Electric element heat up time.

[MitchD]

To start with im an electrician so elecrrically anything is possible.

Im about to be kicked out of the kitchen and into the garage for my brewing, so I need to add an element to my 36l pot.

As power consumption isn't an issue I'm thinking bigger is better ie a camco 4500w element. Is this too big? I do hate waiting for water to hit strike temp then after mash to reach a good strong boil.

What imput I would like is what size element and pot combination are other brewers using and what is the warm up time like

 

[Eagleburger]

I have 6000w for 60L water and it is usually waiting for me.

 

[QldKev]

For warm up times you can have a play with the calc on my website, under homebrew/calculators/water heating. To give you an idea, 25L from 20c to 65c (45c diff), using 4500w = 17mins.

For the boil 4500w will be too strong for the small pot. You can either use two smaller elements and switch one off once you hit the boil, or build a voltage controller. Here's one I use. Then you can simply dial back the heat to your desired boil level.

For my 1V I use a 2,000w element as it shares a standard 10amp GPO with the pump and controller. Using a 50L pot for a 28L final vol batch it can get to a boil, but I did need a lot of insulation. It is also slowish to get from mashout to the boil, so often I throw in an over the side immersion element (2400w) to get it there quicker. Once I get tot the boil I turn off the immersion element. I think a 3600w element would be heaps, but I think you would still need the voltage controller. The voltage controller is cheap to build with most parts on ebay.

On my 3V I only use 6,000w in the kettle and I can make up to a 112L final vol batch. But I would like some more power.

 

[MitchD]

Thanks for the quick replies. Im planning on using mathos controller to automate part of the brewing process. Ideally set it up to heat when im on the way home from work so the temp is right to mash in as I pull into the garage.

The 3600w element does simplify the installation but im impatient.

Also does everyone use a false bottom to protect the bag from the element? On the gas stove I can apply heat with the bag in and full of grain without it burning.

 

[QldKev]

I used to use a pizza tray I riveted some legs onto to keep the bag separated. I've since moved away from the bag and now use a pot for the inner bag. I have some details of it here.

 

[Dan Pratt]

I'm not sure what your in house tap water is like but the mains water on hot at our place is at 58c, I add that to the kettle and it saves about 35mins of heating. I use a 5lt jug and fill a 20lt handy pail 3/4 full on 2 rounds, bit of manual handling but sure does get you to strike temps quicker.

 

[MitchD]

Hot water is set to 50c. But i want to be able to fill up the night before when i have the time, set it and mash in when i return home from work. I also want an element big enough to reach boil in around 15 mins.

 

[djar007]

Have you had a look at the new Blichmann elements. If I was setting up a matho base rig right now I would be investing in those. There are various wattages and they claim zero chance of scortching because of ultra low density blah blah. No affiliation but these would have to be a consideration in any new setup imho.
http://www.blichmannengineering.com/products/boilcoil

 

[MitchD]

Very nice as always from blichmann and the price is reasonable considering the extra work to fit something like the camco. If only they were readily available for the 5gal