How to choose a suitable water heater connector

Some consumers have difficulty to choose a suitable water heater supply lines between ss braided hose, copper corrugated hose and ss corrugated hose. Here is simple comparison of these three different types of supply lines:

SS braided hose

Core material is reinforced PVC hose, which is tough and strong enough to hold the possible water pressure in water line. Then stainless steel wires (normally 304) are braided at the outer layer to support and protect the core PVC hose.

Advantage:

• Most flexible, suitable for installing in small area.

• Mostly cheaper.

Disadvantage:

• PVC is unstable when temperature is up to 80 ℃（176 ℉），it gets soft, and toxic material maybe spread out.

• Life is shorter than copper or stainless steel.

Copper corrugated hose

Copper corrugated supply line is made from lead free copper.

Advantage:

• Durable, long life.

• Flexible, but less flexible than other two.

• Suitable for use with hot water.

Disadvantage:

• Most expensive.

• Unsuitable for installing in small corners where requires extreme bending.

SS corrugated hose

Stainless steel corrugated supply line is made from stainless steel (mostly 304).

Advantage:

• Durable, long life.

• Medium flexible, better than copper, but worse than braided PVC hose.

• Suitable for use with hot water.

Disadvantage:

• Medium expensive.

• Corrugated copper supply line was pretty popular in old times, but now corrugated stainless steel supply line is most popular and mostly suggested.

What you should do is to evaluate and choose the best match for your installation scenario.