Electric vs Propane Stills: Trading the Flame for a Dial

Every still runs on heat. Copper, vapor and a steady hand do the rest. How you make that heat decides what your days at the still feel like. With a propane burner you watch a flame, listen to the hiss and nudge a valve. With an electric element you turn a dial on a controller. The copper doesn't care where the heat comes from, but you will. Here is a plain look at both, so you can pick the one that fits your space, your power and the way you like to work.

The Short Answer

Propane gives you a lot of open-flame heat and lets you set up anywhere you can carry a tank. Electric gives up the flame for an element inside the pot and a controller you set by hand. If you want to work in a garage, a shop or another covered space, and you'd like to run the same setting again next time, electric is usually the better fit. If you work outdoors and like to feel the fire, propane still has its fans.

How Propane Heats a Still

A propane setup puts a burner under the pot. You turn the gas up to bring the wash to temperature, then back it down and hold it there. It works, and plenty of people learned that way. But it's a feel thing. Wind, the weather and how full the tank is all change the flame, so you spend a lot of the run watching and adjusting.

There is also the flame itself. Propane burns, and that combustion needs open air. That's why most propane stilling happens outside, and why many hobbyists start looking at other options once they want to work in a covered space.

Where propane makes sense

• Outdoor setups with plenty of open air
• Places with no handy electrical circuit
• People who enjoy running a burner by feel

How Electric Heats a Still

An electric still puts the heating element right in the pot, in the liquid, and wires it to a controller. You don't watch a flame. You pick a setting, see how the still answers, and adjust. Once you find a setting that gives you a steady run, you can write it down and start there next time.

This is where the scientist part of stilling comes alive. A good run is an experiment. You control the heat, the vapor rises through the copper, and you watch what comes out of the condenser as you make your cuts. With a dial, your variable is a number you can record, not a guess about a flame. Change one thing, keep notes, compare. That's how a hobby becomes a craft.

110V vs 220V

Electric stills come in two flavors, and the difference is the circuit they plug into.

• 110V runs on the standard household voltage most people already have. It suits smaller pots, like a 6 gallon still, and it's the easy way to get started.
• 220V runs on a higher-voltage circuit, the kind used for larger appliances. It's the usual choice for bigger pots, from 10 gallons up. If you don't have a 220V outlet where you plan to set up, talk to a licensed electrician before you buy.

Side by Side: Electric vs Propane

1. Heat control: Propane is a valve and a flame you read by eye. Electric is a controller setting you can repeat.
2. Where you can set up: Propane wants open air for the burner. Electric drops the open flame, so it suits a covered workspace better. You still need good ventilation, because vapor from any still needs somewhere to go.
3. Fuel: Propane means buying, storing and swapping tanks. Electric means having the right outlet.
4. Repeatability: A controller makes it much easier to log a run and do it again.
5. Portability: Propane goes anywhere a tank goes. Electric goes where the right power is.

A Word on Safety and Common Sense

Dropping the flame doesn't make a still a toy. You're still heating liquid in a closed copper vessel, so stay with it while it runs, keep your workspace clean and ventilated, and use equipment the way it was designed. Electric takes the open burner out of the picture, and that's a big reason people choose it for covered spaces.

What You Can Run Through a Copper Still

Owning a still is legal in the US. Stills are used for distilled water and essential oils, and with a permit, for fuel alcohol. Distilling spirits requires federal permits from the TTB, and you must follow federal, state and local law no matter what you make. Know the rules where you live before you start any run.

Picking an Electric Copper Still

Electric Stills builds handmade American copper stills with elements and controllers already set up. Start with the size that fits your space and your power.

Starting on 110V

The 6 Gallon Advanced Model 110V Electric Moonshine Liquor Still - Complete (from $999) is the simple way in: a complete copper still on household voltage. If you want a few extras, the 6 Gallon Copper Moonshine / Liquor Still with 110v heating element w/ controller Advanced Model (from $1099) adds the EZ Seal Cap and a 4 inch Thumper Port.

Stepping up to 220V

If you have a 220V circuit, the 10 Gallon Advanced Model - Complete 220V Electric Copper Moonshine Still (from $1249) gives you more room to work. Need more than that? There are 15, 20 and 25 gallon Advanced Models with 220V elements and controllers. The 20 Gallon 220V Electric Advanced Model (from $1199) also comes with the EZ Seal Cap and a 4 inch Thumper Port.

Already own a propane still?

You don't have to start over. The 110v & 220v Electric Heating Element W/Controller (from $349) can be added to your order, and there's a dedicated 220v Electric Heating Element W/Controller For Moonshine Stills (from $449). For the measuring side of your experiments, a Hydrometer Set (from $29) and the Copper Proofing Parrot (from $119) help you read what's coming off the condenser.

Talk It Through

Not sure whether your space suits 110V or 220V, or which size makes sense? Call the family shop in New Hampshire at 603-997-6786. Tell them where you plan to set up and what you want to make, and they'll help you match the copper to the job.

The flame got people started. The dial lets you run it like a lab: set your heat, watch the vapor and copper do their work, keep notes and make every run a little better than the last.