Electrical Heating Element: "Plunger" vs Band Heater

mgaspard

Good morning all, I hope you are doing well today!

I am using a normal resistance heater so far, but I was reading about the benefit of the bands heaters like this one:

Ocobudbxw 170mm Thin Band Heater Element 220V 750W For Household Electrical Appliances @ Amazon.co.uk

Benefits are:

• No contact between heating element and the product
• Easier to clean
• Less risk of scorching

Any feedback/experience on that solution?
And any idea where to buy it in Europe (240V)?

Thanks a lot in advance!
Michel

Smaug

750 watts is not very much output.

Will they make a custom fit band with a more usable output for distillation?

mgaspard

@Smaug, agreed, I just showed this as an example, I am looking for 2-3kW range, and my question was: where could I buy this kind of band in Europe/ready 240V. I painfully discovered that US (110V) devised are actually producing about FOUR times the advertised power with 110V :>

mgaspard

Brewhaus (sorry..) is selling one, but the feedback are really negative: 1500W Band Heater for Premium Kettle - Reviews @ Brewhaus

JayTee

My 800L fermentations are multi-stage, but once I've got the full 800L in the fermenter, I make sure the temp is a little higher than the temperature I want to support. Then I use a Schego 600W titanium heater immersed in the beer to maintain a particular level (using a temp controller on the heater). Although 600W is quite low, this will happily support a 30+degC temp in the UK winter with no room heating. I would recommend a circulating pump from the bottom to the top ( @CothermanDistilling's recommendation) to even out the temp and keep the yeast moving. Note that if I go to 900L+ in the UK summer, this will flip the need to heat to the need to cool instead ...