Building our house

[gbmmbg]

7 minutes ago, hk blues said:

doesn't it create loss of pressure in the mixer valve?

No, if you take a 1/2 inch line split into 2 then recombin them to come out one hole it doesn't drop the pressure. As the cold side is closed the hot side opens so the flow stays the same. Now flushing the toilet opens a new line but we have 3/4 inch lines feeding the 1/2 inch lines in the walls at 40 psi so you don't notice. 

[hk blues]

5 minutes ago, gbmmbg said:

No, if you take a 1/2 inch line split into 2 then recombin them to come out one hole it doesn't drop the pressure. As the cold side is closed the hot side opens so the flow stays the same. Now flushing the toilet opens a new line but we have 3/4 inch lines feeding the 1/2 inch lines in the walls at 40 psi so you don't notice. 

Understood - having the wider feed pipe is the secret in your set-up.  We have just the 1/2 inch feed pipes hence the pressure drop when the toilet is flushed.  

[Mike J]

20 hours ago, hk blues said:

Got it.  We don't have a mixer valve on ours so the heater itself is the only way to adjust the temperature.

We have mixer valves in both our CR showers.  I installed the heaters high enough that my wife can't reach them.  That was not an accident on my part. 

Edited July 28, 2023 by Mike J

[Lee]

Questions for GBM.

Did the electricians run a dedicated ground wire from each GFI back to the fuse panel?

How was the main electrical panel grounded? 

Thanks in advance.

 

[BrettGC]

6 hours ago, Mike J said:

We have mixer valves in both our CR showers.  I installed the heaters high enough that my can't reach them.  That was not an accident on my part. 

Great minds think alike!

[gbmmbg]

4 hours ago, Lee said:

Did the electricians run a dedicated ground wire from each GFI back to the fuse panel?

How was the main electrical panel grounded? 

Thanks in advance.

Let me start this out by saying "IM NOT" A Eletriction. Im just going off of my years of being an aircraft tec and my daughter who has her masters in civil engineering. This is how "MY" house is wired. 

1. yes all of our outlets have the Third hole ground but that is only practical if you do it when the house is being built. A gfci will work with the 2 wire system that is in most homes in the philippines. A gfci is looking for a voltage difference so a case ground is not required but is better if you have one.

2. Our main panel is hooked up a bit different because of the gfci breakers. Our power ground is at the transformer like most homes in the philippines. the third hole case ground is tied into a bus in the box, see the bottom of the photo, that ties into our lighting arrestor system. Alot of homes have the return wire tied into a ground rod in the house for back up safety but that won't work with the GFCI's. it will trip them. 

 

[Lee]

GBM

Did you opt for a normal US style washing machine in your house and if so how did you plumb it?

Did you install a water heater to provide hot water to your machine or just do without? 

Any provisions for venting of your roof---------I have been trying to find ridge vents for my house for years with no luck

Thanks again.

 

.

[hk blues]

5 hours ago, Lee said:

Did you opt for a normal US style washing machine in your house and if so how did you plumb it?.

Just to jump in, it's my understanding that the majority of washing machines nowadays are cold fill only and the machine itself heats the water according to your settings on the wash cycle.  I wonder why anyone would want to feed hot water into the machine (using an external water heater) under such circumstances - it seems to me that it might be more expensive as the machine would still have to adjust the temperature of the water coming in according to the setting, including cooling down already heated water.  

[Lee]

55 minutes ago, hk blues said:

Just to jump in, it's my understanding that the majority of washing machines nowadays are cold fill only

There is another option ---that's why I brought it up.

If you can do w/o hot water to wash clothes (we haven't missed it a bit) you can buy a full size US style washing machine and use it instead. Install a faucet from where the water comes out of the wall ---use a brass tee to split the output and then run normal hot and cold water fill lines to the H and C connections on the back of the machine. The H and C connections must have water running to them or the machine will leak profusely. Just a thought.

[hk blues]

2 hours ago, Lee said:

There is another option ---that's why I brought it up.

If you can do w/o hot water to wash clothes (we haven't missed it a bit) you can buy a full size US style washing machine and use it instead. Install a faucet from where the water comes out of the wall ---use a brass tee to split the output and then run normal hot and cold water fill lines to the H and C connections on the back of the machine. The H and C connections must have water running to them or the machine will leak profusely. Just a thought.

I'm not seeing the advantage of that set-up over the more 'conventional' one. 

ETA - What exactly is a " US style washing machine?"

Edited July 29, 2023 by hk blues