In most houses, there is no system to get hot water quickly to the farthest faucet. But when there is, it is usually a recirculation system, with copper piping running from the farthest fixture back to the water heater. Sometimes it is gravity-feed, but often an electric pump is used.

This is an effective way to save water, since without a recirc, formerly hot water having cooled off in the lines during periods of non-use, you would open the hot faucet and let the cooled water run down the drain until hot water flowed from the water heater to your faucet.

Good way to save water, good way to waste energy. When hot water is continually circulating, it's also continually radiating away heat, even when the piping is insulated.

Enter manifold plumbing, an effective way to minimize both heat and water loss and energy waste, while also quickly getting water to any fixture.

Photo No. 1 shows manifold plumbing used in conjunction with a direct-vent propane water heater. The manifold, of copper, sits on top of the hot-water outlet port, with a series of valves controlling individual PEX lines leading to individual faucets.

This photo was taken before the installation was complete, which is why the cold-water port doesn't yet connect to anything and why nothing is yet swathed in insulation.

Photo No. 2 shows a cold-water manifold. There are two reasons for its use. One is that you can actually get cold water instead of merely cool water, and the other is that individual lines can be run to each outlet.

Photo No. 3 shows a gas manifold hooked up to CSST or corrugated stainless steel tubing. Note that all of it is the same size. The system is run at two different pressures. The high-pressure side is two pounds, the low-pressure side is 11 inches -- or roughly one-quarter pound.

The neat thing about running your main line at high pressure is the line can be only one-half inch. The neat thing about running CSST is that the line could be pulled through conduit and its long-sweep turns with a rope. This beats cutting and threading steel pipe.