Electric or Gas

[LeeEngland]

Hi,

I have a 100ltr Keg which is currently in build and I was wondering if to go gas or electric? What kind of run times can you expect of a 9kw propane burner or 5500w element?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[The Booze Pipe]

I burn propane through a Bayou classic brew burner https://www.bayouclassicdepot.com/colle ... urner-sq84" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow
I heat 10 gallons of wash in about an hour to hour & half. A spirit run heats up in 45 minutes.

I need to add that I had to build a quarter inch steel plate diffuser placed between the flame and pot to even out the heat and boil.

[LeeEngland]

Thanks for the information The Booze Pipe. How much gas to get through each run?

Anyone use electric elements?

[RedwoodHillBilly]

I use electric. 1 x 5.5Kw in my spirit still. 2 x 5.5 Kw in my mash tuns and 1 x 5.5 Kw in my stripping boiler. As I run in my basement, electric makes more sense, but to each their own.

[Twisted Brick]

There's a number of threads here citing detailed benefits/drawbacks of gas vs electric, although these factors might change a bit with a 100l keg.

I recently moved from propane to a natural gas burner, primarily because of the cost of residential gas is way less than propane and the inconvenience of having to go fill tanks. The 40k NG burner goes from a tiny simmer to full blast and hooks up to my backyard gas line via quick disconnect. Takes about an hour to heat up 8gal in a 15.5gal keg for a strip.

[frunobulax]

ELECTRIC!! It's more efficient ( all the energy goes to heating, rather than all out and all around the pot) it's quiet, and can be done indoors, without sweating or fear of suffocating.
The down side is upfront setup costs and loss of mobility if ya want to go from indoors to out.

[jon1163]

Electric...

[nuntius01]

takes me 45 minutes to boil 12 gal with 1 5500 element

[The Booze Pipe]

Thanks for the information The Booze Pipe. How much gas to get through each run?

I honestly don't know the exact amount. To take a guess I run through one seven gallon (26.5L) tank to strip 40 gallons(151L) of wash. that is just a guess. I keep on hand two tanks, a seven gallon (26.5L) & a five gallon (18.9L) as a backup. So if I get low, I can swap over to the smaller tank.

Propane is convenient & economical for me. I have a handful of gas stations near my home that sell it cheap at $2/gallon.

Basically you're running double my capacity, which is awesome! How much wash are you planning on fermenting at a time/how much do you plan to strip at one time? It takes me all day to strip 20 gallons of wash in two runs (that's two 10 gallon {38L} cycles of heating wash & striping) .

You need to consider your propane tank size so that you have enough gas to make your stripping/spirit runs and don't run out of gas at an inconvenient time. I would think a 15 gallon (57L) propane tank would be a good starting size; as you get bigger it might be heavy and difficult to handle.

Just some thoughts.

[The Booze Pipe]

I recently moved from propane to a natural gas burner, primarily because of the cost of residential gas is way less than propane and the inconvenience of having to go fill tanks. The 40k NG burner goes from a tiny simmer to full blast and hooks up to my backyard gas line via quick disconnect. Takes about an hour to heat up 8gal in a 15.5gal keg for a strip.

I also have NG in my home, used to run a furnace for heating. Do you have any idea of how to get a line into my garage with a quick connect? Maybe there is a thread started for this?

[The Booze Pipe]

Just found this on the google machine wizard thing...
"refluxinator
(stranger)
01/10/04 09:34 AM
Re: cooking with gas [re: afss]

When you learn the control of the heat and how your burner and still react you will be totally surprised as to the ease of the operation. I'm getting about 8-10 runs out of a 5 gal propane tank boiling 20 ltrs (5gals) of wash.
Hope this helps, it is the process I use. "

[Twisted Brick]

I recently moved from propane to a natural gas burner, primarily because of the cost of residential gas is way less than propane and the inconvenience of having to go fill tanks. The 40k NG burner goes from a tiny simmer to full blast and hooks up to my backyard gas line via quick disconnect. Takes about an hour to heat up 8gal in a 15.5gal keg for a strip.

I also have NG in my home, used to run a furnace for heating. Do you have any idea of how to get a line into my garage with a quick connect? Maybe there is a thread started for this?

You'll have to tap in somewhere off the meter, but where I live its a job for a licensed plumber or gas fitter and requires a permit. If you're running other gas appliances in addition to your furnace, you need to ensure you have sufficient BTU's for the added line.

Here's a YouTube example: https://youtu.be/xLda3PhR9kQ" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

[The Baker]

'Do you have any idea of how to get a line into my garage with a quick connect?'

Talk to your plumber/ gas-fitter or maybe (maybe not) the supplier (tell them you want to make sauce?).

Geoff

[cranky]

To take a guess I run through one seven gallon (26.5L) tank to strip 40 gallons(151L) of wash. that is just a guess. I keep on hand two tanks, a seven gallon (26.5L) & a five gallon (18.9L) as a backup. So if I get low, I can swap over to the smaller tank.

Propane is convenient & economical for me. I have a handful of gas stations near my home that sell it cheap at $2/gallon.

Damn BP, $14 to strip 40 gallons don't sound too economical or cheap to me

I run a 5500W element and don't think it costs more than a couple bucks to run off that much. I can't even tell the difference in my electric bill between months I run and months I don't. I like electric, I don't want to run outside, control is so simple and accurate, I just flip a switch turn a knob and wait. Heat up time at full power is usually around 35-45 minutes for 12-13 gallons and a turkey fryer would have cost a lot more than the electric conversion.

[The Booze Pipe]

To take a guess I run through one seven gallon (26.5L) tank to strip 40 gallons(151L) of wash. that is just a guess. I keep on hand two tanks, a seven gallon (26.5L) & a five gallon (18.9L) as a backup. So if I get low, I can swap over to the smaller tank.

Propane is convenient & economical for me. I have a handful of gas stations near my home that sell it cheap at $2/gallon.

Damn BP, $14 to strip 40 gallons don't sound too economical or cheap to me

I run a 5500W element and don't think it costs more than a couple bucks to run off that much. I can't even tell the difference in my electric bill between months I run and months I don't. I like electric, I don't want to run outside, control is so simple and accurate, I just flip a switch turn a knob and wait. Heat up time at full power is usually around 35-45 minutes for 12-13 gallons and a turkey fryer would have cost a lot more than the electric conversion.

I like the sounds of that! I would consider converting but I don't have any electrician friends to run 220v into my garage.

[cranky]

I don't have any electrician friends to run 220v into my garage.

Me either, I did it myself, it isn't hard. Before I installed a dedicated breaker for the still I used the dryer outlet.

[Tater]

Gas grill size tank get me 4 runs and what cooking needed done to make them.15 gallon keg pot still

[Fills Jars Slowly]

There are certainly individual circumstances that may mean gas or electricity is the clear winner for any given stiller. But, for the average case you hear a whole lot of, "I started with gas, but then I went electric and never looked back." How many times do folks write on this forum about how they once distilled under electric power but are now sworn to gas? I am sure there are a few, but...

Gas sure is easier and cheaper to start out with, though. I started with it and went electric and haven't looked back.

[ShineonCrazyDiamond]

Gas grill size tank get me 4 runs and what cooking needed done to make them.15 gallon keg pot still

That would double the cost of my 40 gallon ferment.

[ShineonCrazyDiamond]

Ok, in all fairness, I calculated that 4 runs, 3 strips and a spirit run would be about $14 at full 100% ( 5500w, 5 hr average run) . Now, it would be less with a throttled spirit run, but in the end we are talking dollars, not cents still. I'll say $10 is fair, so if ya live in cheap propane land, the difference could be negligible. About $18-$20 here for a tank.

Gas in car and time to fill not calculated.

[cranky]

Ok, in all fairness, I calculated that 4 runs, 3 strips and a spirit run would be about $14 at full 100% ( 5500w, 5 hr average run) . Now, it would be less with a throttled spirit run, but in the end we are talking dollars, not cents still. I'll say $10 is fair, so if ya live in cheap propane land, the difference could be negligible. About $18-$20 here for a tank.

Gas in car and time to fill not calculated.

Those numbers are a bit higher than mine. I just finished my 3rd 12-13 gallon stripping run which at full power of 5500W took about 1Hr 50 min switch on to switch off. A spirit run for me takes maybe 6hr total and is throttled way back but all in it only takes me 12hr total run time for the 4 runs and with my math even if I ran the spirit run at full power it would only cost me about $7.26 to run that long. 4 stripping runs would take less than 8hr total run time and cost under $5.

[ShineonCrazyDiamond]

Cranky, your absolutely right. Thank you for checking me on that. I was doing a quick scribble on paper as I was walking out the door at work. I calculated 5 hours for each of the stripping runs! Oops.

So, yeah. 2 hours per strip run is 6 hours, well say 7 for the extra few minutes here and there. So 7 hours with the 5 for a spirit is 12 hours. Even at full throttle, would be 12x5500=66000/1000= 66 kwh per barrel. Now, earlier I was using the national average of $.12/kwh, but I might be closer to $.09. That's $6 per barrel, full throttle. Now, I run less than 50% on a spirit run, so calculated out, about $4 per 40 gallon, barrel to oak.

I like electric

[cranky]

I just made a quick run to get propane for my BBQ and smoker $3.99 a gallon plus tax here. It cost me $42 for 9.5 gallons. I know some places it's cheap but it sure isn't here electricity is running me $.11/kwh.

I like electric too

[Tater]

15 bucks to fill my grill tank. time is money also.element washes have to be clean