Rims vs. Herms

This was a big decision when it came to my project; rims or herms? There are many different types of home brew mashing setups but the two most common are HERMS (Heat Exchange Re-circulating Mash System) and Rims (re-circulation infusion mash system). Both systems re-circulate the mash from the bottom to the top of the mash tun. the difference lies in the way the mash is heated to the desired temperature.  A HERMS system pumps the mash through a heat exchange (HEX) coil submersed in water in a hot liquor tun (HLT) heated by either an electric hot water heater coil or directly fired by a gas burner.  Whereas a RIMS system pumps the mash directly across a heating element contained in a section of pipe.  There are endless debates over the pros and cons of each, however I have chosen to go with a HERMS method mainly for the advantage of being able to use the water in the HTL as my sparge water when rinsing my grains.