Hi everyone, I have a question that I am hoping you guys might be able to help me with. I just got into brewing beer and realized it is a bit hard to brew in an apartment. My stove doesn't get hot enough to boil 5 gallons of water so I have been exploring other options. I was unable to use a propane burner because of apt restrictions and safety handling instructions. So to my knowledge I am stuck getting an induction cooker. I have read a lot about induction cookers and found that I would need a really powerful one to get a good boil on 5 gallons of water. Anything above 1800 watts has a 220v or 240v plug and you obviously can't plug that into a standard outlet. I am looking at an induction cooker that is 3400 watts and 240v. I was wondering if there is an adapter out there that is relatively cheap that I could use to plug my induction plate into a standard outlet. I have a couple friends that went to school for EE and have told me this is possible. I am going to drop the induction cooker link that I am looking at as well as the converter that I am looking at and hopefully someone can tell me if it will work. Please note that I am not interested in utilizing my washer or dryer outlet.

http://www.webstaurantstore.com/ava...r-208-240v-3500-watt/177IC3500 208*240.html

http://www.sears.com/simran-sim-4000-voltage-transformer-4000-watt/p-SPM5730823203?prdNo=1&blockNo=1&blockType=G1

 

I'm not sure how you plan to get 3400 watts of power from a 120 volt 15 - 20 amp circuit that can only supply 1800 - 2400 watts of power at peak.

 

I am not sure either, I don't really know anything about power. I am just looking to get a powerful cooker to work in my kitchen. If you have any other ways I could do this I would be more than willing to hear them.

 

Check behind the stove in your kitchen. It is plugged into a 240V outlet.

 

Hopefully your EE friends became sales engineers or some other profession that keeps them from hurting themselves or others.

As tcmtech said, you can't expect to get more power out of an outlet than that outlet is rated (and protected) for.

Yes, you can use a step up transformer to get your 240 V, but in doing so your current output will be cut in half. The bottom line is that you will be popping your breakers at the same amount of heat that you are currently dumping into your water.

Note that your stove is probably already 240 V, though that doesn't mean that each burner is.

One option (not really recommending it, though) is to get two electric stove units and put both under the pot and power them from two different outlets (that are on two different breakers).

I lived in an apartment where there was an dual outlet that had one that was switched and one that was hot all the time. But they were on different circuits and the circuits happened to be from the opposite phases. So I was able to power a 240 V space heater from it by making a simple two-plug adaptor. Not really recommending that, either, especially if you don't know what you are doing.

 

That is interesting, I never knew that. That is a possible option, unfortunately my stove fits into a tight spot between counters. I could probably get an extension cord for the plug if all else fails. I guess I am still wondering if the converter box would work or if there is an option to plug it into a standard outlet or if it just simply won't work.

 

I appreciate the feedback guys, I am probably going to go with the extension cord option and plug it into the outlet that my stove is plugged into.

 

If a 120 V/ 1800 W heater won't work, then a 240 V heater won't work because you will blow the breaker as you exceed 1800 W draw from it.

 

Note that the stove 240VAC plug is different from your normal 120VAC plug. Make sure your cord is sized appropriately to handle 240VAC 15A. In fact, don't use an extension cord at all.

 

I don't think I've ever seen a 240V extension cord. The longest 240V power cords I recall seeing are 6'. I imagine such cords exist, but if you are going to be pulling near the max wattage from the output, I would strongly recommend you NOT use an extension cord at all.

 

Most three wire extension cords can be used for 240 volt applications. All you need to do is change out the ends.

 

So why aren't they available off the shelf?

Think it's just that there isn't a market for them?

 

Do you have access to a BBQ grill? When I brewed beer, that is what I used to boil my wort.

 

So why aren't they available off the shelf?

Think it's just that there isn't a market for them?

I see them all over the place. Most any decent home building supply store carries them. If they don't they likely carry bulk cord and whatever ends you need.

 

Your existing stove gets more than hot enough to boil 5 gal of water. If the stove can boil one pint of water, it can boil 5 gal. It will just take much longer to raise the temperature of cold water to the boiling point.

 

So why aren't they available off the shelf?

Think it's just that there isn't a market for them?

You can get 240v stove plugs with around 6ft of cord already attached.
H.D.
Max.

 

Your existing stove gets more than hot enough to boil 5 gal of water..........

Mike, At the time I had a small residential 4 burner gas stove. It would not bring 5 gallons of liquid to an aggressive boil, needed for caramelizing the sugars in a beer wort. That is why I used a BBQ grill. I removed the grills and sat the pot on the burners.