ABSTRACT
Many times after going through an evaluation of different plastics and comparing the application there is more than one material that will work well. It then becomes a decision of which plastic material to install. It is not simply a matter of looking at the price of pipe per foot or fitting cost. The installed cost is what determines which material to install, and installed cost depends on many factors. As already discussed, there are several ways of heat fusing plastics and these carry different costs of installation. Also, where the material is being installed, the diameter of the pipe, number of valves in the system, expected changes in the future, type of hangers used, required insulation to reduce heat loss, and other factors all effect installation costs. There may also be a decision between a plastic piping system and a metal piping system for a given application. In this chapter a comparison approach is given in which several questions are put forth that can lead toward selecting a material most economical for the application. This approach is then followed by a series of example costs for systems, materials, applications, and size.
