What is this? A plumber type, writing an article on money?? The world is indeed a mysterious place… Well, you may remember that I wrote an article about “Asking the Right Questions”. That was from this blog, September, 2017. It seems to me that asking a good question about the way we view costs could be useful. You know that in our basic schooling in America, we get next to no education on finances and how money works. It’s up to us to figure it out for ourselves or find people good at money who can mentor us. I’m some mix of the two.
 
To define some terms here, “first cost” is just what it sounds like… “Life cycle cost” is different in that it takes all costs over time, and factors them in, to help one see what is a deal and what isn’t. What does something really cost? Let’s use a current example. Let’s say you want to buy a car, but you don’t imagine you have budget for something expensive, like a Tesla, so you’re looking at older Chevys. Just for fun, in comparing prices, you find a used Chevy for $10,000 and a used Tesla for $30,000. Let’s assume both cars already have 100,000 miles on them. Well, it seems obvious that you’ll save $20,000 by getting the Chevy. That’s first cost thinking!
 
Now let’s do this a different way. How many years will you get from the Chevy? If you maintain it well, you might get 100,000 more miles from it before it turns into a pile of oily rust. If you drive 20,000 miles per year, that’s five years before starting over again. The Tesla, because it’s mechanically far simpler than the Chevy should be good for 1,000,000 miles. (I did not make that up!) That means you’ll have 900,000 miles of driving before it turns to e-dust. That’s a good 45 years of driving at 20,000 miles per year. So, just from a replacement point of view, for $10,000 you get five years, or the cost of the Chevy is $2000 per year. Now, for $30,000 you get 45 years with the Tesla.That yearly cost is $667. Hmm, a savings of over $1300 per year! But wait, there’s more :~)
 
Let’s say the Chevy gets 15 miles per gallon. That’s 1,333 gallons of gas at $4 per gallon or $5332 for gas for one year. Some of the older Teslas come with free power for life… even for subsequent owners. So, that’s another chunk of yearly savings. There are other costs, like insurance and maintenance. To simplify this discussion, let’s just say those are the same for both cars, but we know that the gas vehicle will have higher maintenance costs than the electric one.
So, now let’s look at the yearly costs for both vehicles and determine how the life cycle costs compare. Initial cost are $10,000 for gas and $30,000 for electric.Gas vehicle costs are $5332 more per year than electric, but we can only extend this out for five years because the gas car then turns to rust. Then we repeat the cycle.



 
So, over ten years, the Tesla costs $30,000 and the Chevy (replaced once) costs $73,320! If you kept the Tesla for its full million miles, you would save something close to $300,000. That’s a nice little nest egg! The price of admittance was the $20,000 more for the Tesla, but it saved you $5332 in fuel every year along with purchase price savings of over $1300 per year. In fact, the break-even point is just around four years. After that you’ll be money ahead. Ultimately, that $20,000 investment made you $43,320 after ten years, or as much as $300,000.Not bad!
 
Oh wait! That money doesn’t need to sit there just getting moldy earning the same or less than the rate of inflation in a bank account. You get to invest it in something you know a lot about, like your business. I’ll be bringing up a tool (a saw) I got long ago in a little bit.With that saw, I built lots of things that people paid me for. I built decks, houses, and did remodel work… all using that saw. Way back when, the saw cost me around $35 or $40.It has helped to make me many tens of thousands of dollars. It really pays to invest in things that make you worth more to others, whether physical things or education. Doing this, that $300,000 could easily become millions. I like to ask myself when looking to buy something, “How cost effective will this be?” It’s a good way to differentiate between investment and entertainment.
 
It may be said that this was an extreme example, using cars chosen to make the point, but it applies to so many areas of life. When I buy tools that I know I’ll use a lot over time, I get good ones. I still have a Skillsaw that I got over 45 years ago. A cheap saw would have worn out many times over. When I’m looking for a tool for one time or rare usage, something cheap is just fine.
 
Investments that save energy also fall into the category where they can be judged for cost effectiveness. Yes, saving energy helps save the planet too, but I don’t wish to descend into politics. For this talk, we can look at “simple payback”, where, if a ten dollar investment in energy conservation saves a dollar per year, it pays for itself in ten years. But, also consider that if this was invested in your home, when the home is sold, you likely will get the entire ten dollars back as efficiency is something the new owners are likely to be interested in because it will save them money too.So, very roughly, instead of just paying for itself, your money was doubled.
 
So, consider asking the life cycle cost vs first cost question when you are looking at purchases, big and small. And know that investing in you is likely one of the best investments you can ever make.
 
Yours, Larry

Most people don’t really want to be thinking about plumbing materials… We just want plumbing to work flawlessly, forever! That’s nice, but reality does intervene sometimes and we then need to understand the practical considerations so we can get closer to our goals of flawless and forever.
 
So, here we go! Each piping material has different strengths and weaknesses. Sometimes the conditions piping will live in, or job site considerations affect which material or materials are best. Here I’ll go over some of the considerations that help to create a long lived, efficient and trouble-free system. I’ll take it one material at a time except where there may be interactions.
To start, we’re looking only at water distribution piping here. Drainage, fuels, or compressed air all have different considerations.
 
Let’s start with Galvanized Steel pipe, Pros:
 

• It’s strong! It’s the strongest of conventional piping materials. It even resists nails, which the other common piping materials don’t.
• It is considered to be a fifty year material, but in good water conditions can last far longer.
• As it is metal, it withstands sunlight, heat and solvents.
• It can be assembled wet.

Cons:

• Steel rusts. When the zinc coating is used up, the steel will rust. This often builds up inside of the pipe, restricting flow and adding rust to the water.
• The galvanizing process may involve the use of lead. Lead is not good for us.
• Steel pipe is the most difficult modern material to install. Its strength and lack of flexibility make it harder to fit into place, particularly in remodel work. Threading also requires special tools.
• Where it’s joined with brass, like at a valve, the brass will force the steel to rust away much faster.

Copper Pipe Pros:

• Copper is far lighter than galvanized steel pipe and is easier to connect, using either soldering or press fittings.
• Soldering does require some experience to do right, but it’s easily learned.
• Copper is unaffected by sunlight, moderate heat and solvents, just like steel.
• Copper seldom builds up enough scale inside to restrict flow.
  

Cons:

• It is subject to erosion corrosion, caused by water travelling too fast and thinning down the pipe.
• Nails go right through copper pipe.
• If water in the pipe freezes, it will likely burst the copper.
• It requires a torch (needs some skill) or press tool, (not cheap).
• Copper has become expensive.

 
PVC/CPVC Pipe Pros:

• PVC/CPVC is lightweight and simple to glue together.
• It is somewhat flexible, and easier to snake around obstructions than the metal pipe materials.
• It essentially does not scale up inside.
• It’s fairly inexpensive.
• Needs no special tools

Cons:

• PVC/CPVC does not like long exposure to sunlight as it becomes brittle.
• Freezing can ruin entire runs of this piping as it tends to split lengthwise.
• As it is softer than metals, it needs more, closer spaced supports.
• There is concern that it leaches plasticizers into the water… un-healthy.
• It cannot take the heat that metal piping can and will deform if it gets too hot,

though CPVC takes heat much better than PVC does.

• Not rodent proof.

PEX Tubing Pros:

• PEX usually comes in coils, so is flexible and requires fewer fittings to get around.
• It’s the easiest material to use for retrofit construction as it flexes so well.
• It is the smoothest piping material, so can handle higher flow rates, (up to ten feet per second) without damage… though the plastic fittings hold up better to this that the brass fittings.
• It can be assembles even with some water in it.
• It is freeze resistant… not freeze proof!  It can expand with ice inside, but returns to its normal shape when the ice melts.
• It’s a good material if you have high water pressure as it will help absorb the shock of water hammer.

Cons:

• PEX does NOT like sunlight. It must not be exposed for any significant time during storage or be installed so it sees the sun.
• Chemicals can leach directly through the material.
• PEX is slightly smaller inside than copper, so depending on flow rate, may have more pressure drop along the length of the pipe.
• It happens very rarely, but rodents can chew through PEX. It needs to be protected when run through rodent living rooms.
• PEX insert fittings substantially reduce the ID of the tube, so increase friction loss. Best to use a PEX system (like Uponor) that expands the tube to go over fittings.
• PEX requires the use of special tools.

As you can see, there are things to keep in mind when deciding on a piping material. So much depends on the situation the pipe will live in and how difficult it will be to install the pipe.
As a rule, it’s always easier to install smaller diameter piping. So, consider low flow fixtures when you remodel. This way you might be able to run really small stuff like 3/8” PEX, or soft copper (or smaller if allowed!).  This becomes very much like running wiring, it’s so small and flexible. Also, it can be put in places that larger pipe wouldn’t fit, like flat raceway or hollowed baseboard.
This was just a quick overview, but hopefully it will help you to think less about and spend less time with plumbing. For fun, here’s a quote from Thomas Drummond, 1797-1840; “Property has its duties as well as its rights.”
 
Yours, Larry