im sitting on around 3,000 pounds of copper, when/if she hits $2 im selling it all

But mainly, isnt PEX just replacing PVC. So I din't see it affecting copper prices mire than a half percent or so.

It IS MUCH EASIER to work with than PVC or copper.

Not sure of health concerns. I'd rather copper for hot water lines. But that's just me.

It seems to be a big winner.

PEX has been around for a long time (10+ years?). Would you believe that PEX used to be more expense than copper? It used to be that plumbers would use PEX if they wanted to save on labor, and copper if they wanted to save on materials. Everyone started using PEX when copper pipe became more expensive. It was a no brainer.

To answer the original question, the use of PEX will not effect the demand for copper.

Plumbing used to be sort of an art/skilled trade.. It still is, but PEX makes almost anyone a plumber.. Those shark bite fittings it's actually all pretty amazing.. In North Carolina, PEX according to the plumbing code is not permitted, budgets passed off by inspectors everyday.. Reason being, nothing can obstruct the flow and PEX fittings go inside the pipe, instead of sliding over the pipe like copper.. Copper will be used in the mechanical/ refrigeration world for a while.. There are other options for piping, than copper on mechanical systems, but copper seems to be the preferred method