How many watts needed for a "rolling" boil?

[BetterSense]

I have propane now but i'm tired of spending money on propane, and tides of running out of propane. My thought is that i can biuld a heat stick to keep my boil going, then turn off my propane burner. This will have the side benefit that it will be more consistent when its windy and give me more consistent boiloff. Since i don't want to build any control circuitry, i want an element wattage that is "just right" for keeping 5 to 7 gallons at boil. Does anyone with an adjustable element control know what percentage they run their element during the boil?

 

[anicola]

I use a 4500 watt element at around 50% to maintain a good boil in 7 gal

 

[thargrav]

I have propane now but i'm tired of spending money on propane, and tides of running out of propane. My thought is that i can biuld a heat stick to keep my boil going, then turn off my propane burner. This will have the side benefit that it will be more consistent when its windy and give me more consistent boiloff. Since i don't want to build any control circuitry, i want an element wattage that is "just right" for keeping 5 to 7 gallons at boil. Does anyone with an adjustable element control know what percentage they run their element during the boil?

2000 watts will work.

 

[tyfernandez]

I think it depends on your kettle size. I previously had one 2000 watt element and it would not boil 5+ gallons. It would get around 207 and stick there. I think the narrower the pot the more likely 2000 should work. My kettle was fairly wide.

 

[landshark]

I have a 15 gallon kettle with a Heating element. I plug it into a GFI. I had a 3800w element for a while, was great for 10 gallon batches and boiled a 5-gallon batch like mad. It cracked and now I have a 3000w element. Still runs great for 10 gallon batches, and 5 gallon batches are a breeze. Brings 6.5 gallons down to 5 in an hour.

 

[BetterSense]

I have a keggle. I only do 4 or 5 gallon batches.

I was hoping that 1375W would be enough because that's what to common ripple elements put out when you run them on 120V. But it sounds like i need more like 2000 or 3000.

 

[landshark]

If you have 120v 20A GFI outlet, you can use a 2000w heating element. However, you will be maxing your breaker at that time so ONLY the 2000w heating element should be in use for that circuit, adding something else will trip your breaker.

It will work though.

 

[BetterSense]

I have a 30A 240V outlet, so I could buy something like this:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0060HN8KQ/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

 

[landshark]

I have a 30A 240V outlet, so I could buy something like this:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0060HN8KQ/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

With a 30A 240v outlet you can use a 5000w element. So don't worry about element size electrically. Your issue will be you need a GFI. (Technically you don't, but nobody here would recommend operating this way.) 240V GFI's are not cheap.

A 2400w would be fine for what you are doing. It's pretty close to how I run my set-up. Only I mounted my element to my kettle.

 

[BetterSense]

I already have GFI. I just want to buy the right size element so I don't need any other stuff (ssr, etc) to control my boil.

 

[wilserbrewer]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0006299I6

http://hdsupplysolutions.com/shop/product-240v_3000w_threaded_water_heater_element-208700

or perhaps the best option a low watt density

http://www.amazon.com/Camco-02913-S...ref=sr_1_1?s=hi&ie=UTF8&qid=1330875967&sr=1-1

or 3000w

http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/Electric-Replacement-Water-Heater-Element-2E303?Pid=search

You likely need b/w 3000 -3500watts, depending on pot shape and how intense you like to boil. Keggles take a little more power due to the shape and skirts I imagine.

 

[BetterSense]

So i decided to buy a 5500 watt ULWD since i found an SSR in my junk. I installed the 5500W element wired directly, and I was surprised how long it took for the boil to get ramped up even after boiling first started. For a good 10 minutes it looked like 5500W was going to be needed just to maintain a decent boil. It did eventually ramp up to an extra-violent boil, so i will need to install my SSR, but it surprised me how slow the boil developed. On propane, once it's boiling, its boiling.

 

[anicola]

whats the wort volume and starting temp? My 4500 watt element drawing 20 amps/220v gets 7 gal from 140F to vigorous boil in 15 min or so. I then have to cut back to 10 amps/22O v or the boil is too strong.

 

[BetterSense]

It wasn't so much the total amount of time, but how slowly the boil 'ramped up' that surprised me. First I was like 'ok it's boiling now' and then several minutes later I was like 'it's not boiling very hard at all' and then a few minutes later I was like 'man, if that's all it's going to boil, I'm not gonna need any control at all' and then 5 minutes after that I was like 'ok it's really boiling now'.

 

[wilserbrewer]

Yes BetterSense, I have observed the same. with electric it comes to a boil in a civil fashion, with propane it is more like a volcano...

Interesting that this happens even when overpowered w/ a 5500w...