The brewtroller will control a heating element just like any would. The brewtroller has four PID outputs. One for each of: HLT, MLT, BK and an Aux. They can drive a SSR which would switch the power to your elements. The brewtroller has four inputs for temperature probes. The probe used is based on the famous Dallas DS18B20 1 wire temperature transducer. You would pear 1 sensor to each PID. It also has outputs that drive a relay board to control things like pumps and solenoid valves. Lastly the Brewtroller can accept inputs from three Freescale pressure transducers to measure volume. I drew up a schematic for a typical electric HERMS system and it is on the Brewtroller Wiki. If you have any questions just give a shout.