Heat Stick Question

[pegasusherd]

Hey Folks,

I'm thinking of moving from propane to heat sticks for heating strike water and boiling. I do 5 gallon batches so I'm boiling 6+ gallons.

I was thinking of building two 1440-1500W heat sticks. For someone with experience with these, do you think two sticks in that wattage range would be powerful enough to heat and boil my volumes in a reasonable amount of time?

Thanks,
Chris

 

[cswest]

Works great as long as your electrical can deal with the load.

That being said after my first brew with the heatsticks I started planing a full on e-brew system.

 

[Dgonza9]

Hey Folks,

I'm thinking of moving from propane to heat sticks for heating strike water and boiling. I do 5 gallon batches so I'm boiling 6+ gallons.

I was thinking of building two 1440-1500W heat sticks. For someone with experience with these, do you think two sticks in that wattage range would be powerful enough to heat and boil my volumes in a reasonable amount of time?

Thanks,
Chris

One 2000W heat stick is just fine for 5 gallons batches, if you have a 20 amp circuit available. What's you're brew kettle like? I started with heat sticks, but one of mine eventually failed. I think they generally have a lifespan.

I would never tell you not to make one, but I really think mounting them in the Brew Kettle is the best option in the long run.

 

[pegasusherd]

I just have a standard 15g kettle that I brew in, but to date have only made 5g batches. I have a mix of 15A and 20A circuits. Instead of making one, I guess I was thinking I could make two less powerful ones (on different circuits)... maybe crank it up faster using two, and maintain a boil with one 1500W.

Appreciate the insight so far!

 

[wilserbrewer]

With a 15 gallon kettle boiling 6 gallons, 3000w will work fairly well. 2000w will work also, but will be slow to heat and not boil as vigorously. One 1500w will not maintain much, if any boil IMO/E.

I concur w/ your plan.

 

[Dgonza9]

With a 15 gallon kettle boiling 6 gallons, 3000w will work fairly well. 2000w will work also, but will be slow to heat and not boil as vigorously. One 1500w will not maintain much, if any boil IMO/E.

I concur w/ your plan.

2000W is a solid boil. Could heat faster, I suppose, although when I supplemented my power with a heat stick it didn't heat up insanely faster.

2 heat sticks are a lot more expensive to make than one for not much more reward in this case. JMO.

 

[Boomer]

I would never tell you not to make one, but I really think mounting them in the Brew Kettle is the best option in the long run.

New to electric brewing but I was thinking of doing this in the brew kettle, HLT, and a heat exchanger on the eHERMS I plan to build. If I want to do 10 an maybe up to 15/20 gallon batches, what should I build and could they be mounted in these pots (obviously the one in the heat exchanger wouldn't need to be as big).

Also, with them mounted, do you do a standard weldless fitting and how difficult is it to clean everything with the elements mounted in the pots?

 

[pegasusherd]

Thanks everyone for the inputs. I just finished building two 1500W heat sticks today and plan to brew with them on Sunday. We'll see how it goes.

 

[tarponteaser]

As an FYI, I've got a 1650 W heatstick. Use it for mash and sparge water. Today I tried an experiment, used heatstick and propane to reach boil, then shut off propane.

Yes the 6.5 gal of wort boiled...but it was a minimal boil just abover the element...no rolling boil. Shut off the heat stick, removed it for cleaning and turned the propane back on.

Your setup w/ 2 sticks should work well.

 

[Dgonza9]

Your setup w/ 2 sticks should work well.

Or with one 2000W stick.

Two 2000W sticks might have been better. That way if one has issues you have another to finish your brew. But you're up and running.

 

[pegasusherd]

Thanks again everyone for the input.

I brewed last weekend, and was doing some experimenting with the heat sticks today... and noticed something a bit concerning:

With two 1500W sticks, the wort will boil. Boil volume for last weekend was 7 gal, and I was experimenting today to calculate my evaporation rate and was boiling 4 gal. But it seems there is only a very strong boil in the vicinity above the sticks (I have them horizontal on opposite ends of the pot). I have a wide 15 gal pot. The water on top is moving around, but it just seems there is a vigorous boil over the two sticks, and a bit calmer elsewhere. I took a temperature measurement in the area farthest from the heating element and measured 210F. LAst week I boiled from 7 gal to 5.5 in 70 mins, and this week with my water experiment boiled from 4 gal to 3.3 in 60 min (not sure why the rate is so different).

From everything that I've read, I find it hard to believe that 3000W isn't enough power for 6.5 gal, or 4 gal for that matter (they behaved similarly). I am boiling off a reasonable amount of water and the temperature is right where it should be, but I'm a bit perplexed by what seems like localized strong boils around the sticks.

I guess I am just concerned by the lack of a rolling boil across the entire surface area of the pot, and am curious if this may adversely affect the finished product. I'd appreciate any thoughts and experiences folks have with this.

 

[pegasusherd]

One other observation to throw in -- seems like my strike water and sparge water heats up a lot faster with the heat sticks than my old burner... more evidence that I'm not underpowered, but all the more perplexing.