Heating with propane.

[Stilldrunk]

I currently have a 8 gallon electric boiler and I'm thinking about upgrading to 13 or 25 gallon, I have never used a propane burner to heat a wash so my questions are,

Do you prefer propane?
Would the standard Bayou classic be fine to get 13 or 25 gallon boilers up to temperature?
When you heat your wash lets say a standard birdwatchers, do you slowly build up the heat until the boiling point? Or full on from the start?


I would love to heat it with electric but it seems costly.

[dirtymax731]

Propane can be costly too. I used to run propane and still do for mashing but switched to electric for my keg with 240v and its the only way to go in my opinion. It's less setup, can do it indoors, and don't sweat from the heat in my case

[RevSpaminator]

I run propane. I find I get better results when I heat up slowly.

[Stilldrunk]

Propane can be costly too. I used to run propane and still do for mashing but switched to electric for my keg with 240v and its the only way to go in my opinion. It's less setup, can do it indoors, and don't sweat from the heat in my case

Whats your setup involve? I would do electric if It works perfect.

[Braz]

Bayou Classic is way plenty enough for a 15 gal. keg. I have to turn it way down when running the Bok head to keep from flooding the column.

A tip: check around at bulk propane dealers or RV/camper places. Some of them refill grill tanks for cheaper than the gas station/hardware store exchange places. Around here the exchange places get $20 for a 15 lb refill but I pay $15 for a 20 lb refill at the bulk place.

[Stilldrunk]

How many runs are you guys able to do with 15 to 20lb of propane?

[dirtymax731]

I use a psr25 controller. And a 4500w uld element

[moosemilk]

I run a 12 gallon copper pot still. Probably lose a fair amount of heat as its only 16oz copper sheet. Doing 5 gallon charges I got 8 runs off a 20lb tank. I typically run full heat until the cap starts warming up, then turn down and slowly collect the fors and heads. Play around a bit with the heat to get a slightly broken stream. If I'm doing a single run I keep it about that through my hearts. Stripping runs I crank it up after I discard my fors and run down til I am getting about 15 to 20% abv. Initial charge is usually around 8 but less than 10% abv.

Ten gallon charge my heat up time is a bit longer, but not much since there is less head space above my wash line I am figuring for heat loss. Usually if I do a ten gallon charge it's a stripping run and I just run hard and fast after I discard my fors.

I should add that I also did a cleaning and sac run on that initial tank so say nine 5 gallon runs conservatively. For me, electricity is a high expense where I am so propane is the way. Although winter is gonna drive me inside so will need electric.

Posted while dirtymax was

[srs787]

Safety is the foremost concern in heating a boiler. Where are you setup at? Outdoors propane is great with a little wind, but a lot of wind could cause problems. Electric works best with reflux columns. A lot different things can factor your choice. How about both? You have an electric heater already.

[Truckinbutch]

I ran a 15.5 keg boiler/15.5 thumper on a 60k btu BC burner . Wheel rim keg support with heat shroud . Propane consumption is inverse of heat input . I averaged 12-15 hrs burn time on strip runs and as much as 21 hrs for spirit runs from a 20# tank .
> Tank exchange places locally are charging an average of $22 for a tank filled to 15# My local bulk supplier will fill my tanks to a full 20# for $17 . The math ain't hard to do .........

[Red Rim]

I used to chase propane and hated it, now I am running 5500 watt and loving it.

That brings up a good question, did T_pee ever switch, or is he still just screwing around and thinking about it?

[RevSpaminator]

I usually get 2 to 3 runs off a 20# tank. I like to start early in the morning and let things heat up slow. Seems like every time I turn up the heat to get things warmed up faster I end up with a bunch of smearing. I'm sure I'm doing something else wrong, but low and slow from start to finish works and I get some respectable results.

BTW, I've considered electric but I don't have an indoor space for the whole setup and we get a lot of rain where I live. I'm not ready for my Darwin Award yet.

[googe]

I get about 4 runs out of 9kg bottle. Blast the heat till I start seeing reflux then back it off.

[BentJar]

I have recently converted both of my 7.5 and 15.5 gal. boilers and am running on electricity. I am so done with the propane crap. It has its place and all that but an electric still is the way to go.

I keep my boiler full of water and with the flip of a switch there is hot water in the shed to clean up and sterilize my glass ware. I steam out my still head after each run, cut it loose and allow to dry out.
There is so much more you can do with electric.


And its safer and cheaper than propane.

Bent

[superdaveva]

I use electric, its just real convenient. Propane is 2.69 a gal. Here now, best to fill up in the summer.a grill tank holds 4.5 gal.never exchange they really stick it to ya.

[Stilldrunk]

Safety is the foremost concern in heating a boiler. Where are you setup at? Outdoors propane is great with a little wind, but a lot of wind could cause problems. Electric works best with reflux columns. A lot different things can factor your choice. How about both? You have an electric heater already.

The problem with what I have is I would like to go bigger, I have a 8 gallon bolier now, prettey much a 2000w coffee boiler, maybe ill save my penies and do electric on the new one.

[SoMo]

I've only used propane and have never had a problem, I can bring my keg to boil in 20-25 minutes with a ten gal charge, pretty quick. I get 3-4 runs from one 5g or 20# tank. Propane can be a pita, especially last winter when it got high in price, find what ya like. I'm looking at an electric conversion too, having had 2 houses burn down as a kid from faulty electric I'm kinda Leary.

[T-Pee]

That brings up a good question, did T_pee ever switch, or is he still just screwing around and thinking about it?

Still slowly collecting parts with life getting in the way. It WILL happen.

tp

[ron71157]

Propane works for me. I crank it up to get the charge started than back it off once everything equalizes. On my last run it took one hour to heat 11 gallons to start producing. I don't keep track but it seems like a standard grill bottle lasts forever. Have not tried electricity simply because it was easier to get started with propane. I took a 40K BTU turkey fryer and by grinding the ring down a bit got a 15.5 keg to fit perfectly on top..very stable and i get a little bonus as the bottom of the keg acts as a shield from the wind and maybe helps with efficiently. Still alot of excess heat is released and will effect your environment accordingly.

turkey burner

keg on burner

whatever works for you as always be careful and safe!!