bigljd
Well-Known Member
I've been brewing AG for the last year using propane out in my brew shed, which is located in the back of my yard about 50 ft from the house. I'm wanting to convert to electric, but I don't want to run 240 permanently out to the shed since we may move in the next year or less.
My electric source would be a 240v 30amp electric dryer outlet in the front laundry room of the house. I'm looking to power a simple control panel (not built yet) running a single 4500 or 5500 watt element and a pump. I came up with a few options and want to see what you guys think:
1. Hook up a 240v spa panel in the laundry room with a 4 prong plug. On brew day, unplug the dryer from the spa panel and plug in a 4 prong plug wired to 75 feet of 10/4 cable that I would unwind out the back slider door to the shed like an extension cord, and plug into the control panel.
Any problems running cable this far? Would the cable linked below work? It looks about $100 less than 10/4 at Lowes for 75 feet.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/75-SOOW-10-...aultDomain_0&hash=item2a12abd752#ht_699wt_952
2. Build a brew stand with wheels that I could store in the shed and roll out across the lawn to my front porch on brew day. There's a window in the laundry room that opens to the patio, so I could plug into a spa panel and run a short cable out the window to the brew stand control panel.
I'd probably spend the same amount of $$ building the brew stand with wheels as I would would on 75 ft of 10/4 cable, plus I'd be brewing on the front porch where I'd be exposed to winter winds and annoying neighbor kids asking if I'm making meth.
3. Wait to convert to electric until we move and I have a garage or more suitable place to build an electric brewery (this would likely be SWMBO's choice).
Every 5 minutes I change my mind on what would be the best option - I guess I'm just looking for ideas/thoughts from others who may have already done something like this.
I'm also looking for opinions on the safety of running 240v cables across my lawn in the rain, or anything else I'm considering doing. I understand electrical stuff reasonably well, but have no hands on experience with 240v. Fortunately I live just a few miles from PJ, so if I build this I'll have to bribe him with something (homebrews?) to come and look things over for me before I power anything up.
Thanks in advance
My electric source would be a 240v 30amp electric dryer outlet in the front laundry room of the house. I'm looking to power a simple control panel (not built yet) running a single 4500 or 5500 watt element and a pump. I came up with a few options and want to see what you guys think:
1. Hook up a 240v spa panel in the laundry room with a 4 prong plug. On brew day, unplug the dryer from the spa panel and plug in a 4 prong plug wired to 75 feet of 10/4 cable that I would unwind out the back slider door to the shed like an extension cord, and plug into the control panel.
Any problems running cable this far? Would the cable linked below work? It looks about $100 less than 10/4 at Lowes for 75 feet.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/75-SOOW-10-...aultDomain_0&hash=item2a12abd752#ht_699wt_952
2. Build a brew stand with wheels that I could store in the shed and roll out across the lawn to my front porch on brew day. There's a window in the laundry room that opens to the patio, so I could plug into a spa panel and run a short cable out the window to the brew stand control panel.
I'd probably spend the same amount of $$ building the brew stand with wheels as I would would on 75 ft of 10/4 cable, plus I'd be brewing on the front porch where I'd be exposed to winter winds and annoying neighbor kids asking if I'm making meth.
3. Wait to convert to electric until we move and I have a garage or more suitable place to build an electric brewery (this would likely be SWMBO's choice).
Every 5 minutes I change my mind on what would be the best option - I guess I'm just looking for ideas/thoughts from others who may have already done something like this.
I'm also looking for opinions on the safety of running 240v cables across my lawn in the rain, or anything else I'm considering doing. I understand electrical stuff reasonably well, but have no hands on experience with 240v. Fortunately I live just a few miles from PJ, so if I build this I'll have to bribe him with something (homebrews?) to come and look things over for me before I power anything up.
Thanks in advance