Pex brand question(s)...difficult decision

I've been at this project for a year and am finally ready to pour a slab. Now I'm ready to get the pex for the radiant floor heat. No one locally has it! I've found sellers of Rehau, Zurn, Wirsbo and an online store with EHT Brand that I can not find any information on. Everyone claims theirs is as good or better than everyone else's... someone's lying!
I need a little input. I'm anxious to get going. I can buy this EHT brand and have it in 4 days with a 33% savings in price...in a 1000 ft roll which will guarantee me minimum waste and no splices. I can order Zurn thru Lows// for a competitve price but will take 2 weeks. I can pay thru the nose for Wirsbo but know I'm getting a new cadillac and still have to wait at least a week to get it (twice the EHT price).
So...anyone ever heard of the EHT brand? It is pex-b. I can't find ANYTHING on it or the brand or company. Scarey to think I'd have problems with it under 30 yards of concrete....
Where is that comparison chart for the different brands?

I feel that, based on my limited Lowe's PEX experience, that their Zurn is total trash. I would stay away from it unless you needed some kind of temporary plumbing during a natural disaster or something.

I would go with Wirsbo (Uponor) ProPex -- as my second choice. The EverLoc by Rehau is the very best, and in a perfect world is my first choice - I was cheap and went with ProPex. Is it good? Yes. Is it the best? No.

I've been wasting valuable time this morning worrying over this thing. It looks like EHT brand is actually or possibly Everhot brand. I'm not worried about getting the best...only something dependable and which will do the job without me worrying about it. Overkill is not something I invest in. I just don't want to have to worry about it when it's under all that concrete. Putting off the decision until tomorrow.... would appreciate any input...anyone ever had problems with any particular brand of pex? If Zurn is bad then why is it bad? I do know there is a difference in Pex-a and Pex-b. It seems that Wirsbo is the only one I've found that makes pex-a and it's a higher price...but I could sleep at night. Just wonder if it takes anything special or different to work with it... I've got uponor's booklets...guess I should read them...also Zurn's info. All pex-b sellers show no difference, all meet the same astm's and specifications. Looks like, for the money Pex-b is the likely choice tho' pex-a appears to be a superior product.

dont be a tight wad

you can go to that auctin site and see tons of radiant pex
for sale thousands of feet of wirsbo for sale....

and they will answer all your questions....

the best is the wirsbo.....has been and probably always will be....

if it is going in a SLAB, in your own home why in
the world would you want to risk something that
might last only half as long as the wirsbo....


I know of the KITECH pipe giveing people problems and
having issues in radiant floors..in washington state.....big lawsuits
but the company has moved to canada....to escape the law...


there are sooooo many companies trying to
get in on the pex band-wagon....

many pexes are being put out by questionable companies with
cheaper procesess and might not even be in business 5 years from now....


so you wil get left holding the bag if it fails and like the KITECH Fiasco
in LAS VEGAS you could even have other issues to worry about



I realize that its just good beer money your just thowing
away under that concrete slab floor.....


but if it were my home I would still put in the best...

you mention 1000 ft with no splice....!!!!!!! you can not run that kind of length.......your maximum run should be no more that 300 feet with 1/2" tubing..otherwise your radiant will NOT work.........hope you have done your homework on proper sizing and layout of your system else we will be hearing from you next winter about how you are getting no heat.......PS i use uponor/wirsbo exclusively....imho THE BEST

True Poorplumr...but if I use 200 ft then I'll have a 100 ft piece left...mighty long piece of trash...if I get a 1000' roll then I just cut off what I want and don't have to worry about the length of the next piece. I'd rather have one 50 ft to use for branches on potable water than a pile of 100 ft end pieces to find a use for.

Pex

If you use 250' runs your 500' coil will not have any waste. You have to have PEX with an oxygen barrier for radiant heating.

Pex for radiant heating

Hope you did a heat-loss calc and used insulation under that slab! This will help determine your zoning, zone lengths, pump sizing and control strategy. For radiant heating you'll want an O2 barrier PEX. There are 3 main type of Pex (Pex A, Pex B, Pex C) the type has to do with how the cross-linking is accomplished. I like the Uponor (Wirsbo) and Rehau pex and the pro-pex fittings.

Bob

http://www.farmtek.com/farm/supplies/prod1;;pg102782_102782.html

diveguy said:

Hope you did a heat-loss calc and used insulation under that slab! This will help determine your zoning, zone lengths, pump sizing and control strategy.

Click to expand...

Is there a site that provides heat-loss calculations?

Rancher

wirsbo does

I have seen it somewhere on the wirsbo site a few
years ago.

I have seen the heat loss page and all the information

you would ever need......

also they will answer questionis on an 800#.

..

I know it doesn't apply for this case, but if you are a plumber or what not, you have to buy the tools and fittings for the zurn, vanguard, ect. type of pex. According to ridgid they have a crimp tool that works on all that style. Some say they are not exactly the same, but they do work together. Most modular homes and trailers use this kind.

The Wirsbo system is as of now, according to most, the best. It is easier to install into tight places because you expand the pipe and ring and then put it on the fitting. It can be hard to line up and crimp the other type.

The rehau is also great if it would catch on, but so far in most areas it has not. I have never used it and it is hard to find except on the internet.

It is bad to walk onto a job and not have the right type tools and fittings. If you do then you have to just walk away or make more problems than you want to deal with.

I do not think that heating of any kind is a DIY project. If you are not trained then get trained or hire someone to do it, that's what subcontractors are for.

mark