Copper- Gas Heated or Electric Heated?

[leehammerton]

I am about to order a fully stainless steel 24hl copper in the UK and am deciding on whether to have it Gas Heated or Electric Heated. I understand running costs of the copper would be cheaper having gas , but maybe more difficult to clean out because of the bigger size of the heating elements. The gas heated version is also £2k more expensive. Maybe the gas will be also be a bit quicker to heat.

I am trying to work out which I should go with and why, can anyone point out the pro’s and cons to help me make a decision please?

[Natrat]

Electric Pros:

Very efficient
Very quiet
All energy goes into liquid, rather than into walls of vessel

Electric Cons:

Are your mains electricity adequate?
large amperage draw on your service
How many elements? Can you achieve boil if one element burns out?
Element costs are high
Have to understand AC and DC electricity well to troubleshoot
High caloric density...easy to scorch
Pain to keep clean (important, because dirty elements will burn out)

Gas Pros:
Fast to boil
Easy to maintain
Easy to control (I think, anyway)
Easy to fix
Gas is cheaper, usually

Gas cons:
May need building/leasehold upgrades for your make up air
puts a lot of stress on vessel
Low efficiency
Some systems have outer parts which get hot and you can burn yourself on

My vote is for gas. I've only brewed on one electric system that I thought was worth a damn. But there is a lot of great beer brewed on electric, so the problem seems to be on my side of the equation...:-)

[dick murton]

Gas every time.

Unless you intend to boil using cheap rate electricity, i.e. overnight. And I am sure you don't want to become a permanent night owl to be able to do this. Small scale brewing is meant to be a lifestyle choice as much as anything, certainly compared to a jumbo.

Direct fired gas is not a lot noisier, but otherwose I agree with the comments below. I have no idea what the energy input required is to boil at say six % evaporation / hour, but if you work it out, and there will be lots of calculators on the internet,then compare the cost of 3 phase electric vs cost of gas. Personally I think a gas system will be far easier to clean than an electric system. My limited experience of electric shows the elements clog up ever so easily particularly with whole hops, which then lead to overheating and burnout.