240v 2400w 7 gallon

[Ryuko]

Hi guys, i just installed 240v 2500w heating element and i will brew 7 gallon batch tomorrow, this is my first time after installing heating element, do you think i will have any problems for boil? Doea Anyone has similar setup and how much does it take to each mash temprature and boil?

Thanks for the answers.

 

[mredge73]

It takes 58.33 minutes to heat 7 gallons of water to 212 degrees F from 70 degrees F with a 2500 watt element.
If you are patient you won't have any problems.

I would advise you upgrade to 5500w when you can, cuts the wait down to 26.5 minutes which is faster than most propane burners.

 

[Ryuko]

That was very precise answer, thank you. Unfortunately my electrican told me not to use more than 2500w element at home, i think i have to be patient😊

 

[mredge73]

5500W draws about 23A at 240v.
if you use 30A connectors and 12 gauge wire you will be fine.
Your electric dryer, air conditioner, and oven uses more power than this.

 

[lump42]

2400w at 240v is only pulling 10 amps, so I'm guessing it is a 15 amp circuit. Long term I would consider upgrading the circuit breaker, wiring, and outlet to at least 30amp (if not 40 amp) to allow a 5500w element. Usually, you don't want to exceed 75-80% load rating

The 58.33 minutes is probably assuming 100% heat retention which wont be the case if it is an uninsulated metal kettle. At 85% heat retention, your're talking almost another 10 minutes.

I use the calculator at Man Skirt Brewing for dreaming of electric systems that I want to install along side the eventual workshop. http://manskirtbrewing.com/calculators.aspx#electrichdr

 

[Ryuko]

Thanks, wery useful link!

 

[tektonjp]

Ryuko, just wondering by your handle, are you brewing in Japan?

 

[dyqik]

Yeah, I'd guess that Ryuko is somewhere that maxes out around 12-15A on a single-phase circuit at 240V. UK brewers do pretty well with 2400-3000 W elements on 13A/240V circuits for 40 UK pint (23L) batches. IME of brewing in the UK, it takes a while to get to the boil, but it does boil plenty hard enough with 3kW, and 2.4 kW is ok with a bit of insulation on the kettle.

I run my 5.5 kW element at 2.5 kW once I get to the boil with my 5.5 gal batches, for 0.75 gal boil off. No insulation on the kettle.