Finally tackled my noisy pipes and feeling pretty proud

Yeah, dropping pressure too much can definitely backfire. Usually I aim for around 50-60 psi—quiet enough without starving your appliances.

I agree about the mounts and hangers being crucial. When we moved into our place, pipes rattled like crazy every time the washer kicked in. I spent hours fiddling with pressure settings—only to realize later that two clamps had completely come loose behind the drywall. Tightened those up, threw in some foam insulation sleeves, and it's been quiet ever since. Pressure-wise, I'm hovering around 55 psi these days; seems like a good sweet spot between appliance happiness and peace of mind.

Had a similar issue at my folks' place—pipes banging around every time someone showered upstairs. Turned out the plumber had skipped a few hangers entirely... go figure. Did you notice any difference in water flow after adding insulation sleeves?

"Did you notice any difference in water flow after adding insulation sleeves?"

I insulated my pipes last winter to deal with noise and heat loss, and honestly, I didn't notice any real change in water flow. The sleeves mostly help with temperature consistency and reducing condensation, rather than affecting the actual pressure or flow rate. If you're having flow issues, you might want to check for mineral buildup or partially closed valves instead.

One thing I did find helpful though—after insulating, the hot water seemed to reach the tap quicker. Not a huge difference, but noticeable enough to make it worthwhile. Plus, it feels good knowing I'm wasting less water waiting for it to heat up. Curious if anyone else noticed this benefit too...

I get where you're coming from about the insulation making hot water arrive faster, but I'm not entirely convinced that's always the case. In my experience, unless your runs are really long or poorly insulated to begin with, the difference is usually pretty marginal. The water sitting in the pipe is still going to cool down between uses, even with sleeves on—just maybe not as quickly.

One thing I did notice when I added insulation was that it helped keep pipes from sweating in humid weather, which cut down on that annoying dampness under the sink. But as for actual water flow or pressure, like you said, insulation doesn't really do much there. If anything, folks sometimes expect too much from sleeves—thinking they'll solve issues that are actually due to old valves, clogged aerators, or even undersized supply lines.

Not saying it's a waste of time (far from it), but I wouldn't bank on dramatic changes unless you've got some other factors at play. Still, every little bit helps with efficiency and comfort, so it's worth doing for sure.

I hear you about insulation not making a huge difference in how fast hot water arrives, especially on short runs. But I’ve actually seen a noticeable improvement in some older homes with long, exposed pipe runs—like, the kind that snake through unheated crawl spaces. In those cases, insulating made the first burst of water less lukewarm and more consistently hot.

You mentioned:

“the water sitting in the pipe is still going to cool down between uses, even with sleeves on—just maybe not as quickly.”

And yeah, totally agree—insulation won’t fix pressure or flow issues. That’s usually a whole different can of worms...