Thursday, June 16, 2011

The Cost of Using Your Coffee Maker

According to the propaganda, I mean newsletter from the local electricity company, the average annual cost of using your coffee maker is $80. Too bad it doesn’t say if the cost was figured from just brewing, or how long the warming burner was on. Since a lot of coffee makers have a two hour auto shut off, maybe that time was factored into the cost. I drink a lot of coffee, especially when the weather is cold, so my coffee maker gets a workout. In an effort to get a more accurate read on my coffee maker, I went to Mr. Electricity - http://michaelbluejay.com/electricity/howmuch.html

He has a nifty table that you can plug in your own numbers, electric rate and hours to get your 'real' numbers.  Holy Mama!!  My coffee maker annual cost is almost $200 a year for the amount of time that I usually have it on. $16.44 a month.  Wow.  Can't be.  Now I'm sure that there's more power consumed during the brew stage, but hey, I want coffee without having to build a fire outside.  I originally set the energy calculator for 5 hours daily usage, but like I said, I'm sure the 900 watts (which is the most it will use) is for the brew cycle and nothing is mentioned for the warming element.  BUT, by setting the calculator to just 5 minutes (brew time only), it brings my monthly cost down to $0.28.   I'm not sure that's right, either.


According to the smart people at http://www.nppd.com/My_Home/Product_Brochures/Additional_Files/electric_usage.asp , using the brew cycle on my coffee maker once a day is costing me $1.17 a month.  My electric rates are higher than their list, so I busted out the calculator.  But this sounds reasonable.

I bought a Thermos brand carafe for $13 and pour the freshly brewed coffee into that.  The coffee maker gets clicked off right away.  Besides less electricity used, my coffee maker may last longer and the best thing is better tasting coffee later.  Worth every cent and short payback period.

*Note - this brand does not hold an entire pot like my previous Wal-Mart el cheapo carafe that I hated.  It was a battle to get the lid screwed on correctly every time I used it.  I was glad when it bit the dust.  The new Thermos brand carafe is definitely better.