Are heat shields necessary?

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I think the answer is YES. I have some pics in my gallery of how I did my burner wind screens and heat shield. If you brew outside it is a must to cut down on the heat loss. I think it will greatly increase your burner efficiencey into the kettle. I have a 1" space under the heat shield for good gas exchange and also to push the heat out past the kettles. I didn't have plans for pumps when I jumped into my build. I wish I had made it a 2 tier with my MT and BK on the bottom tier now that I have 2 pumps.
 
To be overly technical about it, a heat shield protects other stuff from the burner's flame. I agree with the above about needing a wind shield to protect the flame from wind if you brew outside. I brew just inside my garage and I never seem to have an issue with wind. Even if I did, it would be difficult to build a tight collar around the multi-jet burners because the flame gets air from the base of the tips.
 
Bobby_M said:
To be overly technical about it, a heat shield protects other stuff from the burner's flame. I agree with the above about needing a wind shield to protect the flame from wind if you brew outside. I brew just inside my garage and I never seem to have an issue with wind. Even if I did, it would be difficult to build a tight collar around the multi-jet burners because the flame gets air from the base of the tips.
Click to expand...

I guess I should have stated it more clear on the heat shield. I wanted to stress my opinion on needing both a wind screen and heat shield. I think no matter were you brew a burner shroud/wind screen, would benefit to help with heat loss and burner efficiency. I maybe way off though. I use the same type of burner as you. I made the wind shield more around the stand. I worried about starving the burner for air. I figured once the heat got going it would naturally draw with the heat rising. We will see next weekend. :D
 
IMO, you can't have enough heat shielding when using gas. I don't use keggles. I have 18 gal stainless flat bottomed kettles, and I found that a LOT of heat will escape up the sides of the kettles if it can. I would imagine keggles might be a bit better in this regard with their bottom flange (maybe if you fill in the holes). For me, it's not as much about protecting the flame from wind or burner efficiency as it is my own comfort. I used to live Ramona, NE of San Diego. Brewing there in the summer was like having a cookout in hell. Boiling 15 gallons of wort when it's 112F in the shade isn't fun, especially when you're being blasted by dual 35K burners. I'm spending a lot of time during this upgrade to work on my heat shielding. Of course, I'm also thinking about just giving in to all the electric hysteria right now and putting an element in my BK (I've already done my HLT).

And that brings up an interesting point. You don't have to worry about heat shielding with electric kettles :)

MrH
 
If I get my burners too close to the bottom of the kegs, it basically snuffs the flame. You get a pillow of combustion gases that displaces the air the burner is trying to take in via the air inlets. On hurricanes and banjo burners, the air intake is far away for the flame tips so it's not as big of a deal.
 
I did a bunch of testing with my burner distances on my single stand before I started my build. I found that I had to have a gas exhaust before the bottom of the kettle. I made it 1" and worked really well. I put the heat shield on top of the kettle supports. We will see how it all works out during a long boil. You are correct Bobby that you need air below the kettle. I hope my design works. :confused:
 
Since you are building a structure you can build them out of anything. What burners are you using? This will dictate what you can use on your build. Since I use the 20 tip NG jet burners, I had to build them a certain way. You can see pics in my gallery of my set-up. I used 1/8" plate for my wind screen and 3/16 plate for my heat shield. Only because it was free and I had it on hand. My kettle supports are 3/16" x 3 flat, again just what I had.
 
I just saw the burners you ordered on your other post. You wont need much because you are able to be so close to the kettle. There was a build on here that NickStack did. He had the same burners and rig style. I saw it recently. May give you some ideas, really a nice build.
 
I agree with everyone that the heat shields are very beneficial. I used 1/16" sheet steel and just cut sections to length. The Hurricane burners I used had holes tapped around the base of the burner to attach a heat shield - just drill holes and bolt them in.

I can literally hold my hand an inch or two behind the heat shield when the burner is going full blast and it is only warm.

One thing to note - a shield can force heat up the sides of the kettle since it has no where else to go. If you have weldless fittings on your valves or thermo connection you may want another small shield just laid perpendicular to the other shield (only on the front) so heat doesn't damage your fittings.
 
rhutter said:
I agree with everyone that the heat shields are very beneficial. I used 1/16" sheet steel and just cut sections to length. The Hurricane burners I used had holes tapped around the base of the burner to attach a heat shield - just drill holes and bolt them in.

I can literally hold my hand an inch or two behind the heat shield when the burner is going full blast and it is only warm.

One thing to note - a shield can force heat up the sides of the kettle since it has no where else to go. If you have weldless fittings on your valves or thermo connection you may want another small shield just laid perpendicular to the other shield (only on the front) so heat doesn't damage your fittings.
Click to expand...

Good idea!
 
Cheap and easy heat shields from Goodwill
Total cost - $4
Two cake forms (the kind with the removable bottom), made of aluminum...

BrewStandFinished_001.JPG
 

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