Heatstick design help

Ok, so I am not very technically inclined. I want to see if my idea makes sense, and more importantly, if I am risking starting a fire.

Following the "heatstick=awesome" thread design, I run into the huge problem that the house I brew in does not have 20A outlets (available for brewing), and I'm not confident in my ability to attempt to mess around with the house wiring.

So, I know from the thread that regular home outlets can handle heating elements up to 1500W at best. I know that won't produce enough to boil -- my goal is really just to help accellerate the boiling in conjunction with the stove.

Ok, enough blabbing. Here's my idea.

Could I run two 1500W heating elements through a surge-protected power strip (obviously plugged into one outlet) without danger and/or risk of fire?

You plan to run 25A through a 15A outlet? The breaker will stop you from doing that. You will have 0 watts. Not much danger of fire, when there is no power to the outlet.

In short NO. Each element will pull 13 amps. Most household outlets are 15 amps so two elements will be way more than an outlet can handle. Power strips can only handle 15 amps.

I said I was technically incompetent. =p

Would I be able to run two separately off of different outlets without risk?

ReverseApacheMaster said:

I said I was technically incompetent. =p

Would I be able to run two separately off of different outlets without risk?

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12.5A on a 15A circuit, yes, as long as nothing else is running on those circuits

ReverseApacheMaster said:

Would I be able to run two separately off of different outlets without risk?

Click to expand...

Yes, as long as the two outlets are on different breakers.

ReverseApacheMaster said:

Would I be able to run two separately off of different outlets without risk?

Click to expand...

No risk? That all depends, but yes: you can get 220 VAC from two separate circuits. They need to be on different breakers so that might possibly mean you gotta run a line from another room.
Smart money would be to figure out which breakers control which outlets. Find two near your brew station and use them


I've run 220 motors that way for years and years.

He isnt looking for 220VAC...

He is running a 120VAC 1500W element.

Two 1500w elements require two separate 15A circuits (ok, outlets on seperate circuits). You certainly can't run two elements off a little "power strip".

ReverseApacheMaster said:

I said I was technically incompetent. =p

Would I be able to run two separately off of different outlets without risk?

Click to expand...

I agree with willynilly that you could use two different outlets as long as they are on separate breakers. This could prove to be difficult if you live in an older home. All of your kitchen outlets could be on the same circuit. A newer, however, home should have two separate circuits, one feeding half of your outlets and one feeding the other half.