Will it boil? 2 Heatsticks

[honkey]

If I build two 1500w heatsticks, will that be sufficient to boil 7 gallons for 5 gallon batches? What is the maximum amount that could boil with two 1500w heatsticks? I use a 10 gallon thick aluminum kettle.

 

[wyzazz]

It'll boil, I can maintain a weak boil on a 5gal batch with my single 2000w heatstick. For 3000W I'd guess around an hour to reach a boil. You can use this calculator to figure out how long it'll take to boil based on your water temp.

As for how much you can boil, I don't know for sure but at some point you'll just get tired of waiting for the boil to happen.

 

[honkey]

Thanks... I am currently using an SP-10 turkey fryer, and I like it, but I found out what a heatstick is and started thinking I would like to brew indoors.

 

[JayInJersey]

I tried it once with my kettle when I ran out of propane mid blizzard (brewing in a blizzard was fun). I had them made to assist but they held the boil albeit very weak boil for my 90m.


I think one thing those calcs don't cover is the size of the pot. I have an 80qt stock pot/turkey fryer and it is wider than tallMy Pot...but I got it for $80
I think that wide surface area messes with boil times as I would think since there is more exposed to the cold air above it would take more oommph to boil the mix.

But I slept my way through HS Physics

 

[Mose]

This post has a spread sheet that will allow you to plug in your numbers and determine your heating and boiling times. I found it very helpful in deciding what I needed for my build, and it's good to know what to expect too. Good luck.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/ok-i-give-174284/