I am going to run my mash through my HERMS coil I am going to use a 6 gallon kettle what heating element should I use to automate my system

Are you looking to ramp your mash up or using the HERMS just to maintain temps during the mash?

Power limit available?

Typical MT batch volume ?

With the above, you can approximately calculate how much power you need to maintain or step up your mash, based on your preferred step up time.

I am going to recirculate my mash through an extra kettle that I have that is where my HERMS coil will be, I am doing 10 gallon batches and I have a separate HLT. I only have 110 for power

What kind of heat do you want?

I'd default to a 4500 Low Watt Density ripple water heater element.
But you'll need 220 VAC thermocouple or RFD, a couple SSR's, and some kind of microprocessor controller to drive it.
Take a look at the BrewTroller site

Also, in terms of working out the numbers for heat transfer, check out note #2 in post #8 on this thread. Note we use 240V in Oz.

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/i ... t&p=557550

If you are considering electric, why not just do a RIMS? It will be much more efficient in the long run. Now if you were doing burners on your BK and HLT, then I'd understand the HERMS decision.


Mylo

That 110 is the limiting factor, and you probably only have a 15 amp or possibly a 20 amp circuit. With one 15A circuit you are limited to about 1500 watts. I have a HERMS coil in my HLT like that and it works. It might not be real fast for steps, but it can work.

You can just use a 1000W bucket heater in your HLT to maintain the mash temps. If you want to do a step mash, you can just use a low water to grain ratio for the initial temp and then add some boiling water to hit your desired second temp(given you have enough room in your MT). Another option is to run a extension cord from another circuit to allow for two bucket heaters. This will allow you to do a step mash without adding extra water. The third option is to fire up your HLT to get your temps where you want them and then shut if off and let the bucket heater maintain the temp for you.