Inside the house boiling

[Sparticus06]

I am starting to turn my basement into a man cave/brewing area. My biggest problem is trying to figure out what to use for a burner to heat my stuff up. I do not have propane or natural gas so electric would be best. Does anyone have any suggestions on what I could use to get roughly 5 gallons of water to boil?

Only reason I ask is that I like to make most of my beer during the winter when nothing is going on. I have a propane burner for a turkey fryer I have used on the back porch during the summer to make beer. But I know that wont work inside. And our flat top electric stove just does not put out enough heat to boil. Also, my wife wants me out of her kitchen when I have a brew day. So any suggestions would be great.

 

[Sparticus06]

Oh, and I dont have a garage, thus why I am wanting something for in the basement

 

[dkeller12]

How about an induction cooktop? Otherwise I am thinking an electric setup.

 

[Hello]

The Avantco 3500 watt induction will work or you'll need to go all electric with a heating element and some kind of controller to be able to turn the power up and down. The electric brewing forum here is filled with invaluable information that can really help.

 

[ram5ey]

I use a heat stick (hot rod from brewhardware) 1500w with my stove and get more than enough boil. Works for me indoors.

 

[unionrdr]

We have a new electric stove coming in Wednesday that's 3600W. It has the 5th turbo burner, induction style. This stove has more power than our old one, so that amount of wattage should be good. but a range hood venting outside would still be a good idea. I've seen some youtube videos where the guys use one in there basement. Brewing TV I believe it was...

 

[DeBrewer]

Personally if it is inside (basement), there is no other option but electric. There are many examples of solutions in the DIY area that will suffice from simple no frills electric to over the top automated systems. As others have stated, there are many ways to leverage electricity. As long you have sufficient ability to supply the electric load as well as a way to evacuate the steam, you should be golden. Obviously a water source and waste water accommodations are nice to have but not necessary.

This is my brewery build for reference.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=530308

 

[barnaclebob]

can you rig up a makeshift fume hood with a box fan and vent it out a window? That and a CO detector is what I would be looking at.

 

[unionrdr]

I was thinking one could even use one of the high CFM-rated electronic cooling fans rigged to a fent & flue pipe. I'd think at least 75 CFM, though. Wouldn't be as big & clunky as a box fan, & way more efficient.

 

[Hello]

You will definitely need some kind of vent system. 75 CFM won't cut it most likely either. The bigger issue or long term issue would be mold. Venting is good.

 

[unionrdr]

I also wondered if he'll have separate room in the basement, or just an area of it? Building a separate room would require less flow rate than the whole basement...

 

[barnaclebob]

I also wondered if he'll have separate room in the basement, or just an area of it? Building a separate room would require less flow rate than the whole basement...

Not necessarily. I'm not an HVAC expert but I'd think you just need to capture the plume of hot humid air coming off the burner regardless of room size. Smaller rooms could be more problematic if there isn't as much inflow.

 

[unionrdr]

Well, it would require a small amount of inflow. But I don't know the formula for getting the numbers either. But those electronic cooling fans are far more efficient than a regular box fan. He'd just need the right flow rate.

 

[mredge73]

Electric brewery system is wonderful but the up front cost can be steep for most home brewers.
Depending on how fancy you want to go I would budget at least $500 for converting your existing system.
Recommend you check these retailers out to get an idea on what you will need:
http://www.brewhardware.com/ - elements, element enclosures, hardware, thermowells, fittings...
https://www.brewershardware.com/ - element enclosures, thermowells, BCS (works great but not for everyone)
http://www.ebrewsupply.com/ - control hardware, cable, plugs, electronics...


As mentioned the ventilation system may be your biggest challenge. I brew in an open garage so I cannot help you here.
Another challenge will be cleaning indoors, I invested more in cleaning equipment than in electronics when moving my operation indoors.

 

[aprichman]

Do you have any windows in the basement? If so, you might be able to vent the steam by boiling right in front of the window and having a box fan on high blowing out.

 

[Sparticus06]

Wow. Thanks for all the input. First off, I dont have anything set up down there yet. It is a big open area right now. I am hoping over winter to get a wall up to close off half the basement. One half is the laundry, furnace, and other area. The rest becomes a den/man cave/brew station. There are a couple of windows, 1 of which will be on the den side but too far from where I want to put the brew station to do me any good. I will have to think over all the possibilities and go from there. Thanks again for the ideas

 

[barnaclebob]

Wow. Thanks for all the input. First off, I dont have anything set up down there yet. It is a big open area right now. I am hoping over winter to get a wall up to close off half the basement. One half is the laundry, furnace, and other area. The rest becomes a den/man cave/brew station. There are a couple of windows, 1 of which will be on the den side but too far from where I want to put the brew station to do me any good. I will have to think over all the possibilities and go from there. Thanks again for the ideas

You don't necessarily need to have the window right next to the brew station. All you need is the correct air flow. A strong fan sucking air out of that window might be enough if you have good inflow from the other windows or a door.