You guys all already have a ready source of hot water in your homes. I don't get why you'd spend all this money and effort on timers and additional heaters.
I draw my strike water from "hot" faucet of the laundry sink in the basement. This water starts out at around 120° F. I put it on my burner and light it. In the time it takes me to mill my grains, the water gets up to 160-165° F, perfect strike temperature depending on the beer I'm making. A device like the ones described in this thread wouldn't save me any time at all, and would cost me money.
++1 on this method. I have hot & cold water hose bibs in my garage "brewery" w/ bev grade hose & hot and cold charcoal water filters. I star at 120°F and can get to strike temp w/ 8 gal in 20 min or less.
Pump my strike water to my MLT for mashing then refill my HLT Andy sparge water is ready in no time.
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