Thoughts on Element Size - 5-10 gallon

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Jps101

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All,

Like most of use here, I have been doing my homework and realize there are a number of differing opinions on this topic. My question is what has been your experience and what would you do? For discussion purposes, lets not concern ourselves with circuit size. That said if you would be doing mostly eBIAB 5 gallon batches, what size element do you think is enough? However, if you wanted to give yourself the ability to scale up to 10 gallon, would this change your mind? Now to bring in cost. 6g wire is 2x 10g wire, does that further change your thought process. Thank you in advance to any and all comments. I seem to learn (or at least have another thought) each time I read another build. Kal and P-J, you two have certainly been a great deal of assistance to many on this forum - thank you for your contributions.
 
I would generally be inclined to max-out whatever circuit you have available for brewing. This will give you the fastest heat-up times and could offer flexibility to move to larger batches.
Since you refer to 10 ga wire, the most obvious solution would be to run on a 30 A circuit, use 10 ga wire, and use a 4500-5500 W element.
 
Ryan,

Thanks for the input. I know I referenced 10g wire, that may have been a bit misleading. I have the ability to go to 50a, which would require 6g wire, but that stuff is expensive and I would need to run about 50 ft of the stuff to get close to where I am brewing now. Not to mention the additional plugs and an additional cord to the control panel. The other part being, seems if I am on 30a breaker, I cannot do much more than run a 5500 element...right?
 
In your particular situation I would say to go with 30A. A 5500 watt element is more than enough for 10 gallons. And you will get 5 gallons to boil in no time while you are contemplating stepping up to 10 gallons.
 
1KW = 3450 BTU/Hour
1BTU = Raising 1 pound of water 1 degree F
now add time and heat loss from your vessel

easy

So a 5500 watt element is 5.5kwor 18,766 btu/hr

10 gal of water weighs 84 pounds, raise from 55F to 210F or a deltaT raise of 155F which is 13,020 BTU plus the weight of your vessel

So basically with a 5500 watt element you or about 42 minutes plus time to heat your pot, and the heat coming off the sides and loss of the top, or about 60 minutes total assuming a normal open pot.

clear as mud?

less WATTS = more time

I know guys using 2500 watt elements... but they are in no rush :)
 
1KW = 3450 BTU/Hour
1BTU = Raising 1 pound of water 1 degree F
now add time and heat loss from your vessel

easy

So a 5500 watt element is 5.5kwor 54,614 btu/hr

10 gal of water weighs 84 pounds, raise from 55F to 210F or a deltaT raise of 155F which is 13,020 BTU plus the weight of your vessel

So basically with a 5500 watt element you or about 15 minutes plus time to heat your pot, and the heat coming off the sides and loss of the top, or about 30 minutes total assuming a normal open pot.

clear as mud?

less WATTS = more time

I know guys using 2500 watt elements... but they are in no rush :)

Steve,

Great explanation...thanks for having an opinion.
 
1KW = 3450 BTU/Hour
1BTU = Raising 1 pound of water 1 degree F
now add time and heat loss from your vessel

easy

So a 5500 watt element is 5.5kwor 54,614 btu/hr

10 gal of water weighs 84 pounds, raise from 55F to 210F or a deltaT raise of 155F which is 13,020 BTU plus the weight of your vessel

So basically with a 5500 watt element you or about 15 minutes plus time to heat your pot, and the heat coming off the sides and loss of the top, or about 30 minutes total assuming a normal open pot.

clear as mud?

less WATTS = more time

I know guys using 2500 watt elements... but they are in no rush :)

Math's not adding up... 5.5kw x 3450btu/hr/kw = 18,975btu/hr so I'm not sure where ~55,000btu/hr is coming from
 
My mistake, teach me to do things quick from an armchair!!! SORRY!!!!!

SO let me look a few things up. 1KW actually delivers 3,412 BTU
5,500watt elem = 5.5kw = 18,766 BTU/hr
or 42 minutes to heat just the water. Plus the time to heat the 20 pound vessel and heat loss bringing your time to 1 hour.

I knew something sounded wrong!!!

Thanks for the quick check!!!!

PS - I corrected the original so if anyone just steps in and reads the first response they have the correct info.
 
I’ll just confirm that these calculation are pretty darn close for real-world situation (love it when science wins!) I would say that if you are inside (no wind) and keep a lid on the top while heating you could beat 1 hour.

My system is wired for 30A. 5500 watt elements in both HLT and BK. I have a high amp switch so that I am only able to ‘fire’ one at a time.

I do 10 gallons batches usually, and it takes approximately 30 minutes to get ~10 gallons of strike water from 55F up to 170F.

After mashing I have about 12 gallons of wort at around 160 and it takes an additional 30-40 minutes to get it up to a boil (I counteract this delay by firing the BK element as soon as I can).
 
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