Insulation or no insulation?

[hugenjapan]

So I've had this idea for a while of making a mash tun/ kettle all in one pot using BIAB or stainless basket. I make craft brewing systems as a career so this would just be smaller. I was wondering what people thought about insulating it. It's a 22" diameter by 22" tall flat bottom tank with a flared 1.5" hole in the center and a T.C attached to that. I could also make the bottom a slight cone as all I have made so far is the cylindrical shell.

 

[day_trippr]

A practical, durable fireable insulated kettle is like the Holy Grail. If you can come up with a way to do it and not have it all catch on fire with repeated use you could do very well. A slightly sloped bottom with a drain would be extra credit

Cheers!

 

[hugenjapan]

Thanks! Ya I can do it without catching any of it on fire. I do it every day!

 

[hugenjapan]

I weld clad around the insulation every day I mean

 

[day_trippr]

Ok, I obviously forgot an important metric: affordable.

Carry on...

Cheers!

 

[headwall]

Other than making home-modification/customization more difficult, I can't really think of any drawbacks to having an insulated kettle. I would definitely prefer something like that, as I am currently debating the best way to insulate several of my vessels.

 

[Wynne-R]

Maybe somebody can give us some numbers before and after. I didn’t notice much difference.

I use an induction burner and I tried wrapping a layer of R-13 3" fiberglass around the pot. I took it off after a few batches.

Does it make sense to insulate the walls of your house if you have no roof?

 

[hugenjapan]

I will be using the scraps that would normally be thrown out at work. It is roxul enter wrap 80 (http://www.roxul.com/products/industrial/roxul+enerwrap®+80). Then I'll be cladding over that with 14ga stainless.

 

[hugenjapan]

Maybe somebody can give us some numbers before and after. I didn’t notice much difference.

I use an induction burner and I tried wrapping a layer of R-13 3" fiberglass around the pot. I took it off after a few batches.

Does it make sense to insulate the walls of your house if you have no roof?

Maybe you didn't notice much of a difference because you didn't have any cladding outside of the insulation.. I don't know