Coffee makers. We all have them, and many of us use them daily. These handy gadgets quietly use a surprising amount of energy, drawing 900 to 1200 Watts while making the coffee, and 100-200W while keeping the coffee warm. Many households and businesses run these machines for hours at a time to keep coffee ready to go. Imagine leaving a room full of lights on: your coffee maker warmer uses about the same power! And remember: the biggest contribution we make to smog and global warming is through our electricity usage.
The simple solution: Once the coffee is ready, pour it into a thermal carafe and turn the machine off. If you need a new coffee maker, some manufacturers such as Sunbeam have models that include a thermal carafe instead of a coffee pot, and the coffee maker turns off automatically once the coffee is brewed.
The Cost: $10-20 for a thermal carafe, or $55 for the coffee maker.
The Payback: You will save about $5- $10 per year.
The Bonus: Better tasting coffee that hasn’t been simmering for hours.
The Environmental Bonus: If one of every 10 households and businesses in Caledon used a thermal carafe instead of simmering their coffee, we would save enough power to run 10-12 households, and prevent 117 tonnes of Carbon Dioxide emissions, as well as significant Sulphur Dioxide, Nitrogen Oxide and Mercury pollution.
What if you’re a tea drinker? If you want to make only one small cup of tea, the most efficient way is to use a small electric kettle. If you don’t have one, put your cup in the microwave for several minutes to boil the water. If you have to boil more than 1 cup of water, it’s more than twice as efficient to use an electric kettle – even a full-sized one. If your kettle is the type that boils water on a stove burner, you are farther ahead to use the microwave, even for several cups of water.
Dr. Richard Ehrlich