I would go with as much power as you can afford. That being said, a 30A circuit can run two 5000 Watt elements with ease. Running three would be an issue. So, if you have two 5000 watt elements and want to run them at the same tiime without fear of a meltdown, get the 50A wiring and circuit...
The thing about conicals is the fact you can get the dead yeast off the trub and avoid off-flavors dead yeast can give. A SS conical will last a lifetime unless you purposely drop it. If I were to recommend ONE single item in a brewery, it would be an SS conical. Nothing else compares to the...
A full Freezer or Fridge will always stay colder longer because the contents act as storage for cold. This is especially true with liquids. Once a liquid gets cold, it will stay cold for quite a long time.
I think you should set a larger differential on your Thermostat. Set it to 3 because...
I think you mean "steep", right? I don't see how you could steep the Biscuit, so I suggest doing a partial mash. Get 3 lbs of DME light or Muttons Light Dry Malt for the base.
Then partial mash all the other grains. If you are unable to partial mash, then I wouldn't recommend this...
Panicbutton is a good handle for you! LOL!
As I was reading these things, I realized that you may be over-correcting. It may seem that you are doing the same thing, but in reality you aren't.
(One thing I did want to mention is that you can oversparge. This leads to extracting too...
It is possible to get a slight increase in temps if the lid is on because the steam creates some pressure. That could cause a rise of 1-2 degrees on the surface of the mash.