Could An Element Boil A 100tlr Pot?

[daddywillwill]

hey guys

Just tossing up between gas or electric.
could you boil a 100 litre pot with eletricty instead of gas? if so would 2 3600 elements do it?

Thanks
Willis

 

[reg]

hey guys

Just tossing up between gas or electric.
could you boil a 100 litre pot with eletricty instead of gas? if so would 2 3600 elements do it?

Thanks
Willis

Absolutely.
2 x 3600 watt elements to get to the boil quickly.
You might find 1 x 3600 watt element may give you too rigorous a boil.
I would look at 1 x 3600 and 1 x 2400 to give you a more controlled rolling boil IMO

 

[Nath151]

i believe that you would be able to boil 100L with 2x 3.6kw elements as the standard 100L HWS on average a 3.6kw element in it
i think alot of people use a 2.4kw element to boil 50L

Please by all means correct me if im wrong

cheers

Nath

 

[Nath151]

got beaten by reg

 

[daddywillwill]

So would 2400 do the job just fine or would like you said a 2400 plus a 3600 be more controlled?
the Beerbelly ones look good.
http://www.beerbelly.com.au/burners.html

what else would i need to get these puppies running?

 

[pdilley]

There is a calculation how much energy it will take to raise one litre of water one degree C. Then you just need to expand that to the liquid of your preboil and how many degrees you have to raise it to get to boiling and see how long it will take each element size to do it... All the formulas escape me as I never went electric, although same can be done for gas flames.

Thats if you could be arsed You could always just build it, then time it and you'll have the answers in reverse

Cheers,
Brewer Pete

 

[troopa]

Bugger guessing it just go the 2x3600W elements and use a variable control switch to control your voltage on one of the elements to get your desired boil

Im no electrician here so take what i say with a grain of salt and ensure you get professional advise.
But i use 1x3600W element and variable control in a 60L pot without issues on a 15Amp circuit

The only issuse i see with using 2 elements is that your already maxing out your wall socket with just the one element attached
you will need 2 separate circuits wired up close enough together to plug both elements in
(Sorry for the excessive use of the word element)

Tom

 

[QldKev]

Yes 2 x 3600w will do the job, it all comes down to the time taken to raise a boil.
3600 / 240v = 15a
So you will need a dedicated 15a to each element...

Using 80L water and 2 x 3600w = 0.65hr to raise 50 degrees c
or with a 2400 (10amp) and a 3600 (15amp) = 0.78 hrs
or 2 x 2400 (10amp - normal outlet) = 0.97hrs

Here's a spreadsheet I knocked together. (If anyone finds an issue in the formulas please let me know; facts only!)
View attachment water_heating.xls

QldKev

 

[pdilley]

Cheers Kev,

I knew someone here would be good with the energy-to-temperature formulas.

 

[Gout]

I know this may not help, but i use 2400W as it was in my single batch brewery setup, now i have 120Lt pot, to boil say 90Lt the 2400 will not cut it. I added gas to help and thats ok, a gas burner only would also be fine.

I have elec in the HLT and HERMS and Boiler so i need either only have one on at a time, or 2 different circuits in the house (10A) each
15A would help you but it does start to be a pain i think. having it installed and running 2 circuits etc

for me, elec in the herms, and HLT are fine, but i think gas may be better at that volume of boiler ( just my 2C worth)

 

[Swinging Beef]

African or Indian Element?

 

[daddywillwill]

not sure on element. Indian or African.
i'll ask beerbelly tomorrow.
i aslo have a friend who will wire it up for me for not much at all.

 

[daddywillwill]

Yes 2 x 3600w will do the job, it all comes down to the time taken to raise a boil.
3600 / 240v = 15a
So you will need a dedicated 15a to each element...

Using 80L water and 2 x 3600w = 0.65hr to raise 50 degrees c
or with a 2400 (10amp) and a 3600 (15amp) = 0.78 hrs
or 2 x 2400 (10amp - normal outlet) = 0.97hrs

Here's a spreadsheet I knocked together. (If anyone finds an issue in the formulas please let me know; facts only!)
View attachment 29045

QldKev

Awesome thanks heaps for the conversion chart. helped out.

why only 50 deg cel. to be raised? wouldn't it be something like 80 to get a boil? cause normal tap water is like 20 deg cel. isn't it?

 

[Maxt]

I had an 80L pot, needed 2 x 2400 to get a rolling boil.

 

[QldKev]

Awesome thanks heaps for the conversion chart. helped out.

why only 50 deg cel. to be raised? wouldn't it be something like 80 to get a boil? cause normal tap water is like 20 deg cel. isn't it?

The spreadsheet will allow you to enter any number. I used 50 because in BIAB I raise my 20 degree water to 69 (ok thats only 49) for mash in. Having only ever BIAB I can't see why a 20 to boil would be used? If you did want to go to boil then 80 would be a better number.

QldKev

 

[daddywillwill]

ow ok i see why it was 50.

Maxt - how long did it take you to get a boil? the chart says it would 1 and a half hours to boil? is that too long to boil something that big compared to gas?

 

[alowen474]

African or Indian Element?

I think it was a white element :lol:

 

[Maxt]

I could get 65L to a rolling boil in about 25mins. (I have since found that it helps when the lid can be put on loosely).

 

[QldKev]

I could get 65L to a rolling boil in about 25mins. (I have since found that it helps when the lid can be put on loosely).

Are you using water from the hot water system? What was your water starting temp?

QldKev

 

[Maxt]

This was post sparge, so guessing about 70degrees?