Wooden Smokehouse

[Big Guy]

Halogen bulbs are designed to produce light. They also produce heat but are not very efficient as a heat source. your better off with a hot plate.
No mater what you use as a heat source you are limited to 1800 watts if using 14 ga. wire and a 15 amp breaker. If you go up to 12 or 10 ga wire you can use 2400 watts with a 20 amp breaker. depending on the length of run it will determine if you need 10 ga. wire. I would think you'll need 220 v IMHO

[DarrinG]

I did some calculations based on the size of 4x4x6 and to heat the house to 60�F would require a .22KW therefore to heat to 180�F you would need at least a 1000W heater. Now thats based on "perfect" conditions.

You could try an external firebox if you will. That way if you do have your fire go out then you don't have to worry about it blowing up.

DarrinG

[wittdog]

I think if I use electricy...I will need a 220 line...
Which Is probably going to be expensive...

[Hangin_Salami]

Running the 220 shouldn't be the expensive part, I'd be worried about my electricity bill

Chris

[saucisson]

A question for any Physicists out there... If you are running a 500w halogen light bulb inside a closed box all 500 watts of energy are being pumped into and being contained within the box. Say, for arguments sake, a halogen bulb is 50% efficient, How is the 250W of light energy dissipated?

Dave

[wittdog]

I found this online conversion chart http://www.onlineconversion.com/
This is what It told me how many BTU the elements will put out�
750 watt = 2 559.106 226 3 Btu/hour [I.T.]
1 000 watt = 3 412.141 635 1 Btu/hour [I.T.]
1 500 watt = 5 118.212 452 7 Btu/hour [I.T.]
1 650 watt = 5 630.033 698 Btu/hour [I.T.]
2 100 watt = 7 165.497 433 8 Btu/hour [I.T.]

[lemonD]

Following on from your PM
Domestic gas ovens are fitted with a flame failure device and I would expect the laws in the US are the same, maybe you could salvage one to give you peace of mind.
Sausagemakers got a kit here http://www.sausagemaker.com/index.asp?PageAction=Custom&ID=70 the thermostat has a ECO connection

However thinking about it, it maybe difficult to get an inexpensive gas thermostat that goes below boiling point, so there maybe a lot of babysitting & beer drinking involved keeping the temps right.

If you do go down the electric route have a look at a PID temperature controller & solid state relay, I'll be fitting one as my next mod on the smokehouse, have a look on ebay.

LD

[wittdog]

After consulting with various experts in various fields, HVAC, OSHA Safety, The folks at both the Sausgemaker and Allied Kenco, Appliance Repair people, and a few electricians�.I�ve decided to go with the 5000Watt heating element and control panel from the Sausagemaker as the heat source for the Smokehouse�It will cost a little more but I believe the benefits will out way the costs.
I basically had 3 options�..The first was old school with a fire pit�.as much as I would like to have gone this route �its just impractical at this time�.
The second option was gas either to move the fryer out of the smokehouse or get the tested gas system from Allied Kenco or the Sausagemaker, or try to put together a similar system on my own�.I was advised to by the owner of the Sausagemaker to stay away from Gas combustion can be a pain to deal with�and then I would also have to worry about running out�
Electric gives me the best control over temps and I won�t have to worry about running out of it�
Omnivore sent me this link to help in determining the amount of watts need to heat a shed or garage..

http://www.heatershop.com/btu_calculator.htm

And by comparing the elements in the commercially sold smokehouses to the size of mine�and taking in what the weather is like in the winter in Buffalo�I decided to go big�..another factor was speaking with an appliance repair man�he said I should have a fan to cool the element and help move the hot air in the smokehouse�it will prolong the life of the element��.The 5000w kit has such a fan�
JP is going to fab a smoke generator that will run on either electric or wood�..

[saucisson]

I was up late last night so I'm feeling a bit dense...

JP is ?

Dave

[wittdog]

I was up late last night so I'm feeling a bit dense...

JP is ?

Dave

Sorry a buddy of mine from another forum...he has welding skills...and a desire to use them

[Iamarealbigdog]

while I prefer to go old school, I have to admit, electric is the way to go. Hook up a PID and you can hit the exact temp you need each and every time. Wth the 5000 wt convection heater, it sould circulate it all with the best efficency, good call

As for the smoke, Qfan has been instremental in demonstration that smoke is an ingreadint, not the whole show. How do you plan to go down this road, I think one of the cold smoke generators would be perfect for this project.


Good Job Witt

[wittdog]

I'm going to convert a grill into the smoke generator...kind of a ode to oldschool...and if I need to I could toss a small element in a pinch.

[wittdog]

Mikey and me had a busy day..we got the smokehouse stained�I�m still waiting to do the electric�.It should be done soon�

[wittdog]

We got the �old school� component of the smokehouse hooked up today�.This will be our smoke generator and if I have the time and desire I can use it to smoke old school�I�m still going to do the electric hook up that will be coming soon�We also installed the therm today�

[Iamarealbigdog]

with that distance you may be able to cold smoke...


good call