100L Heating Element

[Pendock_Brewery]

Guys, I've just bought a small 100L setup to brew some test samples.. It doesn't come with a heater element.. What would be best suited for this size?

Thanks!

[scotia]

6kw will take close on 2hrs for a 80 deg heat on the HTL from 7deg (winter).

[BenB]

If it's a 100l brew length instead of a 100l boiler with a shorter brew length I'd go for gas purely because of the amps required.

[Kev888]

As a guide to the minimum, my 25 gallon/113L boiler had a single 3kw immersion heater. Initially it would do no more than simmer, but with plenty of insulation and the lid cracked open no more than an inch or so it then got a very convincing rolling boil even outside in winter. However, it was still tedious waiting for it to heat and (whilst it was fine for me) some people are unhappy with having a lid even partially on - so I would certainly advise more power, assuming your supply can safely handle it. My HLT was similar BUT I filled it and treated the liquor the night before and ran it on an immersion timer, so heating time didn't break into brew day.

The domestic incoloy immersion heaters have certainly proven durable in my case, and the 11" ones are a low enough watt-density not to burn wort on to them too severely, although they can get a bit of a coating on floury brews like wheat beers. Though there are a few challenges: these domestic ones aren't splash-proof and also have a thermostat that needs bypassing to boil with them - there are IP rated commercial ones which will also boil, but they were too costly for me. And, if the vessel is thick walled and curved it can be harder to fit full sized immersions as the fitting is quite large and so 'sees' quite a bit of the curve.

Recently some people have started using a type of immersion heater with much smaller fitting (e.g. the bottom one here) though more expensive than my domestic immersions they are supposed to be very good (not tried them myself). The type of kettle elements also listed on that page have a good reputation too, (at least the types that don't have troublesome thermal safetys), though they tend to be slightly higher watt-density. Hacked elements from £5 budget jug kettles are quite common, but personally I see their strength being their low cost rather than highest performing.

A few people like to have more lower powered elements to achieve the same total power - it costs more but has some advantages like even lower watt-density, redundancy, and controllability (when it has reached the boil they can choose how many are needed to maintain the boil at the level they want). If you're running from domestic 13A plugs it also spreads the sustained load more kindly - 3kw for hours on end can tax domestic electrics even if its supposedly within the max rating (and BTW a double 13A socket is, unbelievably, a 13A outlet, not a 26A one, which starts to matter at the powers and durations we use them for)

Cheers
kev

[Dave S]

If it's a 100l brew length instead of a 100l boiler with a shorter brew length I'd go for gas purely because of the amps required.

I'm planning to switch to gas when I commission my new 70l boiler in the next couple of months. 2 reasons - 1, the amount of amperage required and 2. in order to minimise the amount of hardware in the bottom at cleaning time.

[Kev888]

Ditto for me

I prefer the silence, ease and emission-free nature of electric heating, especially for use indoors, but unless you can guarantee a decently powerful supply it can get quite tedious. Its not so efficient so the powers don't map directly, but I'm hoping the 8.8kw burner I got should be much faster than my 3kw element, assuming a decent wind shield.

[Dave S]

Ditto for me

I prefer the silence, ease and emission-free nature of electric heating, especially for use indoors, but unless you can guarantee a decently powerful supply it can get quite tedious. Its not so efficient so the powers don't map directly, but I'm hoping the 8.8kw burner I got should be much faster than my 3kw element, assuming a decent wind shield.

I'm contemplating the 7.5kW burner that Rob has, hoping it will be adequate for my intended 50 or so litre brews.

[Brighteyebeer]

I like these 3kw elements, and use them in my 60L boiler and HLT:
http://www.unifit.co.uk/products/80011/ ... -universal
Advantages - cheap (ish).
Easy to fit. Still need a 38+mm hole like any kettle element. In my s/s boiler, mine's secured with an M40 backnut. Leaves enough thread to connect a kettle shroud to protect from boil-overs etc - as in pic:

Already wired - just needs a plug
Big, chunky, powerful element - pigtails rule!
Think it's incalloy - not certain

My other boiler element is 2kw. The 5kw total brings my 60 litre boiler to boiling with no waiting. I get time to finish sparging, skim the hot break, then add the boil hops. The 3kw solo then does a rolling boil. I'd say that 2 of the pigtail elements would be plenty for a 100 litre boiler. No special wiring needed - run each from a separate socket.

Cheers,

Chris