Experience with both 110V and 220V induction heaters?

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idkwat2namme

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Any experience and insights would be greatly appreciated.

I have been looking around here and other sites to get a sense what induction heater would be good to buy. There general drift I get is that the 1800W (a typical 110V induction heater) puts out is just enough to boil a 6 gallon batch. And from what I can gather this is a gentle boil. I hear that the 220V models generally put out more than enough power (3000+ Watts), but I have no measure of what that means in terms of a boil. Logic says that if 1800W was just enough, doubling that is plenty.

I hear that it takes around 1 hour or more to boil on the 1800W models. This is roughly the same time it takes me now with my conventional electric oven top. Does anyone have a time to boil with a 3000W model?

The problem I face is that the 220V 3200W models I am finding are in the $400 range and the 110V 1800W are in the $50 range. I am new to brewing and I have only used a conventional electric oven (with a resistive element). Is it necessary to get a large/rolling boil?

What are the benefits you have seen if you have used the 3000W unit? I am looking for input since the cost between the two is so great and I wouldn't want to drop the $50 for a heater that barely worked for this application.

These are the pros and cons of the 3000W unit as I see them. Please correct me if I am wrong or inform me of things I am missing.

Pros:
Time saving
Potentially better construction since the $400 models are restaurant grade equipment
Boil more water at one time
Achieve a "better/bigger" boil

Cons:
Costly (compared to 110V)
Need to install 220V service in my house
 
I don't have any experience with 240v systems. But you could save yourself some money and effort if you just pick up two Hot Rods and 1500 or 2000 watt elements from BrewHardware.com. You can use them on standard household outlets and brew in any kettle they'll fit in. And you'll have no problem boiling at 3000-4000 watts total power.
 
I've tried the 1800w and couldn't maintain a good rolling boil of 4+ gal unless I had the lid partially on my 8 gal Mega pot. I ended up buying the Avantco 3500 w for $179 and I'm glad I did.
http://www.webstaurantstore.com/150...y7zbuAz08pSPygyy-k2l4bgWd5QqG0xj_1RoC4m7w_wcB

Wobdee, what size batches are you working with on that unit? I am thinking if I can get reasonable performance on induction for 6 gallons of boiling wort, this might be the way to go for me.
 
Wobdee, what size batches are you working with on that unit? I am thinking if I can get reasonable performance on induction for 6 gallons of boiling wort, this might be the way to go for me.

I'm brewing 3 gal batches of Lager, BIAB full volume no sparge. I usually start out with 5 gal of water in the mash and end up with 4.5 gal at the start of my 90 min boil. The 3500w burner has no problem getting that 4.5 gal to boil in about 15 min.

I've heard of people doing 10 gal batches with this burner, there is a long thread about this burner around here somewhere with lots of good info.
 
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