Single element boil kettle?

[Battleaxe]

Hello

I haven't posted in a while but after starting my 5th kit today I've decided I'd like to take a step towards extract brewing for my next batch.

My question is:

If I made a Tesco value Kettle element wort boiler with just a single element would this mean an epically long time to reach a boil?

I'm disinclined to use two as I don't have the facilities to use two sockets on separate ring mains (Close together) and I can't expect the rest of my household to forgo electricity while I make the kitchen "Smell like wet biscuits again"

My other thoughts are would insulating the boil kettle and using pre heated water make a difference?, i often use my hot tap to fill FV's for cleaning with oxiclean and can achieve 40+ degrees water. I'm assuming this would make my single heating element more effective

I work for a large merchants so I often have access to large insulated vessels that could be modified as a boiler and most of the other materials I could need.

I'm sorry if this has been asked before, I haven't really found anything definitive for my circumstances.

Any help is greatly appreciated :-)

 

[Niman]

Hello

I haven't posted in a while but after starting my 5th kit today I've decided I'd like to take a step towards extract brewing for my next batch.

My question is:

If I made a Tesco value Kettle element wort boiler with just a single element would this mean an epically long time to reach a boil?

What size is element?

I'm disinclined to use two as I don't have the facilities to use two sockets on separate ring mains (Close together) and I can't expect the rest of my household to forgo electricity while I make the kitchen "Smell like wet biscuits again"

My other thoughts are would insulating the boil kettle and using pre heated water make a difference?, i often use my hot tap to fill FV's for cleaning with oxiclean and can achieve 40+ degrees water. I'm assuming this would make my single heating element more effective

should speed things up

I work for a large merchants so I often have access to large insulated vessels that could be modified as a boiler and most of the other materials I could need.

I'm sorry if this has been asked before, I haven't really found anything definitive for my circumstances.

Any help is greatly appreciated :-)

i started with a peco boiler and brewed outside and it took forever ....sped it up by putting it in a shed on insulation and surrounded by same ...improved again......though in all honesty never got what u would call a vigorous boil..

 

[cheapbrew]

Insulating will always help with heat loss, and adding warmed water will save on electricity but it aint gonna help if the element is wimping out with keeping the boil temp anyway, but if you are thinking of building a new one then you may as well get a decent sized element to start.

 

[Battleaxe]

After some searching i found another forum user recently using two 1.5kw elements from eBay they even come with kettle lead sockets and shrouds for a bit more safety!

However at 3kw total I'd probably be pulling too many amps :-(

The more I read into this the more it doesn't seem feasible to do it safely...

 

[magicmark]

Sure I read somewhere that an Immersion Heater Element is a better option than a kettle element. You can pick one up from screwfix from about £15

 

[Battleaxe]

Hot water Immersion elements are designed for continuous use, they do however need a larger hole to mount and require their own supply and a fused connection.

I'd use one I could pick one up off the shelf at work tomorrow no problem and I have a feed for one where my hot water cylinder used to live before I converted to a Combi Boiler.

But it defeats the cheap and portable kitchen use idea I was going for.

 

[magicmark]

Why can't you just wire a standard 13amp plug up to the immersion heater element? Are most modern immersion elements not 2.75kw 230v? And if you can get one from your work free, surely it's worth a try?

 

[cheapbrew]

You can get all different size rated immersion elements, 2.2 -3kw is usual range which will work from standard 240V supply but their thermostats dont like to go over 65 degrees but they can be 'adjusted' or re ranged quite easily, or changed to pid controlled.

 

[Niman]

reading this reminds me why i went to gas.:lol:

 

[CreweBrewer]

A single 2.4kw is fine for me, even outside. It takes a little while but I use that time to empty and clean my mash tun etc. A watched pot will always take ages to boil...

Dave

 

[Andar]

Hello

I haven't posted in a while but after starting my 5th kit today I've decided I'd like to take a step towards extract brewing for my next batch.

My question is:

If I made a Tesco value Kettle element wort boiler with just a single element would this mean an epically long time to reach a boil?

I'm disinclined to use two as I don't have the facilities to use two sockets on separate ring mains (Close together) and I can't expect the rest of my household to forgo electricity while I make the kitchen "Smell like wet biscuits again"

My other thoughts are would insulating the boil kettle and using pre heated water make a difference?, i often use my hot tap to fill FV's for cleaning with oxiclean and can achieve 40+ degrees water. I'm assuming this would make my single heating element more effective

I work for a large merchants so I often have access to large insulated vessels that could be modified as a boiler and most of the other materials I could need.

I'm sorry if this has been asked before, I haven't really found anything definitive for my circumstances.

Any help is greatly appreciated :-)

I converted a SS beer barrel with a 2.4 kW element but could never get it to boil- stuck at 97 degC for well over an hour. I guess it's not enough thermal energy going in and the large barrel can radiate the heat out at an equal rate so no further temp rise occurs. Insulation would have helped but I just banged another element in and now it will do a full rolling boil for 40+ ltrs. It's easy with a dedicated ring main ! though I did have to uprate my mcb from 16 a to 32 a.

 

[simon12]

I have a plastic boiler with 2 x 2.2Kw £5 kettle elements. The 1st 2 brews I did it only had one and was fine but it did take ages to get to a boil. You can plug 2 elements into the same ring main as long as the circuit is rated for it (which a kitchen circuit should be) just not the same socket.

 

[Battleaxe]

Are we saying if my kitchen has a 32a breaker in the fuse box then I'm good to go with two elements on separate plugs running from the same ring main?

My house has 6 trip switches and I think the sockets are all on one?

 

[magicmark]

I know in my Kitchen My cooker is on a separate ring main and there is one socket attached with a red light. If I was to trip the downstairs ring main this one socket on my cooker ring main stays live. So hoping this will be good to use as I fancy building a boiler

 

[Fil]

Are we saying if my kitchen has a 32a breaker in the fuse box then I'm good to go with two elements on separate plugs running from the same ring main?

My house has 6 trip switches and I think the sockets are all on one?

Yes but if when your boiling with 2 x elements and someone plugs in a kettle and kicks off a washing machine load you could trip the protection
:whistle: (might be worth switching off fridges and freezers while the 2 x elements are employed??)

i would fit 2 x elements you may find you only need the one to maintain the boil but 2 x will get there quicker, and with 2 elements you and your brew is protected against one dying on you..

and as for pulling hot water from the combi boiler go for it afaik a number of folk prime their hlt with water out of the hot tap to save time.

 

[Battleaxe]

Literally just thought this! I've just checked my breaker board and I have three 32a breakers I'm assuming that's upstairs downstairs sockets and my cooker which has its own red switched socket no too far from another kitchen socket!

 

[cheapbrew]

2 x 2.2kw = 4400wats / 240volts = 18.33 amps so less than 20 amps draw with both elements on, so a 30 amp cooker socket is fine.

 

[Battleaxe]

Only one socket on the cooker circuit bud, that's less that 10amps per circuit or IMHO like boiling the kettle while the oven is on?

 

[Fil]

One element plugged into the cooker socket and one plugged into a kitchen ring main socket sounds like a plan to me

Now all you need worry about is the steam from the boil , natural ventilation works in my brewshed, i open the window and stand the 100l kettle in the open doorway with a 50cm fan stood behind, fresh air in through the window, steam and old air pushed out the doorway by the fan

think twice or test before relying on an over the cooker extractor, the one winter brew (25l) i attempted in the kitchen under the cooker hood resulted in so much steam condensing on the SS cooler hood and dripping back into the beer along with the muck it had steamed off the hood -- YUK!!

 

[Battleaxe]

One element plugged into the cooker socket and one plugged into a kitchen ring main socket sounds like a plan to me

Now all you need worry about is the steam from the boil , natural ventilation works in my brewshed, i open the window and stand the 100l kettle in the open doorway with a 50cm fan stood behind, fresh air in through the window, steam and old air pushed out the doorway by the fan

think twice or test before relying on an over the cooker extractor, the one winter brew (25l) i attempted in the kitchen under the cooker hood resulted in so much steam condensing on the SS cooler hood and dripping back into the beer along with the muck it had steamed off the hood -- YUK!!

Spoke to an electrician friend who brews all grain he offered me his wort boiler on loan he runs a single 3kw 11" immersion heart from a hot water tank. He did advise to brew outside as its not practical indoors with All the steam etc.