Single Kettle Heat Stick E-Brew Question

I have been wanting to go to a electric setup for about a year now, as I am getting tire of always seeming to be out of propane or running out or propane. I have realized that I am also getting older and lifting a 10gal kettle filled with hot liquid is getting harder and crazier by the day. I want to build a 3-tier system with a cooler at the top as the HLT, a cooler in the middle for my MLT, and the kettle at the bottom for the boil. I want to use a pump to send the hot water up to the HLT from the kettle and use that for the strike and sparge (heat each one seperately in the kettle). The pump should never have to have wort run through it and therefore a non even for cleaning.

Now the real issue.. I want to use heat sticks (don't hate just yet) as I would like to keep everything fairly simple for now. I was hoping to build a control box to run the pump and 2 heat sticks (I currently have 1 20amp circuit in the garage and will be anding another) which would be powered from 2 seperate 20amp GFC outlets. This way I can leverage almost everything I have an really only need to buy the extra cooler, the pump, and the parts for the control box and heat sticks.

Does anyone have a similar setup that they would like to share, or this completely crazy? Looking for all feedback (but be gentle :O)...

Building two well sealed heatsticks is no more simple or cost effective then had mounting the elements. There are so many options and ideas out there that I personally would forgo the heatstick and mount the elements to the kettle.

I already have my wirt chiller and other things that I would prefer not having to replace. I do respect your opinion, but do you have any suggestions on what a setup might look like??

I use 2 1500W heat sticks when i brew inside during cold weather. I think it works great, I can use the same kettle on my propane burner outside when it's nice. I don't have a pump or any fancy controls, I just plug my heat sticks into separate 20A GFCI circuits.

djt17 said:

I use 2 1500W heat sticks when i brew inside during cold weather. I think it works great, I can use the same kettle on my propane burner outside when it's nice. I don't have a pump or any fancy controls, I just plug my heat sticks into separate 20A GFCI circuits.

Click to expand...

How big of batches?
Big rolling boil?
Insulation on the pot?

This is the way I'm leaning on my ebiab rig.
Thanks.

namyarb3 said:

How big of batches?
Big rolling boil?
Insulation on the pot?

This is the way I'm leaning on my ebiab rig.
Thanks.

Click to expand...

5.25 gal batches; so my starting boil size is about 6.5 gal. Yes, 2 sticks were rolling, as I got closer to 5.25 gal I was able to unplug 1 heat stick. My kettle is wrapped in Relectix.

Thanks!

I use 2 @ 2000w each for 4000 total...heating strike and sparge water is quick...with the two sticks I have boiled as much as 18-19 gallons for a 15.5 gallon batch...it was a bit slow but it worked. If you have 20 amp circuits, I would do 2000w elements. I usually do 7.75 gallon batches and the two sticks work very well. 3000w will work well for 5 gallon batches FWFW IMO.

djt17 said:

I use 2 1500W heat sticks when i brew inside during cold weather. I think it works great, I can use the same kettle on my propane burner outside when it's nice. I don't have a pump or any fancy controls, I just plug my heat sticks into separate 20A GFCI circuits.

Click to expand...

This is exactly what I was looking to do.. I was thinking of a 1500w and a 2000w element. I wanted to have the 1500w on a switch that would allow me to dial it down as the batch starts to boil off.

I do mainly 5 gal batches with starting boil of about 7 gallons. My propane burner is from an old turkey fryer I have had for several years now and is extremely inefficient. The elements directly into the wort seems to be the right answer for what I am looking to do.

Rather than heating and sending your hot water around the system w/ a pump, heatsicks can aslo be used in the HLT and MLT...for me that is one thing I like about heatsticks, you can move the heat where you need it. Typically when I do a 3 vessel w/ two coolers and a kettle, I heat strike water directly in the mash tun and mash in the grain, then I heat the sparge water in the HLT w/ the sticks, then when all the wort is in the kettle, I boil in the kettle w/ the sticks. This seems easier to move the heatsticks rather than moving all the hot water.