Environment Education Information

Since many people usually have to wait for hot water, and runs water down the drain while waiting, both water and water heating energy get wasted. This waste can be substantially reduced or even eliminated with proper plumbing layout design.

The first design is having long cold hot water pipes which make you wait. Traditionally residential house blueprints do not show how to route the pipes for the plumbing. The locations are shown, but not how to connect them. This leads to many kinds plumbing problems. The plumbers just hook the pipes up however is easiest. When soft copper piping is applied, the plumber sometimes leaves a few coils just before a connection so he doesn’t have to take the time to cut the extra few feet off. The piping is run along joists and makes right angle turns to get to its destination. This makes the piping runs much longer than if the pipes were sent directly to their destination.

Today, getting high flow rates you do not use larger pipe. One common method is using a large main pipe through the house with smaller branch pipes tapping in to the main pipe to get water to the fixtures. Another method is the pipe goes from the water heater to the nearest fixture, then from there on to the next fixture and so on. Plumbing layout depends upon the floor plan before you begin construction. Keeping the pipe short will reduce the amount of water you must run down the drain waiting for hot water and thus save you water and energy.

Moreover, insulating the pipes keeps them from cooling off as fast, thus the new hot water does not have to give up so much heat to the piping material when first called for. You may also consider power-assist hot water systems which are known as hot water demand systems. It will have no water run down the drain waiting for hot water and it saves a lot of water. A typical family of four can save up to 14,000 gallons per year. They are the most efficient systems since they eliminate the wasted water that normally gets run down the drain. They can also save energy. Then, why do not you start to go green with your plumbing layout? You can make it as efficient as possible since it will be around for a long time to come.