Pex vs copper vs silicone

[Ramdough]

So, I am building my electric brewery. For my HLT, I don't bet really plan to move it. It will be on an upper tier. I was thinking of either running PEX or copper to it, since it is only ever going to be filled with water. That would save me some money over the silicone hoses that are more expensive. I would have lead free brass barbs.


My wort will be in silicone and stainless only except for my cfc.


What does everyone think?

 

[FuzzeWuzze]

PEX + Sharkbites + Compression fittings or Copper + Compression fittings would be much more expensive than Silicone hose and a few Camlocks i would think no?

 

[BrunDog]

Ya. It's not worth a few bucks to mix up materials and technologies IMO.

 

[kpr121]

I have a plumbed copper kettle filler and love it. Yes cam locks would work but the convenience is worth it imho. I actually threw a cam fitting on the end for more flexibility.

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1452137539.007585.jpg

 

[Ramdough]

A friend of mine has the crimper for pex, so I would be using the cheap pex barbs. No compression fittings.

 

[IslandLizard]

A friend of mine has the crimper for pex, so I would be using the cheap pex barbs. No compression fittings.

I think PEX is great for (semi)permanent installations. And cheap, unless you use those $$ Sharkbites.

Just remember, those PEX barb fittings form a restriction, effectively reducing 1/2" to a bit over 1/4". You may notice that low flow on a gravity fed system. You could use 3/4" PEX instead where needed.

Cons: Exposed PEX will deteriorate (from UV exposure) over the years. It's quite stiff and not as easy to manipulate as a silicone hose with camlocks.

 

[schematix]

I outfitted every connection point in my brewery with male cam locks. Over 20 points including cold tap water, R/O water, every vessel, every pump. Even got 3/4" GHT to 1/2" NPT adapter for the plate chiller.

I have 2 types of hoses: short (4') and long (7'). Both are silicone and have female cam locks.

Probably spent an extra $100-200 doing this, but damn it makes everything easy. In the end it is so flexible it justifies a fairly minimal investment.

I did all the hard plumbing in copper though. I had to Tee into the main house water lines and used sharkbites for that due to ease of installation. See link in sig for more details.