Electric Bill

[Birkin7]

SO i'm working on my DIY BREW-BOSS kit and my wife is wanting to know how much more it will cost us in our PG@E bill. I know the direct contact of the heating element less heat loss, but what is the Kw usage to brew a 5 gallon batch. This is a BIAB 5 gallon batch 4500w element 208 volts. Tap water temp of 55 degrees and the vessel is a Keggle.

 

[iijakii]

Here's on of my old posts on a 30A setup with 5500W element and march pump. This was back in 2012 when I was living in Tx, I think I paid near 10 or 12c/kwh.

"Just looked at my electric bill. I'm averaging about $2.40 per day so far for April. Friday I cleaned my apartment really well. Like three loads of laundry (old units, probably the main draw), dishwasher, vacuuming: $5.76. Sunday I brewed and it was $5.42

Cliffs: Electric brewing costs me about $3. Less than doing multiple loads of laundry."

I haven't kept track of usage since.

 

[IslandLizard]

Yeah, and electric is way cheaper (and efficient) than bottled propane.

 

[Snicklefritz]

I have a Brew-Boss 240v and it tracks the energy costs on brew day. I think I saw $1.13 on the last brew day. Thats element and pump combined.

 

[kal]

Yep - I've always said that brewing with a 30A panel is like doing a load or two of laundry. You won't notice it.

Some math from my FAQ:

What are the electrical costs to brew with electricity?

It costs us about $1.60 in electricity to brew 10 gallons of beer, assuming we brew during peak electrical rates ($0.12/kWh). If we brew on the weekends or evenings when the rate is half the peak rate, the cost is about $0.80. $0.12/kWh also happens to be the average US national rate so most US brewers should expect similar costs. These costs do not include taxes, delivery charges, or other fees that your electricity provider may add. For a rough guess on total cost, double the price. So $1.60 to $3.20.

Most of the cost comes from powering the heating elements. We use one 5500W element in the both the Hot Liquor Tank and Boil Kettle to brew 10 gallons of beer. The heating elements are used as follows:

Heat strike water: 45 minutes at 100% power usage = (45 / 60) * 1 * (5500 / 1000) * $0.12 = $0.50
Mash: 90 minute mash at 5% power usage = (90 / 60) * 0.05 * (5500 / 1000) * $0.12 = $0.05
Mash-out: 20 minutes at 100% power usage = (20 / 60) * 1 * (5500 / 1000) * $0.12 = $0.22
Sparge: Heating elements not used, minimal power usage.
Bring to boil: 23 minutes at 100% power usage = (23 / 60) * 1 * (5500 / 1000) * $0.12 = $0.25
Boil: 60 minutes at 85% power usage = (60 / 60) * 0.85 * (5500 / 1000) * $0.12 = $0.56
Chill: Heating elements not used, minimal power usage.
While the pumps and the control panel are run for many hours throughout the brew day, they only add a few pennies to the overall cost given their extremely low power consumption.

Kal

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

I asked the same question when I built my 30a 5500 setup.I believe its less than $2 for me and we have the highest rate in the country at .28 cents a kiilawatt and going up.Bunch of miserable thieves.

 

[Birkin7]

Awesome. That's what I was thinking but I didn't want to guess and then be surprised with a huge increase in my bill.

 

[pretzelb]

In one of the videos for the BrewBoss he shows the cost all during the process if you want to watch that.

 

[Rhumbline]

I have a Brew-Boss 240v and it tracks the energy costs on brew day. I think I saw $1.13 on the last brew day. Thats element and pump combined.

Spot on, if you figure $0.18/kWh and you've got a 5500 watt coil, even if it was running at 100% for a 60 minute boil you'd be looking at less than $1.00. I think I saw $1.50 or so with a step mash and 90 minute boil.

 

[pretzelb]

I've never kept track but I think my propane tanks are around $17 per refill and I estimate I get 4 batches per tank. That's about $4.25 per 5g batch. I'm not one to track cost per batch but I am happy that this might be one benefit if I upgrade to an electric setup.

 

[neild5]

When I was using propane it was 20 per tank and I was never able to get 4 batches so it was over 6 per batch.

 

[petey_c]

I asked the same question when I built my 30a 5500 setup.I believe its less than $2 for me and we have the highest rate in the country at .28 cents a kiilawatt and going up.Bunch of miserable thieves.

JR, Residential elec. is about .12¢/KWH added charges brings that up to about 19/20¢/KWH. Commercial rate is about .38¢/KWH.
https://www.psegliny.com/files.cfm/rates_resi.pdf
https://www.psegliny.com/page.cfm/Account/MyBill/HowtoReadYourBill

 

[augiedoggy]

I asked the same question when I built my 30a 5500 setup.I believe its less than $2 for me and we have the highest rate in the country at .28 cents a kiilawatt and going up.Bunch of miserable thieves.

You could be stuck at the other end in buffalo NY paying the highest costs for gasoline instead? (plus you get to pay higher taxes in NY state to pay for NYC)

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

JR, Residential elec. is about .12¢/KWH added charges brings that up to about 19/20¢/KWH. Commercial rate is about .38¢/KWH.
https://www.psegliny.com/files.cfm/rates_resi.pdf
https://www.psegliny.com/page.cfm/Account/MyBill/HowtoReadYourBill

Ill be waiting for the next bill.I could have swore A while back I took my total bill and divided by total KWH and got .28 cents.I even have my kegerator set up on a Killawatt at at .28. I never look at the KWH charge on its own.Total bill is total bill.

 

[Rhumbline]

Ill be waiting for the next bill.I could have swore A while back I took my total bill and divided by total KWH and got .28 cents.I even have my kegerator set up on a Killawatt at at .28. I never look at the KWH charge on its own.Total bill is total bill.

There's a ton of other charges there likely. Fuel surcharges, this and that.

 

[petey_c]

Ill be waiting for the next bill.I could have swore A while back I took my total bill and divided by total KWH and got .28 cents.I even have my kegerator set up on a Killawatt at at .28. I never look at the KWH charge on its own.Total bill is total bill.

For the OP's purpose that would work well. The amount of other charges adds a little to your total bill (relatively speaking). You could also read your meter before and after you're done brewing and use that to figure out how much it's costing you. If your electric brew set up ran at 5500W for six hours X .28¢/KWH it would be about $9.24.
JR, I had to re-write this a few times because I started ranting about our friends at PSEG. Thanks.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

For the OP's purpose that would work well. The amount of other charges adds a little to your total bill (relatively speaking). You could also read your meter before and after you're done brewing and use that to figure out how much it's costing you. If your electric brew set up ran at 5500W for six hours X .28¢/KWH it would be about $9.24.
JR, I had to re-write this a few times because I started ranting about our friends at PSEG. Thanks.

I hear ya about bitchin about PSEG.To late to get into a rant.According to your numbers $9.24/3=$3.08(only running 2 hours on a brew day,hour mash,hour boil give or take).$3.08 would be running full blast 5500w for a full 2 hours and its nowhere near that,Id say half.So around $1.50 at .28 cents a KWH(probably twice the national average) So depending on where the OP lives possibly a whopping .75 cent brew day...and that and bad