My wife and I have a 550 sq. ft. cabin that was in her family and built in the later 50’s. In 1991 or so it got its first plumbing, and it’s CPVC. I want to re-plumb it. Just a kitchen sink and 3/4 bath. PEX would be my preference, but is it resistant to being eaten by rodents, or is there a methodology for preventing rodents from eating it? The underside of the cabin is not rodent proof. The alternative is to go copper.
BTW, the place needs a new water heater. Can anyone recommend a good quality water electric water heater with a convenient “vacation” mode switch. I seen them on gas water heaters but not so much on electric ones.
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Bill
Faced with a re-plumb to a seventies crawlspace house in the farm fields of Nw Oh., the plumber mentioned to the homowner to go with copper (this was a freeze/burst repair) as his experience was that somehow those damn mice (which leave the field at harvest time) would 'feel" the water in the pex and go for it. I respect this guys opinion on all things plumbing. About this scenario?
You've had good luck with the cpvc. Think they could have gone through that?
Best of luck.
Can't help you on the heater-ours runs off the boiler.
BTW, the place needs a new water heater. Can anyone recommend a good quality water electric water heater with a convenient "vacation" mode switch. I seen them on gas water heaters but not so much on electric ones.
By code an electric water heater is supposed to have a "disconnect means" within sight of the heater. This could be the circuit breaker if they're in the same utility area. That's all you need.
pex and varmints
fair enough. but we tend to like to keep the hot water heater on in freezing weather. we would just like to keep it on with a "low" setting
Then just buy a well-insulated tank and leave it turned on.
Every water heater I have ever seen has a thermostat dial that you can turn down. In fact, some ofl the newer ones I have seen have a standby mode on that dial which is an even lower setting