LP VS Electric Brewery

[Hammer]

In my searching for the best solution for my new brewery remodel, I have yet another question. Does anyone use electric exclusively in their brew system? If so how many and what size (3500,4500,5500W) heating elements did you use? Was it a pain to build? What type of grounding and electrical service was needed?

Propane here is $3.59 a gallon and running a high pressure burner system a couple a times a week is expensive. I think it may actually be cheaper to go electric.

[soilboy]

Depends on what your brew size is. I use 2.5kw 5 gallon electric tea urns. They do the job but only just! I am thinking of adding in an extra 1kw element to give it some more umpth.

[Crut]

ask Baltobrewer. His system is sick, i would love to have an elect build like his. Do a search for him and you should find what you need.
Or just go here: http://www.wortomatic.com/articles/Balt ... tric-Stand
-Crut

[baltobrewer]

ask Baltobrewer. His system is sick

Thanks Crut! Hammer, that writeup I did for Push's site is about as comprehensive as I can be on the subject, considering I'm not an electrician and am probably ill-qualified to dispense advice about not electrocuting yourself...

Feel free to fire away or PM me and if I get stumped (which is highly likely) I'll refer the question out to my buddy Bob, to whom the credit really should go for my system. He did all the wiring, I just provided the idea framework...

[Brant]

yea, I built push's electric HLT and it works fantastically. I can get strike temp in about an hour and a half, set it to a timer with a GFCI and I wake up and mash in. I think I use a 120V 1200W heater element I got for about $15. I use it in a 10 g rubbermaid cooler. Just make sure you use PLENTY of aquarium glue.

[foomench]

My HLT also uses a 120V 1200W heater element, in an Igloo Ice Cube Deluxe which I think is 12 gallons. From Home Despot I think the heater element was even less than $12. I used some food grade silicon sealant, but this really wasn't necessary. I used a big bolt with a rubber washer and the thing was watertight even before I added on the sealant. Also, instead of using a copper grounding ring, I tapped into the base of the heating element and installed a ground screw. Looking back, I think the ground ring might be the easier approach.
-Eric

[Hammer]

Thanks guys. Wort-omatic. Nice stuff. I think after looking ver the systems I waill commit to going electric. Thanks for all the help.

[oneal66]

I've got a similar HLT to Push's but I'm not using any sealant. I got one of those mounting plates for the hot water heater with the rubber washers from Home Depot. No leakage at all.