The time savings involved with PEX installations were readily apparent after my initial introduction, but I wanted to know if those time savings would be competing again extra material costs.
My web searches turned up little about the materials costs (other than McMaster Carr which will bend you over 6 ways from Sunday if you let them). So I took a trip to Lowes and found how much some of this would run me.
Copper 10′ ~$10.00 ($1/ft)
PEX 10′ ~$2.80 ($0.28/ft)
PEX 100′ ~$25.00 ($$0.25/ft)
The crimp tools needed ran between $75 and $150. However there are also some powered crimp tools which may be more expensive, but didn’t seem to be available at Lowe’s.