HERMS Coil 3/8 vs. 1/2"

I have the option of going with 3/8 right now but if I wait for a month or two I could go with 1/2" tubing on a HERMS coil (LLLOOONNGG story). My question is will I notice that much difference in flow/heat transfer to make waiting the month or two on finishing my Herms brew stand? Thanks for the input!

Go with 1/2'" It will be betterflow and faster more even heat transfer.

67coupe390 said:

Go with 1/2'" It will be betterflow and faster more even heat transfer.

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I bet you didnt want to hear that...LOL
JJ

Jaybird said:

I bet you didnt want to hear that...LOL
JJ

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LOL I was thinking of what I would do when I wrote that too!!!! I'd be sporting some 3/8" It would be too hard to wait a month for me. Why would you have to wait a month anyway?

67coupe390 said:

Go with 1/2'" It will be betterflow and faster more even heat transfer.

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Are you sure? Don't quote me but I'm just trying to remember my high school physics here, and I'm thinking that a smaller diameter coil should move the same amount of liquid, it would just move faster because it's under more pressure...

maltMonkey said:

Are you sure? Don't quote me but I'm just trying to remember my high school physics here, and I'm thinking that a smaller diameter coil should move the same amount of liquid, it would just move faster because it's under more pressure...

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I pretty sure. The surface area of 1/2" is greater than 3/8" so better and more even transfer of temp. It would also be a good idea to have a valve in the system to help even more with temp. control.

67coupe390 said:

I pretty sure. The surface area of 1/2" is greater than 3/8" so better and more even transfer of temp. It would also be a good idea to have a valve in the system to help even more with temp. control.

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No not really. The larger tube will flow more GPM at the same pressure as the smaller tube. But the smaller tube has more surface contact with the beer and water for better heat transfer. This is why you see a lot more 3/8 IC's then 1/2.

I used 3/8" in my system and have had no problem with heat transfer.

FSR402 said:

No not really. The larger tube will flow more GPM at the same pressure as the smaller tube. But the smaller tube has more surface contact with the beer and water for better heat transfer. This is why you see a lot more 3/8 IC's then 1/2.

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A large tube has more surface area so it will have more surface contact with the wort and has greater ablity to transfer temp. And yes you can flow more water through 1/2 than 3/8 but to make the chiller more eff. its best to throttle the flow to collect as much heat/cool as possible. As far as more 3/8 ics thats probably because 3/8 is cheaper than 1/2

The larger pipe has more water running thru it that is NOT in contact with the pipe. This is why the smaller pipes work better.

FSR402 said:

The larger pipe has more water running thru it that is NOT in contact with the pipe. This is why the smaller pipes work better.

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I'm pickin up what you are throwin down thats why I said it should be throttled to reduce flow and at the same time it picks up more heat from the larger surface area of the 1/2". There is basically NO laminear flow in a wort chiller so water in the tube not touching the surface of the tube wall is not probable.