looking at using electric, I could use a lot of help.

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killian

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if you take the 120v X 20 amps you get 2400 watts. You are safe running at 80% full time so take the 2400 x .8 and you get 1920 watts. That's if you have nothing else on the circuit. you'll need to deduct the controller you end up with, lights, etc. What type of system were you thinking of?
 
How long would it take to heat 5 or 10 gallons of water @ 1920 watts?

I'm not sure yet. Right now I'm thinking about putting an element in a 5 gallon kettle and recirculating the wort or water. Initially I'm planning on a switch to turn the element on/off.

I'm a total noob when it comes to electric and wiring
 
A 120v 20a feed is not going to do much for you. If you want a full electric system get at least 30a 240v. I ran my shop and a 4500w HLT with a 20a 240v feed for quite a while now. That is boiling with propane. I just trenched in a 100a feed though.
 
A 120v 20a feed is not going to do much for you. If you want a full electric system get at least 30a 240v. I ran my shop and a 4500w HLT with a 20a 240v feed for quite a while now. That is boiling with propane. I just trenched in a 100a feed though.

Thanks for the reply, I have heard this before. Currently switching to 240V is not in the brew budget.
 
I used an 1800 watt element and was able to brew a 5 gal batch this last weekend with no problems, its slower than propane but I like going a little slower if I dont have to listen to the blast of a propane burner for an hour!
 
So How long would it take to heat 5 gallons of water to 170°F @ 1920 watts? I know you have to account for heat loss so just say there is no loss.
 
So How long would it take to heat 5 gallons of water to 170°F @ 1920 watts? I know you have to account for heat loss so just say there is no loss.

Assuming your starting groundwater is 55F, it will take ~46mins to heat 5 gals of water to 170F. These calculations assume the best conditions.

Speaking from experience, I was able to maintain a VERY WEAK boil with a 2000W heatstick with 5gals of wort. I found this out after my propane tank ran out at the last 10mins of my brewsession.

Here's some more food for thought, I brew 6 or 12gal batches currently. For 6gal batches I can use 2X 1500W elements each plugged in to a 15A 120V GFCI (3000W total for those that don't like math). And that gives me a great boil with no external control needed. With a 12gal batch I need to supplement with propane.

Edit: Obviously this would require you to have access to 2X 15A or larger circuits in your brewing area.
 
Thanks wza it looks like this might work

I wouldn't recommend it as standard practice, like I said the boil was VERY WEAK with that 2000W element, just barely turning over in the kettle. But nonetheless it did work. I'd imagine insulating the kettle well would help, but it may not be enough.
 
thanks! That link worked. So earlier in the thread buffalobrewer was saying to run an element at 80% draw. If I'm just plugging this element in with no control over the draw I need to go with an element smaller than 1920 watts right?
 
thanks! That link worked. So earlier in the thread buffalobrewer was saying to run an element at 80% draw. If I'm just plugging this element in with no control over the draw I need to go with an element smaller than 1920 watts right?

No, you don't want to run your element at 80% draw. It is my understanding that you are to run electrical appliances at 80% amp draw based on the size of the wire/outlets/breakers/etc there. If you've got a 20A breaker with 12AWG wire feeding a 20A outlet then technically you should only run a 16A draw on it. This means that technically you should run a 1920W maximum element on that circuit.

In the real world you probably aren't getting 120v to that outlet (you can check with a multimeter) so running the 2000W element should be fine.

THIS spreadsheet has a lot of useful info, and is what I used to calculate your heating time.
 
killian said:
thanks! That link worked. So earlier in the thread buffalobrewer was saying to run an element at 80% draw. If I'm just plugging this element in with no control over the draw I need to go with an element smaller than 1920 watts right?

The 80% rule is from the code and is more intended for designing electrical systems. The circuit breaker or fuse is there to protect the wire and prevent fire. I wouldn't worry about going over 80% especially if you are standing there watching it the whole time.

My HLT draws 94% of my circuit capacity plus the same feed powers everything else in my shop. The breaker will tell me when I'm drawing too much...it has a few times.
 
lschiavo said:
The 80% rule is from the code and is more intended for designing electrical systems. The circuit breaker or fuse is there to protect the wire and prevent fire. I wouldn't worry about going over 80% especially if you are standing there watching it the whole time.

My HLT draws 94% of my circuit capacity plus the same feed powers everything else in my shop. The breaker will tell me when I'm drawing too much...it has a few times.

Correct.

It was also my understanding that the 80% rule applies to multi-drop circuits, not to dedicated circuits. The 80% rule gets thrown around a lot on these forums in the wrong context quite a bit by people who don't understand it.

TB
 
Correct.

It was also my understanding that the 80% rule applies to multi-drop circuits, not to dedicated circuits. The 80% rule gets thrown around a lot on these forums in the wrong context quite a bit by people who don't understand it.

TB
Exactly!

Also, it applies to the home designer, archetect, builder and the installing electricians. Not to the home owner.
 
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