Making use of hot water

commsbiff · Oct 25, 2009

I've been thinking a bit about the amount of (hot) water wasted during the post-boil chill. It seems that however this chill is achieved, there is likely to be a lot of wastage.

After seeing Talisman's pictures of his flash chiller, I've been given an idea.

When my boiler is finished I will be brewing in my garage, which is directly under my bathroom. Would it be feasible to make a counter flow wort chiller, with the 'cold in, hot out' line extending beyond the contact portion, through my bathroom window and into the bath (this portion may need to be insulated). I could then either a: enjoy a post-brew day bath, or b: offer it up to swmbo to keep her sweet.

What do you think? :hmm:

Vossy1 · Oct 25, 2009

Sounds like a lot of work but totally feasable. Personally I'd be tempted to get 2 large water butts in the garage, if you have room, one for cold feed and one to take the hot water from the cfc. That way you'll be recycling

. You could even collect the first butt from rainwater, that would be very green :grin:

commsbiff · Oct 25, 2009

Hmm. That was one of my first thoughts, but space in the garage is at a premium and there is no space immediately outside either. I don't think I'd need a pump either as the mains water pressure should push it upstairs. Maybe I am thinking too much about the whole thing though, and you may be right in that it's quite a lot of effort for (in the big picture) a relatively small saving.

Varnish · Oct 25, 2009

I've been thinking about water wastage too.

My idea was to have the copper coil in the kettle as normal, but run the outlet line into a car radiator which is air cooled using an electric fan (The one connected to the radiator as standard). Then run the cooled water back into the coil.

It wouldn't be as efficient as using water from the tap and would need a pump to run it.
:wha:

Just an idea.

Aleman · Oct 25, 2009

What Wibblers do is to have a Cold Liquor Tank (Glycol Chilled to 8C), which they pump from the CLT through the Plate Heat Exchanger to the Hot Liquor Tank . . . Hot water ready for the next brew . . . Of course this only works if you are brewing lots of beers on the bounce . . . . And the CLT and HLT are 20 BBL :lol: