is it worth it? recirculating

[paulg]

after doing my first BIAB brew using a pump and recirculating during mash and boil(I usually brew 3 vessel herms) I am wondering what is the general opinion from seasoned BIAB ers is it worth recirculating and is ther any point in buying a thermo pot (other than shinyness) compared with an insulated stock pot.
I have a 70 litre pot i am thinking of fitting an element to and getting a bag for or do I wait and buy a 70 litre thermopot and convert that
comments please
Paul
ps I got an end of boil efficiency of 80 odd percent and brewhouse efficiency of 74 % so was very pleased having read some peoples reports of reduced effiencies .I did a full batch no sparge brew of 23 litres in to the fermenter using my 40 litre buffalo urn

[Cpt.Frederickson]

I've never tried recirculating, and I've consistently had figures over 80% with my current setup, even if my process hasn't gone entirely as planned.
I guess the reason many of us BIAB is because it is great at reducing all the faff and effort that you get with 3v. I also use a Buffalo and the ease of brewing in this manner is really what its all about.
Glad your brew day went well, maybe think about stripping back on some of the practices you've brought over from your 3v experience and see how it works out?

[jonnyt]

Using BIAB I never got efficiency above 65% it was almost always 65%.

I modified my system to recirculate via a Solar Projects Pump and a home made heat exchanger to reheat to mash temp using a PID. i.e. Herms.

Four Herms brews have all yielded 70% efficiency. So a 5% change.

[vacant]

So a 5% change.

That's a useful number to know. If the grain bill is a fiver, the extra process saves 25p per brew.

[jonnyt]

Of course the other thing with BIAB herms is I can do step mashes (not done any yet) and just up the PIDs temperature for mashout.
No burning of the bag on Heat Elements etc.