energy efficient coffee maker

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ray fischer

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May 12, 2005
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zelienople
my 15 yr old Mr Coffee 12 cup maker really drops electric when it kicks on. With electric heater on it drops under 108 volts. Does anyone make energy efficient 12 cup programable coffee makers. Camping at sons in S Md in very cold weather, trying to manage heat & power better w/o running extensions from his house other than the 30 amp rv h/u. I should have ran 50 amp, but it was a long run.
 
I will first disclose that drinking coffee is probably the only bad habit I've never had, so this recommendation is not based upon personal experience. :D

Having said that, my wife, son and several coffee drinking friends have all moved to Keurig coffee makers. They brew individual cups so every cup is fresh, and everyone can get whatever taste or caffeinated/decaffeinated they want.
 
Second that! Bought DW a Keurig for the Montana, and it is now sitting on the kitchen counter in the S&B as the primary coffeemaker!
Bingo
 
I will second (third?) the Keurig recommendation! We have one in the house that gets carried to the Montana when we go out! No more wasted coffee -- and it also makes tea, hot chocolate and iced coffee!!
 
It takes a certain amount of BTUs to heat water. You can't get around that. An electric water heater is 100% efficient. The only thing you can do is get a coffee maker with a smaller heater it will pull less amps.
Lynwood
 
I second that the third time, Saeco coffee machine died so we got the Keurig and it seems to use less power too. Costco for about $149.99. However each Cup costs about 40 cents.
 
Ray,
I recommend you get another Mr Coffee for Energy Efficiency, however maybe the four cup. I run an inverter for power at times so I do monitory energy draw very close. The Keurig coffee maker is great for making coffee but it does draw a lot of current to heat the water for the single cup. My Keurig Vue is in the basement of the stick house. I used it last year. I find my Mr Coffee (four cup) takes longer but does not have as hi a current draw. You mentioned getting down to 108 VAC. My EMS kicks out at 104 so you have a little leeway. As stated you need BTUs to heat the water and nothing is free. Therefore, the only electrical energy efficient coffee maker is the stove top peculator.
With 30 AMPs you have to be energy selective at times. There is my input for what it is worth. I hope this helps.
 
I'm looking for a 12 cup pot. We go thru 12 cups ( which is really 4 mugs) upon rising, then run it thru again and dump in a carafe that stays hot & fresh all day. We drink nothing other than coffee & water, so I'd go broke with the Keureg, which, Iagree, makes great coffee.
 
I admit I love my coffee, especially DD dark roast....that said if I do not want to use our Mr. Coffee I have the old standby 10 cup stainless steel camping percolator which I use on the camp fire, grill or gas range. Very energy efficient!
 
Don't know where you'll find a low electric use 12 cup machine. As usual, John is every bit correct. We also can monitor electric use easily and have both machines. The Keureg I use to make hot cocoa (don't buy the cartridges just use it to make the hot water in the cup and Joyce has coffee in the Mr. Coffee. The Keureg doesn't get used much when we are solar only for two reasons. One we try to keep it down to one coffee pot on once per day and two, the Keureg likes to stay on ready to make another cup. You can reprogram it to shut off in two hours instead of staying on all day (the factory setting), but amp hours is what it is all about with solar and even a small wasted draw causes me to freak.
 
We also love the Keurig, have three of them (1 house, 1 Montana, and an older one in reserve). We also would recommend the Keurig.
 
We use the stainless Bunn coffee maker. http://www.amazon.com/BUNN-Velocity...=1391962931&sr=8-6&keywords=bunn+coffee+maker Makes 10 cups in 3 minutes. We have tested the warmer and it uses about 4 to 6 amps when on. It does heat water for the next pot and uses an ungodly amount of amps to heat the next pot of water, about 80 amps, but it doesn't last but about 2 to 3 minutes then shuts off. It uses very little to keep the next pot's water hot.

When boondocking we use this http://www.amazon.com/Coleman-5008C...61778&sr=8-1&keywords=coleman+camp+coffee+pot

We set it on one of these, http://www.amazon.com/GasOne-GS-300...62377&sr=8-10&keywords=gasoline+camping+stove

I brought one of these to deer camp when they first came out and I was the hit of camp. They make a pot of coffee in about the same time as a mister coffee and IMHO it's just as good tasting.
 
As John has suggested for "boondocking", we bought a low tech, stove top, old fashioned perculator coffee pot at Walmart. Took a bit of practice to get the Starbucks brew where I like it! No electric draw, just a little propane.

After John installed my Bogart Trimetric "worry meter" and we were boondoking on AZ BLM land, I watched the meter's amp draw very closely, sometimes in the dark for hours , just to see where my amps were going. Gets addictive! Beats watching the TV!
 
We also have a Keurig single cup coffee maker in the trailer. But I never found one of the prepackaged K cup blends that I liked. So I bought one of the adapter cups where I can use my own coffee. Makes a great cup.
At home we have a single cup Hamilton Beach that also uses regular coffee. Both brew a cup in a very short time.
We don't drink a lot of coffee so the single cup brewers work fine for us.
 
Lost count but Keurig for us too. Haven't used it on the inverter as yet. Anybody have a kill-a-watt or something handy to determine idle and active draw?
 
Tried the Keurig single cup and found it ok but a an expensive way to drink coffee. We have Black & Decker, Mr. Coffee, along with an old electric percolator, and stove top coffee pot. Currently using a 4 cup Farberware with reusable filter in the Monty. Sometimes when pushing for the very best flavor I use a French Press and fresh beans.
 
After figuring out how much we would NOT save with a Kureg because of how expensive the little coffee cups are, as well as not being able to blend our own, we just opted for a ten cup machine for home and another for the Monty. Adrienne and I have two mugs each usually, so little gets wasted.
 
quote:Originally posted by davidaf

Lost count but Keurig for us too. Haven't used it on the inverter as yet. Anybody have a kill-a-watt or something handy to determine idle and active draw?
Click to expand...
I am working off six to eight month old memory. In the heat up stage I remember the Keurig Vue drawing around 250 Amps on 12 volts when powering with the inverter. There could have been 15 to 20 Amps 12v of other current drawer. I believe I saw between 15 and 20 Amp hour drop in the couple of minutes to make one cup of coffee. Again It was a while ago. I also was using the fill your own cup for my Keurig Vue and could not justify the major power draw and bulk storage requirement. I use my own coffee in the Mr Coffee 4 cup now.
Again working off old memor. I hope this helps.
 
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