Propane or Electric ?

[Greg2013]

Ok so hypothetical question(ya right) Propane or electric for your boil kettle/hlt? Which would you choose and why? Brewing to be done inside MOSTLY (not always). Cost versus convenience if any of ye have worked that out. Take it that kegs are 50 litre typical so boils of say 30 litres average.

I personally can see advantages to both, just not sure of propane costs, though i know leccy is bloody expensive.

[DEMPSEY]

With the bottle gas you need a second bottle for when you run out half way through the boil.

[Greg2013]

LOL and thats exactly what would happen to me However with the price of a leccy bill these days i wonder would the propane still work out better? I know nothing about gas prices these days so not sure.

[Greg2013]

I wonder per hour what would the cost of leccy v propane be for a 30 litre boil?  :-/

[DEMPSEY]

Not to sure but I think bottle gas comes out the most expensive form of heating :-/.

[Greg2013]

Ya Dempsey that seems to be the general consensus everywhere. I assumed people here only used leccy because propane was more of a yank thing ?

Oh and btw i am just working out a few facts and figures for down the road is all. With the heating element needed for a 30 litre boild would a special circuit breaker be required? That could be an issue for me if so. What size element would you need for a 30 litre boil anyway to do it properly?

[Bubbles]

Propane or electric for your boil kettle/hlt? ...... Brewing to be done inside MOSTLY (not always)

Propane cannot be used in any kind of enclosed space, and especially not inside a house!

For me propane isn't an option because I think it's too much hassle. Gass bottle runs out mid-mash, or mid-boil, what do you do? So really, you need to have a backup bottle at all times. Plus the hassle of getting refills. Electricity is always available.

Safety is also a factor with me - I'm so cack-handed, I can't be trusted with explosive gas.

[Greg2013]

Ok clarify something for me please. If propane is soooo dangerous to use inside a house then why isn't methane? That's explosive as well with air. Is this just an old wives tale or is there a bona fide reason?

[Greg2013]

Btw cheers for the opinions. I think the running out of gas swung it for me. What size element would be good for a 30 litre boil?

[Will_D]

Ok clarify something for me please. If propane is soooo dangerous to use inside a house then why isn't methane? That's explosive as well with air. Is this just an old wives tale or is there a bona fide reason?

Its not the gas its the equipment.

People not on mains gas cook on propane gas cookers (that look just like mains gas cookers but probably have different jets) quite safely because the cooker has all sorts of safety devices fitted.

Not all gas burners that are used under kegs have flame fail shut offs for example. Some do!

I believe this is why

[Greg2013]

Thanks WillD for clarifying that.

[newToBrew]

isn't the most common gas available in Ireland Butane ?

I use electricity deadman - 2 elements in a bucket think they are 2.4 KW  each
I don't have a dedicated circuit breaker - but I use plug them into two sockets on the wall ( as in I do NOT plug them both into the same extension cable)

Run Both to
(a) heat strike water at beginning  ( 30 - mins ?)
(b) heat some sparge water while mashing ( 30 - mins ?)


(c)bring  wort to the boil ( another 20 - 30 mins)

then knock off one element once i've hot the rolling boil
and just use the one for a 50 minute boil

[Greg2013]

What boil volume new ?

[newToBrew]

about 30 litres - my bucket is a 33 litre fv  but I leave some space for the hot break

[rukkus]

I have both, the electricity is handy on windy days or if i need to brew inside (steam can be an issue brewing inside)

The gas setup allows me to brew where i dont have power handy.

The really bad weather lately has had me doing small batches on the kitchen stove and the pot i use with the gas setup also works well there.

Depends on what you are after really. To make sure i didnt run out of gas on a brewday i bought a second small patio gas bottle. Its the same as i use on the bbq so if i dont brew with it it still gets used