Electric brew pot - strike water and boil times

[Michael_Calgary]

Hi all.

Hi just finished converting my brew pot to electric. At the recommendation of the owner of the Home brew Store I frequent, I opted for two 120 volt 1500 watt elements in my brew pot.

So today I decided to test with plain water. My volume was 7.5 gallons and the water temp was 53F at the start.

It took 45 mins to heat to my strike temp of 158F and then another 27 mins to come to full boil at 1 hour and 12 minutes. So it was about 27 mins to bring to boil from an approximate post mash wort temp.

So is this typical of two 1500 watt elements?

Just looking for some feedback as this my first experience with electric.

Thx!!

 

[itsnotrequired]

sounds about right. heat time will not only be a function of the water temps and element rating but also the supply voltage (i.e. you'll get less heat out of the element at 115 volts than you will at 120 volts). Ambient temp in the area you are heating (indoor or outdoor) and the kettle itself can impact the time (how well it holds heat, is the lid on or off, etc.)

but in general, 45 minutes is about right for your temps and element ratings.

 

[Michael_Calgary]

sounds about right. heat time will not only be a function of the water temps and element rating but also the supply voltage (i.e. you'll get less heat out of the element at 115 volts than you will at 120 volts). Ambient temp in the area you are heating (indoor or outdoor) and the kettle itself can impact the time (how well it holds heat, is the lid on or off, etc.)

but in general, 45 minutes is about right for your temps and element ratings.

Alright then! Thank you. Now that I know I am in the ballpark for acceptable heat/boil times... I can move on with life!

 

[cubalz]

That sounds about right. That is why many of us opted to run 30 or 50 amp panels driving 1 or 2 5500 watt elements.

 

[Michael_Calgary]

That sounds about right. That is why many of us opted to run 30 or 50 amp panels driving 1 or 2 5500 watt elements.

I thought about getting one of the wavy 5500 watt bad boys... I just didn't want to mess around and pay to have 240v run to where I want to brew. I have two heavy gauge extension cords meant for a car block heater with the end cut off to connect to my two 120v elements. (and proper electrical boxes etc on the brew pot to make it all safe) So I just plug each cord into a separate circuit. The boil was vigorous! I do have some element controllers coming.

 

[Michael_Calgary]

Well, I did my first "electric" brew last Sat. It went fine. More than likely I don't need the element controllers I bought. The Boil was quite vigorous with the two 1500 watt elements but not like crazy vigorous. Just a really decent rolling boil. (or slightly more than rolling)

I tell you what though, it was certainly nice being able to boil right in the room where I ferment. And having access to the sink and all the other amenities right there! No more carrying buckets of filtered water up from the basement to my Garage!! hahaha.

Also, before I boiled on Sat, in the morning, I built a counter flow chiller. I used it this batch for the first time. I use a pump and hose suitable for boiling temps and I tested with plain water in my kettle first. it's nice to be able to use a pump to move my hot wort through the chiller and have pitch ready temp with basically no work from me. I put a small ball valve on the outflow so that I have control over the flow to manage the cooling temp. I might add an inline thermometer at some point. My immersion chiller took much longer and required me to be there the whole time moving the thing around the kettle.

 

[augiedoggy]

Most folks use the controller to just control one of the 2 1500w elements and leave the other on 100% while boiling... taller narrow kettles will speed up your heating times as they are more efficient with less heat loss.

 

[Michael_Calgary]

Most folks use the controller to just control one of the 2 1500w elements and leave the other on 100% while boiling... taller narrow kettles will speed up your heating times as they are more efficient with less heat loss.

Oh! I see... well then, maybe I should give that shot. Nothing to lose other than time. these controllers are not very big. They are rated for 2000 watts and 25 amps. It should fit nicely in the electrical box that holds and protects the element and connections.

Also I had another thought. While I was cleaning my boil pot, I noticed that I didn't like dragging around the cables attached to it. I didn't actually think about that prior to converting it to electric. I was wondering. What if I put an electrical socket in the box that houses the elements and electrics? Like the same kind of socket you'd find on the back of a computer power supply? Then I could just "unplug" my kettle when I want to clean it etc... I attached a picture of the socket

Thx for the info!

 

[etk29321]

they make twist-lock connections too that make it less likely you'd knock the cable out by accident.

 

[etk29321]

they make twist-lock connections too that make it less likely you'd knock the cable out by accident.

 

[Indian_villager]

Are you using a lid during the heatup times? Is your kettle insulated?

 

[Michael_Calgary]

Yes lid, no insulation.

 

[jeffalanmcclain]

Just running through the numbers, even with 25% heat losses (which is pretty typical for most systems) those times are roughly more like 1200W x2 elements. I've got an XLS sheet to help compute times for delta temps and volumes based on different heaters. It's just math on the specific heat of H2O...but plugging your numbers in at 75% eff is ~2375W for 45 minutes on 7.5 gallons to go from 53'F -> 158'F. It's possible you have more losses (open top and lots of side wall) OR that you have some pretty significant voltage drops getting to your element (110v as opposed to 120v)...