Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

Hi all new to the site.
Just a quick first question I am building a 100L boiler and am a bit stuck on how many and what size heating elements I will need to run. I want to use some just for the heat up and probably cut back to one on a voltage meter during the distillations. I want to eventually run it as a pot for rums and Bourbons and also as a reflux for my neutral. Any advice would be great

I’ve got 2x 2400w and 1x 3600w elements in my 100L boiler, only because I can :teasing-tease:
I use all 3 (8400w of power) for heat up then just run on one 2400w.
Works a treat

I run 2 x2400 without issue.
It takes about 70 - 80 minutes to get upto temp with a 90L charge.
Once up to temp I run element 2 at about 50% power

Doubleuj wrote:I’ve got 2x 2400w and 1x 3600w elements in my 100L boiler, only because I can :teasing-tease:
I use all 3 (8400w of power) for heat up then just run on one 2400w.
Works a treat

How long does it take you to get up to temp??

A bit under an hour

With the high cost of power these days one does wonder why people on the grid spend a heap on new high power circuits to run the still when using gas would of saved spending that money in the first place.

Work it out the expense of installing 2 off 15 amp circuits and the on going cost to run a still for hours where a 8.5kg bottle is only $20.

If the right precautions are taken gas works fine although depending on the burner used heat times could be longer than using 8Kw or more :laughing-rolling:

Hell if one had a car that uses LPG a simple line could be put in to run the burner, I just use a forklift gas bottle and fill it at the servo.

Cheers Bryan

Bryan1 wrote:With the high cost of power these days one does wonder why people on the grid spend a heap on new high power circuits to run the still when using gas would of saved spending that money in the first place.

6kw Solar System on the roof
We feed the grid :teasing-neener:
You should try it :laughing-rolling:

The Stig wrote:

Bryan1 wrote:With the high cost of power these days one does wonder why people on the grid spend a heap on new high power circuits to run the still when using gas would of saved spending that money in the first place.

6kw Solar System on the roof
We feed the grid :teasing-neener:
You should try it :laughing-rolling:

:text-imwithstupid: me too, I run my still for free :teasing-neener:

Nothing wrong with gas Bryan if the right precautions are taken like having collection jars a long way from open flames etc.

I don't think we should be talking about using our cars lpg tank though, that is highly dangerous and could lead to disastrous outcomes. Also filling forklift bottles at the servo is illegal and I wouldn't recommend anyone do that.

Remember we are all about safe distilling here :law-policered:

2 x 2400W on 90 litre charge here too.

The Stig wrote:

Bryan1 wrote:We feed the grid :teasing-neener:
You should try it :laughing-rolling:

Why Bother as I've been off the grid since '03 and will never go onto the grid as I aint paying 80K to get a 10 amp system to my boundary :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling:

I use three 1800wt elements for an 18gal keg boiler,find it loads 10amp power points and cords less,then ifn ya wish to run somewhere else its not a problem.cheers hillzabillly ;-)

Running a 4kw element for 5 hours is about $8. I used to run my Brewery on gas but it got expensive and I wasn't keen on the open flame heating up the hlt and the kettle. 'lectricity is easy...

hillzabilly wrote:I use three 1800wt elements for an 18gal keg boiler,find it loads 10amp power points and cords less,then ifn ya wish to run somewhere else its not a problem.cheers hillzabillly ;-)

:text-+1:
I run 2 x 2000 W elements and the spare amps left over on each GPO mean I can run my pump and radiator without any concerns.

Gas fired tank heating burners Immersion tube heating of tanks .These may be too big and expensive does anyone have any information on price and how small they make.

To work out how much it's costing you to run your electrical element:

Divide Wattage (W) by 1000 to convert W to Kilowatts (KW) …………….. eg: a 2200 W element is 2.2 KW

Check your electricity bill to see what your being charged per KWH, in my case the current costs of electricity in the ACT = $0.2276 cents per Kilowatt Hour (KWH).

Assume I ran the 2.2KW element for 10 Hours.

2200W x 1000 = 2.2KW x .2276c = .50072c ph. (Run for 10 hours = $5.0072) (.50072 x 10 = $5.0072)
or
2.2 x 10 x .2276 = $5.0072

Cheers

gad wrote:To work out how much it's costing you to run your electrical element:

Divide Wattage (W) by 1000 to convert W to Kilowatts (KW) …………….. eg: a 2200 W element is 2.2 KW

Check your electricity bill to see what your being charged per KWH, in my case the current costs of electricity in the ACT = $0.2276 cents per Kilowatt Hour (KWH).

Assume I ran the 2.2KW element for 10 Hours.

2200W x 1000 = 2.2KW x .2276c = .50072c ph. (Run for 10 hours = $5.0072) (.50072 x 10 = $5.0072)
or
2.2 x 10 x .2276 = $5.0072

Cheers

:handgestures-thumbupleft:
Yep electricity is cheaper than gas no matter which way you cut it.

Canberra's Baldwin Distilling Company running on a generator that was in 2016 electric may be cheaper but may not always be available .

Possibly not by as much as you think warra, a $19.50 8.5kg gas bottle works out at 19.1c per kWh, you then loose out to the heat losses, shroud etc comes into play there

To me it comes down to available amps, if you need a lecy out and digging trenches, gas has a much lower initial buy in, my burner of doom was only $140, if I want to boost the output from 25 to 60 kWh, a $30 high volume regulator will take care of that.

Electric elements are 100% efficient though so they have that big advantage over gas but as you said it depends on you having the current available where you want it.