Kw to boil 100 litres

[Secla]

I know there's probably a lot of factors to consider, but is it possible to get 100l to the boil with 2x 3kw elements ?

[jaroporter]

yes, and yes

[ciderhead]

I can get a good rolling boil in an insulated pot using 2 x 2.7s

[Secla]

good to hear, i was trying to boil just over 50l in a un-insulated keggle with a 3kw element the other day and it was really struggling, i`l try some insulation around the 100l pot

[Kev888]

Due to the area:volume ratio being different, a 100L pot won't lose twice as much heat as a 50L pot, so the power requirements aren't as much more as may be expected, certainly not 2x. Insulating the walls can reduce that difference significantly too, so is well worth doing.

FWIW I used to get a sufficient boil in 100L (post-boil volume) with a single 3kw element (thats all the garage power supply could handle) - even in an unheated garage in winter. Now, I wouldn't actively recommend this (something like 5kw is 'much' more suitable), but it illustrates what is possible with insulation and partial (not full!) covering with the lid.

[simon12]

I briefly half owned a 1BBL brewery and the 200l very well insulated boiler had 2 x 3Kw elements only 1 was needed to hold a rolling boil but even with 2 it took ages to get there.

[Secla]

yeh i got there eventually with 50l on 3kw but i had to close the door to stop the breeze and keep the lid on until it got to the boil

[Fil]

fwiw when using a large grain bag hop spider which occupies a significant area of the surface of my 100l (98l) stockpot kettle i can maintain a good boil with a 2.4kw element with an 80l brew, i do have a 3kw and 2.4 kw elements fitted and use both to bring the wort upto boil as quick as possible, But once going the smaller powered element is sufficient to keep the boil going with ambient temps circa 15c..

a SS bowl floated in your kettle can be a cheap n easy way to reduce surface area and increase boil ferocity on the remaining surface (same heat escaping from a smaller surface) tho if you have a kettle lid, partial/majority lidding is the KISS/best solution As long as there is some vent you should expel all dms pretty quickly..

[HTH1975]

This is well worth a read... https://elementsofheating.wordpress.com ... n-heaters/

You have two considerations - how fast you want to bring a volume of liquid to the boil, and the wattage required to keep that volume of liquid at a rolling boil.