wrote in message
ups.com...
Here's a general plumbing question for the group:

I have a home built circa 1920 and the water main was recently
upgraded to a 3/4" copper pipe. Yet all the copper inside the house
is 1/2". I am going to be redoing my kitchen and bathrooms, and am
considering replacing all the 1/2" pipe with 3/4". Is this upgrade
worth doing? The challenge is that the water pressure coming in off
the street is fairly low, and I am concerned that adding a larger pipe
will only decrease the water pressure that much more.

Thoughts?


The best thing to do is have a professional size it for you. You are also
getting pressure a volume mixed up. You can't change the pressure with a
larger pipe or smaller pipe. But you will get more volume out of a larger
pipe. Also if you increase the hot water lines ( 1/2 " to 3/4 " ) all you
will accomplish is a longer wait for hot water unless you have a
recalculating pump. Pipe sizes are calculated on fixture unites each facet
toilet hose bib has a fixture unite assigned to it . But one thing the don't
account for is low flow fixtures so if your piping is a little under sized
it might not be worth changing.