New 240v drop being installed

[BrewdyQuah]

I've got a licensed electrician coming in to install a new 240v outlet in my garage. I'm a 5 gallon brewer who will most likely not go beyond that (but never say never!), and my plan is to go all electric.

240v is new to me, and I have read the primer that is stickied to this forum. My question to you all is.... What should I be requesting of my electrician in terms of the install?

Is there a desired amperage? outlet type? safety features?

Anything that I should be asking/requesting to make sure this is a safe, future proof, install would help me out.

Thank you in advance! This community is always great.

 

[bruce_the_loon]

Someone with US knowledge should answer soon on amperage, but from the previous discussions, install a 4 wire circuit with both hots, neutral and ground pulled back to your main panel. That coupled with the correct 4 pin socket for the amperage will allow you to run both 120V and 240V devices in your brewery control panel. Sometimes 240V can just be the two hots and a ground and then you've only got 240V available.

 

[doug293cz]

You want to make sure that you get a four wire feed (as noted above), and a GFCI breaker (this will be a code requirement anyway). If you only ever want to do single batch 5 - 10 gal batches, then a 30A feed will be sufficient. If you think you might ever want to expand to be able to do back to back brew sessions (one boiling while another mashes), then you should go with a 50A feed. Much cheaper to go 50A initially vs. starting with 30A and upgrading to 50A later. Only other choice would be whether you want a straight blade outlet, or a locking outlet. Straight blade is fine for situations where the cord plugged in will not be repositioned while in use. If the cord might move around during a brew day, then a locking receptacle would be better.

Brew on

 

[cyberbackpacker]

Go 50a and 4 wire as mentioned (2 hots, neutral, and ground).

 

[Bobby_M]

30 amp, four wire, GFCI minimum. If you can stomach the premium for 50amp, do it just in case. You may want to consider a couple 120v, 20 amp circuits in the area too in case you add more refrigeration, glycol chillers etc.

 

[tracer bullet]

It's been basically said but I'll agree. GFCI for sure, no question. As for amperage, which will dictate the wire gauge used and plug shape, "it depends". Decide what you want to plug into it. Don't rule out a car someday if that interests you at all. And keep in mind that higher amperage is OK, it just means it is available, not that your equipment will make use of it or blow up.

 

[RufusBrewer]

GFCI is a must. Any decision you make has to include GFCI circuits.

Some choices will based on how much space is available on your breaker panel. Depending on what you have will dictate when you say, "Might as well . . . . . "

Install 4 wire 240 VAC. You can always convert to 3 wire if needed.

I would suggest getting at least one 120 VAC GFCI in the same location.

Two 30 amp circuits are better than one 50 amp circuit. Again, much depends on what your current panel can accommodate.


Choices are made on how close your brew location is to the breaker panel. If it is a "long" run, might as well pull extra Romax for future proofing. (old saying cable is cheap, labor is expensive)

 

[Gozie Boy]

50A is for (more) serious brewers, and I would offer a guess that no more than 10% of e-brewers would ever make that leap, but who knows you may be one of those (I for sure will never go there; 1 brew at a time keeps me as busy and full of beer as I will ever need). BUT, Bobby's comment on add'l dedicated 120V circuits is spot on. While adding my 240 VAC circuit, I needed a new sub-panel, so I had plenty of room for more circuits/breakers. I added about 3 more 120V/20A circuits, because I never want to put compressors in service with other items. Probably a bit anal, but why not as the incremental cost was not that great. And I use every one of them.

 

[cyberbackpacker]

50a allows allows greater flexibility.

I brew predominantly 2.5g batches and I have 50a service. It allows quicker ramp times for heating to strike temp as well as raising to a boil. I wouldn’t change it for the world.

Additionally I can brew larger batches, back to back batches, simultaneous no sparge batches (all of which I’ve done), etc...

I installed my own run, so I didn’t have the expense of an electrician, and my run only required 25’ of wire originally... nevertheless I still stand behind my recommendations of 50a 4 wire service.

 

[Gozie Boy]

Some folks also run 2 elements in a kettle to save time (which would need 50A), but I find plenty to do on brew day (e.g. sanitize the rest of the system and fermenter) and am never in that big of a hurry to heat up a pot.

 

[RufusBrewer]

I do 5 gallon BIAB batches and use a 240 VAC 5,500 watt element in my 10 gallon kettle. I find the 5,500 watts is more than enough and I am satisfied with my ramp up times.

You could always have faster ramp up times. I guess that you could make the argument that more (read faster) is better.

At some point it gets to be like having a microwave oven and "need your hot dog to cook in 10 seconds, not 20 seconds because it is twice as fast.

 

[BrentJ]

50 amp isn’t just for back to back batches. My biggest use is heating strike and HLT water simultaneously plus heating brewery wash water in HLT while in boil step. If running new definitely recommend 50 amp you’ll use it if you hav

 

[-Dan-]

Ensure you know exactly what you're looking to plug in. There are different plugs available and 30A != 30A outlet. I made the mistake by not paying attention and had to get a $40 adapter. Still cheaper than having the electrician come out again and swap it but $40 i could have avoided. If you already have the equipment, show it to the guy, if you don't then get the exact specs from wherever you will buy it. Also note, if you think about just getting, lets say a Blichmann kettle w/o control unit, it works but you cannot easily regulate temperature. It's either 100% or nothing but simply plugging in/out.

 

[stealthfixr]

Along the same lines as the OP's question, how would this be any different to get 240v/50A in the garage for brewing *and* electric car charging? Is there a way to get one drop, but be able to switch to the brewing receptacle when needed?

 

[Sundy]

Along the same lines as the OP's question, how would this be any different to get 240v/50A in the garage for brewing *and* electric car charging? Is there a way to get one drop, but be able to switch to the brewing receptacle when needed?

Yes, you can wire the plugs you need in parallel. The plug for your brew rig is connected to your plug for the car charger. You can only use one device at a time. If you want to be sure you don't try to use them at the same wire a cut off switch between the two plugs.