Great points! Your post surely helped put more doubt in my mind lol.
I thought I had my mind made up to continue my electric 3V build but i am still early enough in the process to abandon it and just go all-in-one.. I can always j keep my current two-cooler, one keggle gravity, propane fired system for 10 gallon or large grain bill brews (which happens once or twice a year)...
decisions, decisions
I did the same thing. Look at my posting history. Had a brewery room all set aside in our old house. Ordered all the parts. Was actually going to heat it with steam. Started welding the frame.
Then the all in ones came out and I started thinking how nice it would be to "just brew". To be upstairs, with my family, brewing in the kitchen on a quiet Saturday evening. Instead of alone in a brewery, building a huge contraption.
What got me was watching David Heath's Grainfather videos on YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCb3HYxTpCaVDeulH1mZGW1Q There he was easily turning out batch after batch of tasty beer with that little thing. In his kitchen ! Why did I need a dedicated room and a bit 3 vessel brewing system if he was turning out tons of delicious batches while making dinner ?
So I took a good look at the all in ones that were on the market. They all had issues - high price, poor heating performance, poor pumps, they sat too low and they weren't on wheels. And I'm not a BIAB guy. So I decided to build my own all in one. With a good pump and a PID and good heating.
I wasn't sure if my all in one was just going to be my "kitchen" brewing setup and if I was still going to build my 3V or not. I just went for it to see how I'd like it. I wanted to stop building and get brewing, ASAP. So I built it. And I love it.
All my kegs are full of delicious beers. And I can't wait to brew again. What does that tell you ?
I have an idea for you. Stop your build and build yourself an all in one like mine. You've got all the pieces to do it from your big build. Brew with it for a year. If you don't like it, all you are out is the frame, basically. You can always build your big 3V if the all in one doesn't make you happy.
Truthfully, I'd rather have 2 nice all in ones than a 3V. For a while that was my plan. I was going to build the dedicated brewer space and have 2 all in ones in it. But it is just so easy to brew in the kitchen, why do I need a dedicated brewery room ? I'm just following my heart when I say that. Both the all in one and brewing in the kitchen were supposed to be temporary. But they both work so well that there is no need to do more.
I no longer have the least bit of interest in building a 3V. 3Vs were a great step forward in brewing, back when the automated, propane fired, HERMs Brutus plans came out. Things have changed a lot since then.