Temperature Loss in 10 Gallon HLT?

I am working my way up to an all electric system using 10 gallon coolers.

In the meantime, I'm getting two 10 gallon rubbermaid coolers from THD to start. I'll be using the HLT cooler as a "passive" HLT until I get the heating element added (and all the 240v stuff done).

How much heat loss can I expect in the HLT? I can use my heatstick to bump up the temp, if needed, but would prefer to just fill it with hot water to sit until needed.

I know in my current 5 gallon Igloo cooler MLT, I get almost no heat loss over an hour or so, especially if the cooler is full of mash.

If the cooler has been pre heated, I get about 2ish degrees loss over an hour with just 170f water.

i seem to remember reading somewhere here that dumping hot water directly into one of the 10g rubbermaid coolers is a recipe for disaster (warping, cracking, etc.). just a word of caution.

p.d.

paledragon said:

i seem to remember reading somewhere here that dumping hot water directly into one of the 10g rubbermaid coolers is a recipe for disaster (warping, cracking, etc.). just a word of caution.

p.d.

Click to expand...

What is the indirect way?.... I've poured close to boiling water in mine (just once...rookie mistake...) and no problem at all. It's important to put some water that is a couple of degrees hotter than your mash temp, so that the MLT will hold the temp....

Yeah, the 2*/hr is probably pretty close.