Brewing with 120V(20A & 15A) Questions

[Jackanapes]

I've been planning to make the jump to electric brewing for a while now and was about to take the final plunge until I got thrown for a big loop recently. I was informed by an electrician that running a new 30A/240V GFCI line would be prohibitively expensive for me to justify (mainly due to upgrading service to the house, but a lot of other work would have been required as well).

I wanted to run some ideas past people with experience in electric brewing and get any input. I do have two circuits running to my garage, a 20A/120V GFCI and the other 15A/120V regular. I was thinking I could go with dual elements in the boil kettle, 2200W (kettle mounted) and 1600W (either mounted in the kettle or heatstick).

• Would this be sufficient for a rolling boil for a 5-6 gallon batch?
• Any recommendations for a 10 gallon kettle configuration for dual elements?
• Would a control panel for at least one of the elements be needed and/or recommended?
• If a control panel is recommended, could I just take a 30A/240V design and feed it 20A/120V without problem, or would certain components (besides 120v vs 240v LEDs) need to be swapped? I would like to futureproof in case I move or get access to a 30A line.
• Maybe a newb question, didn't think to ask the electrician: I do have relatively close access to a 40A/240V non-GFCI outlet for my electric range. Besides getting it on a GFCI breaker, would it be possible use that and would the standard 30A/240V items (panel/elements) work fine with it?

I should probably add that as of right now, I'm also planning on building a 1600W RIMS, so any control panel would be dual purpose. It's just a matter of how I should build (or purchase) that panel with.

Any other input would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

[Bobby_M]

A pair of 1650 elements will perform a rolling boil with no problem (and no controller necessary unless you really want temp control). You can easily build a single box that has one EZboil and have it switching both of those unique 15 amp feeds. In fact, I have a dual channel SSR I can sell you and that will switch both circuits (while keeping them electrically separated) at the same time with a single control signal.

In lieu of electrifying the kettle and a separate RIMS, I would just get this and brew in a bag. https://www.brewhardware.com/product_p/biabpackage5elec120.htm

I honestly can't understand why anyone would not go BIAB especially for 5 gallon batches.

 

[doug293cz]

I've been planning to make the jump to electric brewing for a while now and was about to take the final plunge until I got thrown for a big loop recently. I was informed by an electrician that running a new 30A/240V GFCI line would be prohibitively expensive for me to justify (mainly due to upgrading service to the house, but a lot of other work would have been required as well).

I wanted to run some ideas past people with experience in electric brewing and get any input. I do have two circuits running to my garage, a 20A/120V GFCI and the other 15A/120V regular. I was thinking I could go with dual elements in the boil kettle, 2200W (kettle mounted) and 1600W (either mounted in the kettle or heatstick).

• Would this be sufficient for a rolling boil for a 5-6 gallon batch? Yes
• Any recommendations for a 10 gallon kettle configuration for dual elements?
• Would a control panel for at least one of the elements be needed and/or recommended? You could probably operate just by using both elements for heat up, and then just using one of the elements for boil (whichever power level gives you the boil level you want.) However, I'm not a fan of plugging and unplugging high current loads while they are on.
• If a control panel is recommended, could I just take a 30A/240V design and feed it 20A/120V without problem, or would certain components (besides 120v vs 240v LEDs) need to be swapped? I would like to futureproof in case I move or get access to a 30A line. Yes, if the control panel meets a few constraints. I show an example below that can be used on either voltage, just by changing the input plug (or using an adapter pigtail.)
• Maybe a newb question, didn't think to ask the electrician: I do have relatively close access to a 40A/240V non-GFCI outlet for my electric range. Besides getting it on a GFCI breaker, would it be possible use that and would the standard 30A/240V items (panel/elements) work fine with it? Is the receptacle 3 slot or 4 slot? You need a 4 slot outlet to do things properly. You can add a spa panel to get the GFCI protection.

I should probably add that as of right now, I'm also planning on building a 1600W RIMS, so any control panel would be dual purpose. It's just a matter of how I should build (or purchase) that panel with. A RIMS system implies 2 - 3 vessels, with 2 - 3 heating elements and power controllers in the panel. A lot more expensive than a simple 1 element controller, but widely implemented.

Any other input would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Brew on

 

[Jackanapes]

In lieu of electrifying the kettle and a separate RIMS, I would just get this and brew in a bag. https://www.brewhardware.com/product_p/biabpackage5elec120.htm

I honestly can't understand why anyone would not go BIAB especially for 5 gallon batches.

I currently MIAB so I'm partway there. I'm hoping to be able to do recirculating and step mashes, so that's where the initial idea of a RIMS came in. Between not having access to 240V and now hearing that a 1600W element might have a hard time with step mashes, I'm generally reevaluating what I want to do and taking a look at eBIAB setups as well.

Is the receptacle 3 slot or 4 slot? You need a 4 slot outlet to do things properly. You can add a spa panel to get the GFCI protection.

It's a 3 slot.

A RIMS system implies 2 - 3 vessels, with 2 - 3 heating elements and power controllers in the panel. A lot more expensive than a simple 1 element controller, but widely implemented.

I was planning on 2 vessel but would probably be 3 heating elements (would prefer only 2 though). I'd like to keep it simple, even with the panel, so I'm hoping to be able to get by by just swapping what's plugged into the panel between the mash and boil. Not sure if that is a good idea though.

Thank you for the schematic. I'm a visual thinker so seeing the layout and having the component part numbers is a great help.

 

[HarkinBanks]

Have you considered a Robobrew v3 or the new mash and boil? It's a pretty good "bang for your buck" option and would work with your electric setup and 5 gallon needs. You can step mash and recirculate. If this product existed 10 years ago I never would have built my own 5 gallon system.

If you are set on designing and building a system, I might suggest you consider designing for a 10 gallon system. My .02

 

[Jackanapes]

Have you considered a Robobrew v3 or the new mash and boil?

Yes, I've been taking a second look at them and was going to dive into some of the posts on here about those units when I get the chance. My push to go electric is to avoid another Wisconsin winter brewing in my garage with the doors open for cross ventilation. My garage is heated (if the doors aren't open), but it can do only so much so I'm interested to hear how those units maintain heat in those kinds of conditions.

I'm still weighing my options, so I'm not set on designing and building a system if there is a better fit. It's the engineer in me trying to gather as much information as I can before making a potentially expensive decision. Thank you for the advice.