Aussiedistiller, Home Distilling, Moonshine, Home Brew

Just a question about useing a gas boiler in a small room. At the moment i'm building a brew room, but i am limited in size but would still like to use gas if possible. The room is 3.4m x 2m x3m high, it has one large door which can be left open, two slideing windows above the bench that are 900mm x 600mm each, and one slideing window 900mmx700mm that opens onto my garage. At the moment i have not put in any power points, so i can easilly put in fans or exaust units at floor level or ceiling level, or on the walls if required. I would love to get some of your thoughts on this, and i really dont mind being told that i'm an absolute dickhead who ls going to blow himself up if thats the reality. Cheers.

.............. ok ill say it ............ your fuckin nuts :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling:

If you had your heart set on it.

I'd be putting in overkill on fans. CO / CO2 buildup is a cruisy way to go to sleep and never wake up.

I'd have so much ventilation that it'd feel like you were outside anyway.

From a safety standpoint regarding explosion / fires. Sounds like more stuff to catch alight if something goes wrong.

Linny wrote:.............. ok ill say it ............ your fuckin nuts :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling:

Nailed it!

I was kind of expecting that, thanks heaps for your kind and generous words! got any thoughts on the best elements for a 50lt keg, and do i need a controller to run them or can i just run two straight out and switch one off when she boils? Thanks again.

I run a 50L keg on a single 2400W element. It boils 40L in about 1 - 1.5 hours and strips at about 4L / hour in my shed.

I'd run two for a fast boil up time but I don't really need it, I've generally got a whole day off when I do runs so it's no skin off my neck waiting a bit longer...read a book.

I've got a weldless element from Mac btw.

Thanks for that, i must have got a bit excited as i just finished soldering the last fittings on my still this arvo, looks like i should slow down and make a trip to the library or search the net for a good book. Arethere any that are considered to be 'must read' books?

I don't know about 'Must read'...

But I'd check this out if I was you... viewforum.php?f=47

Complete distiller is a good start. Also the one about corn whiskry is also good

Why don't you just do it outside?

I think we can see that the general consensus here is that its a bad idea.... and for bood reason.
Using gas can be dangerous, using it indoors is stupid and is not something the forum would condone.

Ready to distill!

still working wrote:Just a question about useing a gas boiler in a small room. Don't do it if you can avoid it

At the moment i'm building a brew room, but i am limited in size but would still like to use gas if possible. The room is 3.4m x 2m x3m high, it has one large door which can be left open, two slideing windows above the bench that are 900mm x 600mm each, and one slideing window 900mmx700mm that opens onto my garage. So why not put your rig on wheels and run it in the garage?
At the moment i have not put in any power points, so i can easilly put in fans or exaust units at floor level or ceiling level, or on the walls if required. I would love to get some of your thoughts on this, and i really dont mind being told that i'm an absolute dickhead who ls going to blow himself up if thats the reality. Cheers.

I have a small workshop attached to the garage and always run the still in the garage.
Plenty of breeze with the garage door half open along with side doors.
The still sits next to an open side door and away from the open garage door...... so no prying eyes can see it.

Gas is safe if you think about what it is doing and how you can vent it.
Gas is dangerous in confined spaces and without lots of ventilation.
We can't see your set up but it is plainly obvious that we all err on the side of caution with this type of set up.
Just my thoughts.

DBV

Thanks heaps for your advice, hadn't thought too much about running out of oxygen.,was really only thinking about blowing myself and my shed into smitherines! It was a bit of a whim as i have a huge supply of lpg and a three ring burner going to waste. I dont want to use the garage as there would be too much crap to move every time i wanted to run it. Running it outside consistantly is also a bit of a problem because of an ever present south westerly straight of Bass Stait, thats the downside of building a brew room and tasting deck with a view. The upside is that i'm now well convinced that there is no option other than to go electric. Its funny how you can get carried away planning something and still overlook the simple and bleeding obvious, at one stage i actually drew up plans for a roof that could be raised by a winch- an electric element will certainly be a lot easier! Found some very helpfull reading thanks to the stig, great work. Thanks again.

Hmm that sounds scary , I might have to pull out my gas heater and hot plates :roll: . They key note here is ventilation , a whirly bird in the roof above your boiler would be good or perhaps gable vents. Personally I always make sure a window or two are partly open to allow a flow through of fresh air :handgestures-thumbupleft:

I use electricity and dont have to worry about all that crap :teasing-neener:

Frothwizard wrote:

Linny wrote:.............. ok ill say it ............ your fuckin nuts :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling: :laughing-rolling:

Nailed it!

if you mean nailed it as in put your dick in it hmm maybe

Ok getting bugged with the misinformation here a bit
heating a boiler with electrical elements is easier and less fuss than most other methods and for some it will be the cheapest option in the long run. Given the right precautions such as compliant wiring an earth leakage circuit breaking devise and suitable voltage controller it should be the safest method to heat a boiler no doubt. Its not an option for me and I'm sure others would be in a similar situation, running 15 amp power to my shed would somewhere between $4000 and $6000 dollars but to achieve anything like my modest gas energy would require a full supply upgrade so conservatively you could add another $3000 to that cost
Gas is fine for heating a boiler with just some common sense precautions in place the same as you require for any heating system. Have some ventilation, manage leaks, don't have your take off point near an open flame or where distillate can be spilt on an open flame and have fire safety equipment in the vicinity. I use to still in a wooden shed about 1.8 by 2.4 with gas and never had one problem relating to it, I now use a shed purpose built for distilling that is 6m by 3.6 by 3m to the pitching plate and a 40' pitch, vented gables, 3 windows and a door so ventilation is most definitely not going to be an issue
Personally I love the total instant control I get with gas and play around with power management alot to achieve the results I want. I'm not saying the same can't be done with elements or a combustion fire or steam but for me gas is my best option and I'm sure there are others that it would be to.
The question is can LPG gas be used as a safe heating source indoors and the answer is yes with some common sense it can be :handgestures-thumbupleft:

Well said Crow, I have used lpg for some time now and have had no issues with it as I allways have a fan going with ventilation and I dont leave it un attended, dont drink and distill and I have a saftey plan for emergencies. common sence...you dont see much of that anymore

JayD wrote:and I have a saftey plan for emergencies

:text-+1: Perhaps we should have a thread for experienced stillers to write up their plan for when the shit hits the fan during a run, electric or gas. Be great for newbies.

db1979 wrote:

JayD wrote:and I have a saftey plan for emergencies

:text-+1: Perhaps we should have a thread for experienced stillers to write up their plan for when the shit hits the fan during a run, electric or gas. Be great for newbies.

Turn off the heat source then extinguish any fire with your fire extinguisher, if that doesn't work then you have fucked up beyond the point of return :wtf: