Some questions about going electric

Hello all,

I’m finally getting back into brewing after a year long hiatus and I’d like to retire the propane burner and switch to electric brewing. We’re installing a new water heater this weekend and I thought it might be a good time to also rough-in the required power cable from the main breaker panel to the new brewery location.

Which brings me to my questions:

Is 10/3 cable the most common type of cable that will cover most electric brewing needs?

Our main electric panel does have enough room for a 30-amp GFCI breaker but is there any benefit to installing a sub-panel for the brewery instead? I know some people install sub-panels because there is no room in the main breaker panel but I’m curious if there are other good reasons for using a sub-panel.

My brewery is very basic. I plan to use my existing 10-gallon boil kettle with a 4500 watt (or lower) ULWD heating element and maybe a pump or two. I brew BIAB so I won’t need dual heating elements for a boil kettle + mash tun, etc.

I know I still have a lot of research to do on this but was hoping to at least get a cable run from the breaker box to the brewery while we have the basement all torn up for the water heater installation. I won’t attach the brewery cable to the breaker panel or install any receptacles until I’ve had a chance to research these items more.

Thanks!

Price out a 30a GFCI breaker for your panel and compare that against a regular 2pole 30a +$50 (the cost of a spa panel with GFCI installed). Most of the time, the spa panel is cheaper. You want to run 10/4 to your brew area if you plan to tap off it for any 120v components. If not, you'll have to run pumps and other stuff off another 120v circuit nearby. In other words, you'll need a neutral conductor for 120v.

Definitely do 10/4 cable (usually labeled as 10/3 with ground). The price difference is almost non-existent, and then you'll have that extra conductor there if you decide you want it.

Brewing (and drinking) so can't (won't) look for link, but saw something recently about running 10-3 to a dryer outlet from a spa panel and using the ground as the neutral past the spa panel being good.

AnOldUR said:

Brewing (and drinking) so can't (won't) look for link, but saw something recently about running 10-3 to a dryer outlet from a spa panel and using the ground as the neutral past the spa panel being good.

Click to expand...

Yes, you can do that, but you don't really have a true ground. It's a good solution if you are working with an existing H-H-N dryer outlet, but if you have an opportunity to provide H-H-N-G all the way from the breaker panel that is a far better solution. We have actually beaten this to death, lol.

I'll get 10/4 cable (3 plus ground) next time I'm at the hardware store. I also checked breaker prices at Home Depot and the 30 amp GFCI breakers are around $80 each... so that might be why some people choose to install spa panels that already have GFCI included.

Thanks for the info everyone. I'm sure I'll have more questions as the new e-brewery build progresses...

If you're pulling wire for the brewery outlet, you may want to consider pulling 6/4 instead of 10/4 in case you ever want to upgrade to larger batches and use a 50A control panel (ie: run two elements at once as is commonly done).

This is what I did. I pulled 6/4 (50A) to my brewery but then installed a 30A breaker and a 30A wall receptacle because my control panel is 30A.

The price difference between 6/4 and 10/4 is negligible when you consider everything else you're going to pay for.

Kal

@Kal

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll check on 6/4 cable when I'm at the hardware store.

So lets say that I wanted to pick up this project again after 13 months of delays...

Is this the correct cable to run in my basement from the main electrical service panel to the planned brewing area? I do like the idea of running the 6/3 cable to allow for future growth.

6-3 Indoor Non-Metallic Jacket Wire (with ground)

With this breaker for my main service panel?

Murray 50-Amp Ground Fault Circuit Breaker

kal said:

If you're pulling wire for the brewery outlet, you may want to consider pulling 6/4 instead of 10/4 in case you ever want to upgrade to larger batches and use a 50A control panel (ie: run two elements at once as is commonly done).

This is what I did. I pulled 6/4 (50A) to my brewery but then installed a 30A breaker and a 30A wall receptacle because my control panel is 30A.

The price difference between 6/4 and 10/4 is negligible when you consider everything else you're going to pay for.

Kal

Click to expand...

This +100..

I ran a 6/4(Its actually 6/3 plus a ground wire) 50amp 240v feeder to my brew shed as well as I plan on making darn sure I am putting that feeder cable in and I am digging that trench only ONCE with plenty of power for anything I need to use for brewing, heat and A/C, computer, TV , etc. power-wise. Better to be ready for anything rather than regretting not running enough power when you started out.

Seven said:

So lets say that I wanted to pick up this project again after 13 months of delays...

Is this the correct cable to run in my basement from the main electrical service panel to the planned brewing area? I do like the idea of running the 6/3 cable to allow for future growth.

6-3 Indoor Non-Metallic Jacket Wire (with ground)

With this breaker for my main service panel?

Murray 50-Amp Ground Fault Circuit Breaker

Click to expand...

You will need to actually run 6/3 with a ground wire if you are pulling a 240v feeder circuit(2 hots, a neutral and a ground).
In my brew shed, I had to put 2 8ft copper ground rods in the ground(pain in the arse to drive these in!!) and run the bare ground from the service panel to those rods(and between each other which was 8ft) as you want to make sure you are properly grounded. You will not have to do this with your basement run as your main breaker panel should cover you with this(I think)..

Mine was a house to external shed build which was more of a PITA as I had to dig a trench, put in grounding rods, etc..
I am not a electrician, but have consulted with a number of them(who I give free beer to) on my project to be sure I am doing this to code, safely, etc. I would recommend you do the same to be sure you are covering your bases power-wise.
Good luck with it!

Definitely consider upsizing the conductors. You are conservative on the kettle element sizing and you are correct that you don't need even the 4500w for boiling the typical 5 to 10 gal of wort. However, having even more power is very helpful in getting the wort up to temperature quicker. I run a 5500w ULWD element in my system.

By the way, I just installed the Auber digital SSR power regulator http://www.auberins.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_30&products_id=444for kettle control in my system. I formerly had a 555-based pulse-width modulator that was fine. That Auber unit is much nicer since it incorporates a different modulation method and it has a fancy digital display. Well worth the $33 cost.