This probably doesn't help you. But I was thinking of doing a asphalt drive way and running like 6 - 100' 1/2" per loops in it. 6 loops would put me around 1 1/4" line equlivalent. Has anyone tried this before I heard if you want to put pex in asphalt you have to run water through it while the asphalt is cooling or the pex will melt and crush.
Solar heat in asphalt driveway?
- Thread starter Technics19
- Start date
Interesting thought. I don't think you'd want the Pex in the asphalt, but in the rock fill under it. I've often wished I had Pex loops in my pool deck to keep the concrete cooler and take advantage of the heat for the pool.
A company called Indeksolar does this under asphalt or embedded in the pool's concrete decking.
CJadamec
TFP Expert
You can direct bury pex and embed it in concrete. As for the stress of being under an asphalt driveway I'm not sure it could handle it. Just the intense heat and vibration from installation of the driveway might kill it. Pex is only rated for a max temp of about 200 F and at that temp it gets very soft. Also road base material has a lot of sharp jagged rocks in it to help lock it together which is another strike against it. Then if the pex were ever to fail and wash out the base material under the asphalt you would be looking at a very costly repair to a driveway.
Page 5, bullet 6 of the PEX Installation Manual states:
http://www.sunworksco.com/PEX_Installation_Handbook_2006.pdf
"Do not use in swimming pool
piping systems."
Apparently not compatible with high levels of chlorine. Maybe true, maybe not, but not the kind of application in which you'd want to invite failure.
http://www.sunworksco.com/PEX_Installation_Handbook_2006.pdf
"Do not use in swimming pool
piping systems."
Apparently not compatible with high levels of chlorine. Maybe true, maybe not, but not the kind of application in which you'd want to invite failure.
I would also be concerned with pavement movement with asphalt, at least in my climate asphalt has a tendency to sag and swell depending on load (over time sags under the wheel path, etc.), it would not take much movement to shear the pipes.