heat sticks

hoboscratch · Post by **hoboscratch** » Sun Dec 12, 2010 9:23 pm

So after a canceled brew day today due the wind blowing right into my garage and being shitty and cold, I thought again about building a heat stick or two to use to heat water and boil wort. Or at least to help supplement my propane system.

I was planning on using this heavily referenced site http://www.cedarcreeknetworks.com/heatstick.htm. I was curious if anyone has done this before.

I figure with Alliant's winter rates being $.09-.10/kWh, it should only cost something like 4kw*$.10*1hr, or $.40/hr to run this thing.

Post by **JimPotts** » Mon Dec 13, 2010 6:33 am

Jeremy can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that's going to be an upcoming topic for a tech meeting (January?).

-Jim

brownbeard · Post by **brownbeard** » Mon Dec 13, 2010 8:32 am

JimPotts wrote:Jeremy can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that's going to be an upcoming topic for a tech meeting (January?).

-Jim

I think you're right Jim. Looking forward to this one.

hoboscratch · Post by **hoboscratch** » Mon Dec 13, 2010 8:35 am

Awesome. I had searched thru the forum to see if it had been brought up before and it hadn't, so I'm glad this is something people are interested in.

Matt F · Post by **Matt F** » Mon Dec 13, 2010 9:41 am

When I use to brew in the garage, I would just crack the garage door about a foot and open a window. This seems to ventilate sufficiently with a 35,000 btu ring burner. Couldn't use the outside hose to chill though so I ran the wort in to the basement and used a sink down there to chill.

If you want to go electric, talk to DrPaulsen. He is an expert and has a very nice all electric system. I recently added a heating element to my HLT. It is only a 1,200 watt 120v for about $10 at Menards. I got a weldless fitting from bargainfittings.com for $9 plus shipping. I operate it with a digital temp controller so when I start my brew day, I am already at strike temp. Just mash in and go.

High Gravity Homebrew shop in Tulsa does a lot of electric stuff too. Notice the price of their weldless fitting is $20! Buy from bargainfittings instead.

http://www.highgravitybrew.com/productc ... oduct=2652

TappedOut · Post by **TappedOut** » Mon Dec 13, 2010 9:56 am

Matt - I'm curious how you installed it. I'm looking to put together an electric brewery, and am debating whether to install the element in the keg, or use a heat stick. $9 for the fitting sounds pretty good.

As another option for the lazy, you can get a 1000W bucket heater at Theisens for ~$35-40.

TappedOut · Post by **TappedOut** » Mon Dec 13, 2010 10:01 am

Oh yeah, there's a link clicky thing in Matt's post! Duh.

hoboscratch · Post by **hoboscratch** » Mon Dec 13, 2010 2:31 pm

Matt F wrote:When I use to brew in the garage, I would just crack the garage door about a foot and open a window. This seems to ventilate sufficiently with a 35,000 btu ring burner. Couldn't use the outside hose to chill though so I ran the wort in to the basement and used a sink down there to chill.

If you want to go electric, talk to DrPaulsen. He is an expert and has a very nice all electric system. I recently added a heating element to my HLT. It is only a 1,200 watt 120v for about $10 at Menards. I got a weldless fitting from bargainfittings.com for $9 plus shipping. I operate it with a digital temp controller so when I start my brew day, I am already at strike temp. Just mash in and go.

High Gravity Homebrew shop in Tulsa does a lot of electric stuff too. Notice the price of their weldless fitting is $20! Buy from bargainfittings instead.

http://www.highgravitybrew.com/productc ... oduct=2652

I usually crack the garage too, but yesterday the wind was whipping right in and it still would have sucked, even with my banjo burner. regardless of propane or electric though, I don't have a hose fitting inside of my house anywhere so I would have had to have put my brew pot in the snow. Since I don't have a lid for it, I didn't feel good about doing that either...I need to get water ran into my garage...

Matt F · Post by **Matt F** » Mon Dec 13, 2010 2:59 pm

Water in the garage would be sweet. Brian had a guy install a sink in his garage that I ended up sharing a canoe with at my cousins bachelor party. If you need some plumbing done he is very good at a good price.

carrisr · Post by **carrisr** » Mon Dec 13, 2010 4:03 pm

TappedOut wrote: As another option for the lazy, you can get a 1000W bucket heater at Theisens for ~$35-40.

I doubt those are set to get the water anywhere near mash temps. Most outside bucket/bowl heaters are set to keep the water from freezing.

Matt F · Post by **Matt F** » Mon Dec 13, 2010 4:21 pm

I don't recall which issue, but I know BYO and Zymurgy have covered how to build heat sticks in the not too distant past.

Mr T · Post by **Mr T** » Mon Dec 13, 2010 4:25 pm

It seems like it was BYO and it was very recent.. but I can’t seem to find it on the website, need a master index for my magazine collection.

From: Matt F [mailto:brew-equipment@crbeernuts.org]
Sent: Monday, December 13, 2010 4:21 PM
To: brew-equipment@crbeernuts.org
Subject: Re: heat sticks

I don't recall which issue, but I know BYO and Zymurgy have covered how to build heat sticks in the not too distant past.

Matt Franklin
Slappy Brewing North

Post generated using Mail2Forum (http://www.mail2forum.com)

hoboscratch · Post by **hoboscratch** » Mon Dec 13, 2010 4:30 pm

Matt F wrote:Water in the garage would be sweet. Brian had a guy install a sink in his garage that I ended up sharing a canoe with at my cousins bachelor party. If you need some plumbing done he is very good at a good price.

Hmm, I might have to do this. I have a soffet in my basement that runs right along my garage wall. Would be awesome to have a sink and h/c running water out there. Not sure how much destruction this would cause in the basement though. I might have to get that guy's name/number from you in the spring after the tax return comes through...

DrPaulsen · Post by **DrPaulsen** » Mon Dec 13, 2010 4:48 pm

FYI -- I'm currently planning the January tech discussion to be a more general overview of brewing with electricity than just how to build a heatstick (that is covered pretty well elsewhere). I will attempt to address common questions, such as "How much power do I need?", "How much does it cost?", "What are the downsides?", "How do I control it?", and "What about safety?"

Regarding the 1 kW bucket heater -- I'm guessing you'll be surprised at how long it takes to heat up an appreciable amount of water to brewing temps. 1 kW sounds like a lot of power, but it really isn't. It's possible that without insulation and a lid you will never be able to get the wort to a boil with a 1 kW immersion heater. Unless that immersion heater has a slick control circuit (which it probably doesn't), I would recommend taking a different path.

TappedOut · Post by **TappedOut** » Mon Dec 13, 2010 10:34 pm

The 1kW bucket heater does actually heat, not just de-ice. It will indeed take a long time to bring a considerable amount of water up to temp. I don't have the calculations in front of me now, but they could be useful under a couple of scenarios. First, with an insulated HLT and a temp controller (a Ranco or Johnson will work) fire it up before going to bed and you're ready to mash in in the morning. Alternately you could use 2 or three (on separate circuits!) to heat mash liquor in a more timely fashion.

Anyway, I really look forward to the tech meeting on this topic.

-Tom