Instant Hot Water

Would it be possible to incorporate an electric, tankless water heater into an electric rig? I know it sounds odd, but I rent and do not have access to 240v outlets so I have been trying to think of ways to get water up to temp without the painstaking process of using 1500 or 2000w elements on 120v circuits. I don't even know if its possible, just curiosity from a electric idiot. :cross:

An electric tankless water heater works on the same premise as a RIMS. It's not going to heat water very quickly on 120v.

Yep. An electric tankless heater uses heating elements to heat water too. You'll have the same limitations as using an element in the pot.

fair enough. thanks guys.

I've looked into this too, Depending on how hot you want the water, it gets pretty expensive for the unit. Home-use units are temp limited to about 140 degrees to prevent scalding (at least her in USA). So to get to near boiling you'd need to purchase a commercial unit like they use in some kitchen wash stations. You're well over $1000 and probably more like $2000 new. The household units might be good for sparge water. Overall it's cheaper to run a hot water line to get pre-heated water from your tank heater and raise to boil from there. Then again my 5500w element bring 15 gal to temp in about the time it takes me to do other necessary things in the brewery.

Your best bet is to go ahead and add a 1500w element to your HLT on a controller. The reason I say this is that you could prefill it any time and set a timer to power up the element. It will take a long time, but it's not something you'd have to babysit. If you're brewing first thing in the morning, set the timer for 2 hours prior and it's hot when you wake up.

The other issue that I thought of when considering this approach is that any water treatment becomes more difficult, especially for the sparge...

Bobby_M said:

Your best bet is to go ahead and add a 1500w element to your HLT on a controller. The reason I say this is that you could prefill it any time and set a timer to power up the element. It will take a long time, but it's not something you'd have to babysit. If you're brewing first thing in the morning, set the timer for 2 hours prior and it's hot when you wake up.

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This right here!

I had this idea when I first started looking at electric brewing. Sure it takes longer to heat up your water with low wattage, but that doesn't mean you have to be babysitting it, or even awake when the thing turns on. Set it so you roll out of bed and mash in

I like electric personally but you could use gas and make one of those amazing instant steam/hot water contraptions using a burner, stove pipe and copper coil.

But if you are renting then it probably is an apartment isn't it? Which means no gas... Oh well.

How big are your batches? A 1500w element would definitely suffice for 5 gal batches. It may not be the quickest but it would work.

What has been covered here is pretty much my understanding of home demand electric units. Every one I've ever seen runs on 240V, because that is by far the most efficient way to do electric heating of anything. We have used gas demand water heaters for years, and any home unit reasonably sized for the amount of water you need will be regulated to a maximum of 140F for safety reasons. In short, unsuitable for your purposes.

Lost said:

I like electric personally but you could use gas and make one of those amazing instant steam/hot water contraptions using a burner, stove pipe and copper coil.

But if you are renting then it probably is an apartment isn't it? Which means no gas... Oh well.

How big are your batches? A 1500w element would definitely suffice for 5 gal batches. It may not be the quickest but it would work.

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To follow up: search for "flash boiler" if you can do gas/propane.

Otherwise 120v electric will do it for a 5 gal batch.

You could still use a water heater to fill your system with hot water. Starting out at 120-140 degrees would save a lot of time waiting for the system to get up to temp. But, as mentioned, you wouldn't be able to run this water through a filtration system like RO because the hot temperatures would destroy the membrane.