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sillyburt · 03-07-2012, 12:57 AM

if you pull the meter on the outside you'll have absolutely no power anywhere in the house,including the circuit box.

safest way to work in a circuit box as far as I know

boogiesnap · 03-07-2012, 12:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KillerKellers

This is a good point.. don't discount yourself. If you can do a switch, a breaker is not much different. Open your panel sometime, and take off the cover (pops out) and have a look. You can do this safely, the hardest part is running the wire to the new location.

thanks for the boost, honestly.

but, our panel is pretty maxed. i wouldn't even know where to begin. there's no open breakers.

**KillerKellers** · 03-07-2012, 12:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boogiesnap

thanks for the boost, honestly.

but, our panel is pretty maxed. i wouldn't even know where to begin. there's no open breakers.

Ah, ok.. that could be more challenging. What about your dryer, is that close to where you are brewing?

boogiesnap · 03-07-2012, 01:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sillyburt

if you pull the meter on the outside you'll have absolutely no power anywhere in the house,including the circuit box.

safest way to work in a circuit box as far as I know

um, that would be bad, unless my wife was away for a LONG time.

it's not the working with AC i'm shy of, it's the safety of the wiring i installed. i just can't take the risk.

boogiesnap · 03-07-2012, 01:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KillerKellers

Ah, ok.. that could be more challenging. What about your dryer, is that close to where you are brewing?

mmm, not so much, but kinda.

thing is, when we installed the dryer, the joke was, if it dies, sell the house. it's that tight in the space.

**danbass** · 03-07-2012, 01:12 AM

I recently stacked a couple of breakers and opened some space using breakers like these:

Perhaps you could open up some space in your box using the same type of breaker?

SirJoshuaIV · 03-07-2012, 01:24 AM

I agree with Danbass. If you are really looking into upgrading to a 10 gallon electric system, you will need the 220. If you can stack a few breakers, you can get the space to throw in a 30 amp. Of course this is only possible if you're not already maxed out on amps.

If not it will be just as easy as installing a switch or light, and likely the easiest part of the build.

JRems · 03-07-2012, 02:03 AM

If you can find a way to have access to the dryer outlet let me know. I don't want any liability with messing with your house wiring, but I can certainly help you with the control panel. I'm not too far, I'm frequently in norwalk. It's really not a big deal. Let me know, your are more than welcome to come over to see a brew day with electric if you want.

cjang · 03-07-2012, 02:06 AM

Just wanted to add my 2 cents:
I live in a condo and don't have access to 220. I brew all electric 10 gal all-grain batches on 110v on my porch. I use 2 x 1500W elements since I only have access to 15A circuits. I've made everything from a russian imperial stout to a czech pilsner (~20 batches in total on the electric system). I don't have issues with not getting a vigorous enough boil (Never had a DMS problem). My only concessions are that it takes a little while to get up to temp (all in all my brew days are ~6 hrs from setup to clean up) and I have to run extension cords to get to two different circuits. I have two circuits in my kitchen that are both GFI so I got lucky there. You might just need to run an extension cord a bit longer to get to a second circuit.
It's totally doable. In an ideal world, I'd have a 60A 220 service but most homebrewers have one sort of limitation or another but we all find a way make it happen.

boogiesnap · 03-07-2012, 12:41 PM

thanks for all the encouragement guys. i appreciate it.
i opened up the box last night and looked around. it is PACKED. not a single open circuit. BUT, it looks pretty easy to move stuff around, so if i can find a couple low use circuits and stack them(using a breaker as shown above, my box already has a couple of those)i think i would be able to install a 240V breaker.

with that said, all the wiring in the area i'm thinking of brewing in(and that'll be my next obstacle-no water, no ventalation)is only a couple years old. would i be able to use the existing in wall wire and simply change out the receptacle and breaker?

or simply no because 240 is 2 hot wires?

all in all you guys were right, it probably is the simplest portion of a brew build.