Going to need a mulligan!

Well – this week I am going to claim a mulligan or do-over.

My back decided it was going to rule the roost for the week, regardless of how much meds it received. For much of the week, I could barely walk, so climbing around on ladders was NOT going to happen.

SO, there was no physical work done at site since the last update, but I did spend as much time in the office, as I could possibly stand sitting, doing research, sourcing, and ordering of materials and getting my building life much more organized (went through 200+ emails and numerous action lists).

Shop Air

In an earlier update, I mentioned I am putting compressed air lines into my shops and to each roof level.  I was looking at the Infinity piping system and received a quote, but unfortunately the cost ($2700 for my needs) is not remotely affordable to a home user and is more geared towards commercial or industrial users where durability of exposed piping is more important.

So I then looked at using PEX piping.  While, it does seem that this material can be suitable, you do have to make sure the particular brand is can handle the planned pressure at temperature.   Many people forget that the air coming out of a compressor can reach 300ºF or higher.  This is why you always connect metal pipe (black steel/copper) to the compressor, regardless of what the rest of the system’s pipe material will be.

When looking at PEX options, I came across RapidAir’s Maxline piping system. It is a HDPE pipe with an aluminium barrier that is semi-flexible allowing it to be easily routed around obstructions.

After briefly looking into customer reviews, and installation videos, I decided this would be more than adequate for me needs and placed my order.  I bought some of the product direct from RapidAir’s website but found that Summit Racing had better pricing on most components, and shipped everything to my Point Roberts pickup location to save significant freight and handling costs.  The total value of both orders came in at $1100 CAD for a larger scope than the Infinity $2700 covered.

Waste Water Heat Recovery

I also manage to source and order my drain-water-heat-recovery unit.  This will be installed on the vertical ABS stack servicing the master bathroom group and will extract the heat from the water being washed down the drain and impart that heat into the cold water line feeding that bathroom group.  The main reason to install this device is to save energy associated with showering.  For the device to work, you must have significant volumes of heated waste water being generated at the same time as cold water is being consumed. This generally only takes place during showering activities.  By feeding the shower with warmed ‘cold’ water, you reduce the volume of water needed from the ‘hot’ piping to reach the same desired showering temperature.  Manufacturers claim that there can be up to a 40% reduction in the volume of hot water needed for a shower by using this device.  It consists of a copper tube the same diameter as your ABS stack with a series of copper pipes wound tightly around and bonded to that centre copper tube.  I chose the power-pipe design because the outer tubes are run through a die and squared off, meaning better surface contact with each other and the centre tube, thereby increasing the efficiency of the device.

Well, that it folks.  Not much to show this week.  As of tonight, the back is feeling much better, so I am hoping for a somewhat productive upcoming week.

As always – thanks for visiting.

“It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.” —John R. Wooden (1910-2010) Basketball Coach, Author

The problems of the world cannot possibly be solved by skeptics or cynics whose horizons are limited by the obvious realities. We need people who can dream of things that never were and ask ‘why not’?” —John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) 35th Us President