Even though PEX has a long history in construction applications, its early North American beginnings in residential radiant floor heating systems more than 35 years ago dubbed it a “residential” product for the first decade or so. Then, as PEX expanded into commercial radiant heating and cooling, residential plumbing, residential fire safety, and most recently, commercial domestic water and mechanical/HVAC hydronic piping systems, the building industry was able to see the benefits of the product for various applications.
Today, more than 17 billion feet of PEX piping has been installed worldwide. That’s enough to stretch to the moon and back almost seven times. Although the product is thoroughly tested and proven with decades of use and miles of installations, PEX is still sometimes misunderstood. Some wonder if a plastic pipe can really compete with, let alone outperform, metallic pipe.