CanadianNorth
Well-Known Member
Ok,
So I am moving the ol' brewing indoors.
I have been brewing for just over two years, I've done a couple dozen batches.
I don't have the dime for a setup like electricbrewery.com (go Senators!), at least not yet. I want to start small while keeping things efficient.
After a couple of posts and a lot of reading, I am stepping away from heatsticks and going for an in-pot 5500w 240v element (12gal pot). I do "5 gal" batches (starting with 8 gal of wort, boiled down to 6, previously on a massive propane burner).
So right now I am looking at one element in one pot, to be a multipurpose HLT and BK (I can make it work).
Here is the catch:
I need a way to 'tune down' the element once I hit boil. A PID will run me $60, SSR and heatsink wil run $25.
The PID/SSR option is most likely the best move - and I will go that way eventually, but the cost (after just buying the element and a 30A 240V GFCI breaker) is not cool.
So the question to the forum is; is there a cheaper way to control the heat output? An analog dial, for example the type on a stove, perhaps with an SSR?
I'm not really concerned right now about reading the temperature, I have lots of thermometers to do that.
Thanks!!
So I am moving the ol' brewing indoors.
I have been brewing for just over two years, I've done a couple dozen batches.
I don't have the dime for a setup like electricbrewery.com (go Senators!), at least not yet. I want to start small while keeping things efficient.
After a couple of posts and a lot of reading, I am stepping away from heatsticks and going for an in-pot 5500w 240v element (12gal pot). I do "5 gal" batches (starting with 8 gal of wort, boiled down to 6, previously on a massive propane burner).
So right now I am looking at one element in one pot, to be a multipurpose HLT and BK (I can make it work).
Here is the catch:
I need a way to 'tune down' the element once I hit boil. A PID will run me $60, SSR and heatsink wil run $25.
The PID/SSR option is most likely the best move - and I will go that way eventually, but the cost (after just buying the element and a 30A 240V GFCI breaker) is not cool.
So the question to the forum is; is there a cheaper way to control the heat output? An analog dial, for example the type on a stove, perhaps with an SSR?
I'm not really concerned right now about reading the temperature, I have lots of thermometers to do that.
Thanks!!