Would this work?Two 1500w elements in a sankey.

I'm looking to convert my bk to electric cheap.Would two 120v 1500w elements boil around 7 gallons?With them both on switches would i be able to turn one off once the boil starts?

I use two 2000w HD elements on separate circuits. I like a big boiloff so I use about 3750 total watts for my boil with one element full blast and the other one controlled by a PID. I get 1.2g boiloff in 60 mins. 1500 wont be enough by itself for a good boil. 3000 would boil but not enough for my taste. I'd go with the 2000w elements.

I can boil up to about 12 gallons with two 2000 watt heatsticks. I use home made GFCI extension cords with 20A switches:





Starting with 150*F wort, I can get a mighty boil going in under 25 minutes.

:rockin:

TY, Cpt!!
I'm TOTALLY making those GFCI extension cords! :rockin:



Dude, you took those pics on my son's first birthday! *wipes away a tear*

Isamu_Dyson said:

Dude, you took those pics on my son's first birthday! *wipes away a tear*

Click to expand...

And my son's 6th birthday...

bizarre

mmb said:

And my son's 6th birthday...

bizarre

Click to expand...

Nah, there is a one in 365 chance of that happening.

My Mom and one of my sisters have the same birthday, that is a little odd.

Cpt_Kirks said:

I can boil up to about 12 gallons with two 2000 watt heatsticks. I use home made GFCI extension cords with 20A switches:

Starting with 150*F wort, I can get a mighty boil going in under 25 minutes.

:rockin:

Click to expand...

I do the same with 2-1500w sticks like you, but I had to insulate keg to get what I thought was a strong enough boil.

Ok,Thanks guys.I'm going to install two 2000w elements and run them each through rheostat.do i need to use low watt density elements or will just any i find at home depot work?

According to this thread it dont seem to matter.

enid said:

According to this thread it dont seem to matter.

Click to expand...

heh, jury it still out on it but I am feeling pretty confident. another week or 2 in the primary and then I'll be sending it off to some BJCP judges for their comments.

If there is scorching, I thank I have an easy solution for it.

Edit- Ooops Think I missed your point.

If you're looking to conserve electricity and not use a PWM driver to pulse the element then that could work. I think one element will have to be 2kw and one 1500w. a single 1500w is going to struggle maintaining a 7 gal boil. Once it gets down closer to 5 then maybe.

The reason I'm doing it this way is to save money on the parts to do it.Now that i have the elements my electrician freind has all the other stuff laying around.I Don't need automated temp control so cheap rheostats should work just fine.