Obviously none of the people who have responded have even a remote clue about how to properly size a line. When designing a potable water distribution system you begin by selecting all the end use fixtures to determine what the end use load will be. In the case of the original post they want a shower head, body sprays, a hand shower and possibly a rain shower head. Quote:"How many fixtures will you have on at any one time? Remember that 3/4" pipe has double the capacity of 1/2" pipe." Code requires that we design a potable water system for a worst case scenario. The system must be capable of maintaining the code listed minimum fixture "Dynamic head pressure" even when every fixture in the house is turned on at the same time. The statement that a 3/4" pipe has twice the capacity of a 1/2" pipe is not true. The capacity, or properly the volume of flow is determined by the size of the metering orifice in the end use fixture. It is true that a 3/4" line has double the cross sectional area of a 1/2" line however both will supply the same volume, the difference being that the velocity of flow will be twice as fast in the 1/2" pipe. The problem here is that as the velocity of flow increases the "fiction head pressure loss" increases dramatically. In addition to the loss of pressure due to friction head if the velocity of flow exceeds 8fps we start seeing sever pipe wall erosion, which leads to premature pipe failure. In fact, while acidic water is the leading cause of pin hole failure in copper pipe, excessive velocity in undersized pipe is the second leading cause of pinholes. Preferably we should have the end use fixture data available when designing the system but in situations where that information is not yet available we use the gal/min flow rates that are published in the code. Now getting back to the original question. All the end use fixtures in question are types of shower heads and per code shower heads are restricted to 2.5gpm so let us begin putting it all in perspective. Using the code standard of 2.5gpm we get shower head (2.5gpm), hand shower (2.5gpm) and body sprays (2.5gpm)equals and a hand shower(2.5gpm) for a total load of 10gpm. Consulting the "Type L Copper Friction Loss Table" we find that if we supply this shower with a 1/2" line the velocity of flow would be 13.80ft/sec and the pressure loss would be 67.72psi/100ft of pipe. If we increase the pipe size to 3/4" the velocity of flow is 6.62ft/sec and a pressure loss of 11.17psi/100ft.

The furnace model number with the XR16 is an XC80. Very similar to the XV80 but communicating. Must be a mistake. TCONT803 is a fine thermostat to use with the XR16 air conditioner and furnace. Overall, I do not agree with the equipment matchups proposed with the furnaces and air conditioners. Oversized furnace on both systems, and oversized coil to achieve marginal efficiency gains on the XR16 system. I realize you may not understand all the implications of oversized equipment, but it is a big deal for comfort, efficiency and reliability. All things considered I still recommend the heat pump system. This post was edited by ryanhughes on Wed, Apr 24, 13 at 13:54

Got a question. My shower has 3 body sprays that never worked right because they were hooked up with the other shower heads and therefore had no pressure. I opened up a part of the wall on the outside to see what I could do. The body sprays have a 1/2" presure balance system hooked up to a regular valve coming from the shower heads. I bought a Moen 1/2" posi valve to hook up to the body sprays and separate from the shower heads. My main is 3/4" branching off to the 1/2" balance system. My question is the 1/2" posi valve has small holes inside for the water, would it benefit me to use a 3/4" posi valve to mix more water or would that just turn down the pressure. I hoped I explained this right. I cannot redo the 1/2" balancing system without taking all the tile and cement board off and really creating a mess. Thanks in advance.

This topic of single vs. double bowl has been discussed A LOT on this forum. Do a search for threads, and you'll be reading for quite some time. I've linked one below. There's no right or wrong answer, it's just a matter of personal cooking style. I myself have a large rectangular single bowl, and wouldn't do anything else, but I know there are plenty of people who wouldn't have anything but a double-bowl. As to the drain, just make sure to get a sink with an "offset drain", which comes in both single and double bowl styles. An offset drain is set to the back or to the rear corner (rather than the center), so that you can set pans down without covering the drain. It also gives you more room under the sink for storage, especially if you have a disposal. If the drain is offset, you won't have the plumbing and disposal right in the middle of your base cabinet interfering with your storage. Here is a link that might be useful: Thread about Single vs. Double Bowl Sink