So I started my E-HERMS system today. I am basing it off of the electric brewery control panel however I am making a few minor adjustments. First I am leaving out the timer. Reasoning.....Cost. I live in Canada and I am looking at $200+ just to add a timer that I can use a kitchen timer for. Second I am also going to make this a direct fired unit along with the HERMS. I would like the power to ramp up if need be so I can do step mashes. Not to mention as I said above I am brewing in Canada. Even in my garage in the winter I will be in bellow freezing temps with a heater so maybe get up to 5-10C in there while the heats cranked. Worried I will lose a ton of heat. I plan to insulate my recirc lines as well but was worried the HERMS alone wont keep up to the heat loss in the winter. I am thinking about using 2 3000 watt 240 volt hot water heaters. One in the HLT and one in the mash tun. I am going to start by running them both off of the same PID and see how this works (mashtun PID as I am more worried about a constant mash temp then HLT temp). I am thinking that my mash temp should be around the same as my HLT temp and if not then I will end up adding an extra SSR and relay and running them off the same PID to seperate ones. This was an after thought after I had ordered all the materials or I think I woul dhave done this to start. We will see how it works though. Anyone have any thoughts on this?
E-HERMS System
- Thread starter Izzie1701
- Start date
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You might get better response with RIMS than HERMS in this application.
I think I want to stay with the HERMS as it makes more sense to me then the RIMS and is easier to build in my opinion. I thought about doing a direct fired recirc system only but had already started to build everything and wanted to give the HERMS a try on its own before adding the direct fired element. I know in the summer the HERMS will be enough as it gets to 110F here and averages in the high 80s all summer so wont use the direct fire in the summer. Just thought it maybe an insurance policy as I have been reading a few posts with people having issues getting there temps up to mash out with the HERMS only.
Progress so far but still waiting on my last few switches lights and my dc power supplies. Ordered them over a month ago. Stupid free shipping option. View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1476840962.696429.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1476840971.616012.jpg
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