Why switch to electric?

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Islandboy85

Islandboy85

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Ive been running numbers on propane vs electric. It's a few cents cheaper to run electric, but to offset the cost of converting to electric would take forever to recoup. What am I missing as a benefit other that the lack of carbon monoxide?
 
if you live in a warm climate, probably nothing but if you live where it is cold, alot. the cold drove me indoors, and its alot less noisy, ther was just another thread i read on this exact thing, numbers and all now where was that . . . . .
 
I usually only brew in the colder parts of the year since it can be a bit difficult to get my wort down to a decent pitching temp. I hadn't thought of brewing as a humidifier...thinking thinking thinking...how do I spin this off in a way that the wife will believe lol.
 
Why? Because all the cool kids are doing it. You aint cool unless you go electric.

[ame=http://youtu.be/PoD9LCGsjas]"GOO!" Billy Madison - YouTube[/ame]
 
Electric is cheaper, you don't have to haul tanks, you never run out of electricity (unless your power goes off!), you can brew indoors or in the garage, it's more efficient than propane, you can more easily control it with a PID, plus it's convenient. I've been all-electric since January 2009.
 
Yooper said:
Electric is cheaper, you don't have to haul tanks, you never run out of electricity (unless your power goes off!), you can brew indoors or in the garage, it's more efficient than propane, you can more easily control it with a PID, plus it's convenient. I've been all-electric since January 2009.
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My math (most likely flawed) showed it was oly abou 25 cents cheaper an hour. I'm probably wrong. Part of my problem right now is I've only got one outlet with two ganged 30 amp 240 vac. It's not gfi. It's also inside an apartment :(:( man I NEED a house.
 
I did the numbers and saw a big difference. A 5500W element run for an hour is 5.5 kwh. I can't remember my rate but I do remember calculating that running it for 90 minutes at full (which you wouldn't necessarily do once at boil) cost me $0.70. My propane bottle costs me about $20 and I get about 5 batches (I do extract with special grains). So it is a savings of around $4 a batch.
 
GregKelley said:
I did the numbers and saw a big difference. A 5500W element run for an hour is 5.5 kwh. I can't remember my rate but I do remember calculating that running it for 90 minutes at full (which you wouldn't necessarily do once at boil) cost me $0.70. My propane bottle costs me about $20 and I get about 5 batches (I do extract with special grains). So it is a savings of around $4 a batch.
Click to expand...

Like I said...my math is probably flawed:)

I do direct fire mash, heat my hlt, and boil also around 90 and get 5 batches per bottle of gas. I guess when I look at why it costs to retire the house itch gfi, get pid's, mod the equipment to electric I just am wondering how much I'd have to brew to break even on the transition.
 
I've factored my costs at around 100-150. I could be low. At that cost, I'd have to brew for about 3-4 years to make up the money, if propane stayed at the current rate (which I doubt). But how many of us really brew to save money? For me the convenience factor will be well worth it. I can brew in the house and not pay attention to it once it gets going.
 
I just built a couple of heat-sticks so I could brew in the garage over the winter. I'm two batches in and ready to put a hole in the kettle and go electric full time. In addition to the savings and not having to fill propane tanks, I'm able to have everything setup permanently and don't have to haul everything out to the patio and back every time I brew.
 
I'm switching to electric. Adding a 2000w element to my bk, plus insulation.

Why? I like building stuff.

And I also stopped mixing spreadsheets and fun/beer. :)
 
GregKelley said:
I've factored my costs at around 100-150. I could be low. At that cost, I'd have to brew for about 3-4 years to make up the money, if propane stayed at the current rate (which I doubt). But how many of us really brew to save money? For me the convenience factor will be well worth it. I can brew in the house and not pay attention to it once it gets going.
Click to expand...

Well, to brew it has to fit into the budget. School loans out the ying yang. Well, you all make a convincing argument. Maybe I'll have to convert once I get a house.
 
My friend and I were talking. He suggested I make a timer out of a 555 chip to control the ssr so the cost would be less. This may not be too bad. A few bucks and it'll work like an oven.
 
GregKelley said:
I did the numbers and saw a big difference. A 5500W element run for an hour is 5.5 kwh. I can't remember my rate but I do remember calculating that running it for 90 minutes at full (which you wouldn't necessarily do once at boil) cost me $0.70. My propane bottle costs me about $20 and I get about 5 batches (I do extract with special grains). So it is a savings of around $4 a batch.
Click to expand...

My rate's about $0.10 per kwh. So a 5.5kW boil for an hour costs $0.55. And that's a 10g boil.

Anyone want to tell us how many 10g hour boils you get out of a tank of propane?
 
don't know , but in my case to brew i had to drag ALL my equipment out of the basement, now being electric my setup runs off my dryer outlet and is in a permeanent place, no moving stuff around, or mashing in the basement boinling outside, carryin hot watter to the basement.
 
Islandboy85 said:
My friend and I were talking. He suggested I make a timer out of a 555 chip to control the ssr so the cost would be less. This may not be too bad. A few bucks and it'll work like an oven.
Click to expand...

I in fact just made a 555 timer based PWM out of some Rat-Shack parts. It all fits on the back of the trim pot but I'm not overly satisfied with my solder joints so I'm going to attach everything to a small IC board and then JB Weld that to the back of the pot (I think).

Dual General-Purpose IC PC Board - RadioShack.com

My circuit was made from a 555 timer IC, 100k linear trim pot, a 10uf cap, a 0.01uf cap, and a misc diode. Everything will set you back $8-$10.

I used THIS circuit found in THIS thread.
 
bf514921 said:
don't know , but in my case to brew i had to drag ALL my equipment out of the basement, now being electric my setup runs off my dryer outlet and is in a permeanent place, no moving stuff around, or mashing in the basement boinling outside, carryin hot watter to the basement.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I suppose my brew day would be more fun. I sill haul my gear out of the garage, across the parking, over the wall to my apartment patio or through the apartment, then brew. Fun times.
 
pvtschultz said:
I in fact just made a 555 timer based PWM out of some Rat-Shack parts. It all fits on the back of the trim pot but I'm not overly satisfied with my solder joints so I'm going to attach everything to a small IC board and then JB Weld that to the back of the pot (I think).

Dual General-Purpose IC PC Board - RadioShack.com

My circuit was made from a 555 timer IC, 100k linear trim pot, a 10uf cap, a 0.01uf cap, and a misc diode. Everything will set you back $8-$10.

I used THIS circuit found in THIS thread.
Click to expand...

Sweet. I'll have to think about maybe doing this. It would be a lot cheaper to getinto electric without the cost of the pid and thermocouples initially. How can I get gfi in my apartment easily though...I may have to work the maintenance guy over
 
Islandboy85 said:
How can I get gfi in my apartment easily though...I may have to work the maintenance guy over
Click to expand...

Use a spa panel - they're $50 at Home Depot.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f170/spa-panel-wiring-dummies-266751/

The link above shows how to wire based on a 3 prong dryer outlet. P-J has another diagram floating around you can search for that shows how to wire it if you have a 4 prong outlet. Just wire a dryer plug into the spa panel, and run wire out of the spa panel to the e-brewery. You wouldn't have to modify the apartment wiring at all.
 
bigljd said:
Use a spa panel - they're $50 at Home Depot.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f170/spa-panel-wiring-dummies-266751/

The link above shows how to wire based on a 3 prong dryer outlet. P-J has another diagram floating around you can search for that shows how to wire it if you have a 4 prong outlet. Just wire a dryer plug into the spa panel, and run wire out of the spa panel to the e-brewery. You wouldn't have to modify the apartment wiring at all.
Click to expand...

Sweet. I thought people were using those in their house wiring. I didn't know you could use it the way that post describes. Perhaps i will switch to electric after all. I just have to build a kegerator first. (Sick of bottling)
 
Yeah, if you have a dryer outlet available to you, then just wire in a chord to the GFI Spa Panel and then install a dryer outlet in the panel to connect to the heater. You could probably fit the SSR into the panel and do it all in one for simplicity.
 
pvtschultz said:
Yeah, if you have a dryer outlet available to you, then just wire in a chord to the GFI Spa Panel and then install a dryer outlet in the panel to connect to the heater. You could probably fit the SSR into the panel and do it all in one for simplicity.
Click to expand...

So, just so I make sure Im crystal clear, the the ganged breakers gives me 60 amps of over current protection. The spa disconnect really is only there for the gfi protection.
 
FYI - Some people have had good luck finding a GFCI cord on ebay. no need to add a box, just wire the cord to your equipment. I have no idea if that would be used on a 220V source though. Might only be for a 120V heatstick.
 
The ganged dryer breaker is 30 amps even though both switches have a 30 on them.

There are 240 V, 30 amp GFCI chords out there on ebay from time to time. They are generally listed as copy machine chords IIRC.
 
pvtschultz said:
The ganged dryer breaker is 30 amps even though both switches have a 30 on them.

There are 240 V, 30 amp GFCI chords out there on ebay from time to time. They are generally listed as copy machine chords IIRC.
Click to expand...

Thanks for clarifying about the breakers.
 
For me it was because propane costs were going through the roof. My high pressure burners were eating through a $20 tank every 2.5 ($8 vs ~$1 for electric/brew). Also, it was a little easier and for me to add automation/precise temperature control with electric instead of the solenoids, pilots etc. required for gas.
 
About the only reason for me was wanting to brew indoors out of the weather. Never really factored cost in it because I didn't really care at the time.
 
bf514921 said:
most people install some method of exausting the steam, or in my case, in the winter the house needs some moisture
Click to expand...
You can't really use brewing indoors to humidify the house if you live in colder climates. It's *way* too much moisture, *way* too fast. Also smells (to most of the other non-brewers in the house).

Kal
 
kal said:
You can't really use brewing indoors to humidify the house if you live in colder climates. It's *way* too much moisture, *way* too fast. Also smells (to most of the other non-brewers in the house).

Kal
Click to expand...

Sad panda...
 

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