Utility budget for coffee?

[HeadedToTexas]

Coffee has always been an important part of our mornings and it continues to be so aboard. We cook on gas at home, but Escape has an all electric galley. At home we brew coffee with an electric drip maker into a thermal carafe. Similar set up aboard where the drip maker is rated for 900 watts. No problem for our 3000 watt Xantrex inverter, but I am always looking to trim energy usage.

The coffee maker takes 15 minutes to drip through an entire pot from which we pour into insulated mugs. A 900 watt load on our inverter will conservatively consume 1000 watts of battery, so 1000 watts ÷ 12 VDC x 0.25 hours equals 21 amp hours from our 600 amp hour AGM house bank. Given the priority we place on coffee, that feels like a bargain. Are you guys in the same ballpark?

 

[Bmarler]

I use a keurig type on the boat. It takes about 5 ah per cycle as measured on my battery monitor. I typically drink 4 cups a day, wife has 2. So I guess we’re around 30 ah per day just for coffee.

 

[mvweebles]

Electric drip coffee makers are pretty convenient. We simply do not have space, plus our coffee habits might be a bit unique. I am an incredibly early riser and ready for a cup o' Joe at 4am. Cheryll is content to burn daylight well into the midday hours (7am!!!). We each have just a single cup of strong coffee. A few years ago, we went to an Aeropress . Invented by the same guy who invented the Frisbee, the Aeropress is essentially a single-serve French Press device. I built a storage rack for ours that includes the electric tea kettle to heat water. I see they now make a jumbo size that presumably would make enough for two cups of strong coffee.

If you're open to some sort of manual pour-over coffee such as a Melita style coffee maker (example HERE), going with an electric tea kettle (beautiful example HERE, though we went with a smaller 750W unit HERE), will speed-up your water heating process and likely reduce total consumed watts. And frankly, you'll likely make a better cup of coffee.

Another option for pour-over with tea kettle would be a French Press. This one HERE is a vacuum insulated carafe which would keep it hot for a long time and a great option. Many coffee snobs consider French Press method to be the best for full flavored strong coffee.

Attached pic shows our "Coffee Center" on Weebles. Aeropress, filters, and measuring spoon on top rack next to porthole. Tea kettle, sugar, and coffee on lower rack.

Peter

EDIT - we used Kuerig coffee makers, but since the pods are not available in Mexico and they take up a ton of room, quickly nixed from our galley.

 

[HeadedToTexas]

Love the coffee shelf! I can see that on our boat and that's really where I am going. The drip maker is easy, but bulky. We tend to rise at the same time, so making both cups at once is not a problem for us. We do have a thermal French press that makes great coffee. We also have a small electric water pot that is really fast, but because it pulls 1100 watts. Pretty close as far as energy goes, unless someone gets lazy shutting off the drip carafe heater...

 

[rslifkin]

15 minutes for a pot sounds too slow for good quality coffee, so you may want to try cleaning the coffee maker and making sure it's all working properly. If you can get it working faster, you should get better coffee and with less power.

Currently we've got a single cup drip machine aboard. Draws something like 430w and will use about 50wh (4ah at 12v) to make a 16 ounce cup of coffee. I consider it pretty efficient and pretty small relative to the rest of the power budget.

 

[mvweebles]

We had an older Keurig that pulled well over 1500w when brewing; plus in standby in continues to be an energy hog. For energy conservation, it's at the bottom of my list (though it is definitely convenient).

When I was delivering, I carried a Frieling double-walled French Press with me because so few boats had decent coffee aboard. A few years ago I looked for a vacuum-insulated French Press however none were made then - they are now (the Stanley one I linked looks like a winner, especially with nostalgic pebble-green finish).

The small 750W electric tea kettle has been great. It takes a bit longer to heat than our at-home model, but is super compact and doesn't interfere with other energy demands (we have a 3000W Magnum PSW inverter). I suppose it will hold 24-ounces of water to heat in about 4-minutes or so at 1Ah/min for a total of 4-5 Ah total. I'll try to remember to time it tomorrow.

Our boat is so small that space-management is key. Before leaving for Mexico, I spent a few weeks making spice racks, knife rack, coffee center, rack for ziplock bags, etc. Made a big difference in liveability for us.

Peter

 

[rslifkin]

Our boat is so small that space-management is key. Before leaving for Mexico, I spent a few weeks making spice racks, knife rack, coffee center, rack for ziplock bags, etc. Made a big difference in liveability for us.

We have a similar issue, there isn't unlimited space in the galley and there's nowhere we can secure a coffee maker to leave it out all the time where it's not in the way. So whatever we may upgrade to still needs to have a space in a cabinet when it's not in use. And I'd probably want something with an insulated carafe to avoid wasting power keeping coffee warm and to avoid having any unnecessary glass on board.

 

[HeadedToTexas]

15 minutes for a pot sounds too slow for good quality coffee...

It's a cheapo Mr. Coffee. The actual percolation of the water takes maybe 5 minutes, but the basket and filter takes another 10 minutes to stop dripping. The difference between the Mr. Coffee basket and the Technivorm basket at home is how the filter paper "seals" against the basket. It's definitely sub-optimal.

Perhaps this is me rationalizing an improvement in our onboard coffee routine?

 

[rslifkin]

It's a cheapo Mr. Coffee. The actual percolation of the water takes maybe 5 minutes, but the basket and filter takes another 10 minutes to stop dripping. The difference between the Mr. Coffee basket and the Technivorm basket at home is how the filter paper "seals" against the basket. It's definitely sub-optimal.

Perhaps this is me rationalizing an improvement in our onboard coffee routine?

In that case it shouldn't be drawing full power after the 5 minute mark, just cycling for a few seconds at a time to keep everything hot (unless you turn it off while the dripping finishes). So power use is likely lower than you calculated. But I agree, this sounds like a good excuse for an upgrade...

 

[HeadedToTexas]

Very good point. I have a Kill-a-watt and will measure the draw throughout the next brew cycle. For better or worse, that is several months away here in Ohio.

 

[Bmarler]

Yeah, I love my coffee. The keurig is a compromise. It’s super easy. I used to use one of these: https://www.temu.com/ul/kuiper/un9....wU31KtoRRaONSubuV8kwe2wCXveSnEXxoC4QIQAvD_BwE
But I got tired of dealing with the grounds. Excellent flavor though. No amp hours on my gas cooktop.

 

[HeadedToTexas]

I looked hard at adding gas for cooking. We have a small gas grill that uses green fuel cans. A small one burner hob could make a lot of coffee from one of those green cans. In the end, it just wasn't worth the effort with everything else depending on electricity on a boat not built for gas.

 

[Pete Meisinger]

My electric drip coffee maker is slow and it causes static on my radio but makes good coffee so I use it on a regular basis whenever power is available.

If no power is available I use an old perculator on the gas stove.

pete

 

[Bmarler]

I looked hard at adding gas for cooking. We have a small gas grill that uses green fuel cans. A small one burner hob could make a lot of coffee from one of those green cans. In the end, it just wasn't worth the effort with everything else depending on electricity on a boat not built for gas.

I get it. There’s a lot of all electric boats out there. I’ve always been a gas person, love the speed of a gas cooktop. For a while I went with an old percolator on the cooktop, but the coffee was just awful. I had to use flavored creamer just to get it down. The Moka pot was a big upgrade in flavor, but a drag with the grounds.

 

[mvweebles]

I looked hard at adding gas for cooking. We have a small gas grill that uses green fuel cans. A small one burner hob could make a lot of coffee from one of those green cans. In the end, it just wasn't worth the effort with everything else depending on electricity on a boat not built for gas.

We've had Weebles for over 25 years. One of my first upgrades was to replace the stove so it's now 25 years old (princess gas). Excess heat of gas is a PITA and small burners on Marine/RV ranges are slow to heat, especially compared to induction. Plan is to replace with a 2-hobb induction stove top and replace the oven with a combo microwave/convection oven for the rare instances we bake. Oven may require running generator of course when anchored (batteries/solar would support stove top. alternator would keep up with oven when underway). But speed of induction and greatly reduced excess heat is well worth the tradeoff.

In my opinion, induction is the wonder method for cooking.

Peter.

 

[rslifkin]

We've had Weebles for over 25 years. One of my first upgrades was to replace the stove so it's now 25 years old (princess gas). Excess heat of gas is a PITA and small burners on Marine/RV ranges are slow to heat, especially compared to induction. Plan is to replace with a 2-hobb induction stove top and replace the oven with a combo microwave/convection oven for the rare instances we bake. Oven may require running generator of course when anchored (batteries/solar would support stove top. alternator would keep up with oven when underway). But speed of induction and greatly reduced excess heat is well worth the tradeoff.

In my opinion, induction is the wonder method for cooking.

Peter.

On top of all of that, even if you need some generator runtime for cooking, you now need one less fuel type. So excluding gas for the dinghy, fuel is fuel regardless of what it gets used for, there's no more separate propulsion vs cooking fuel. And you can free up the space previously used by the propane locker.

 

[av8r]

Our little 4-cup Mr. Coffee uses 6 ah per cycle, we use it 4 times a day for a budget of 24 ah. Depending on cloud cover and solar output we may use the propane stove and a Melitta drip maker but convenience usually wins.

 

[HeadedToTexas]

Our little 4-cup Mr. Coffee uses 6 ah per cycle, we use it 4 times a day for a budget of 24 ah.

Now THAT's a coffee budget! Very nice.

In my opinion, induction is the wonder method for cooking.

Me too. Our old electric cooktop is slow and hot and cracked. Replacing it with an induction unit is quickly rising on the projects list. Have you tried the perforated steel mesh "toaster?" I am hoping it will replace a traditional toaster as that thing takes up way too much room.

 

[DDW]

Small manual espresso machine. Takes 8 AH to pull the shots and steam the milk for two large lattes.

On toasters, it's too bad LG quit making the combo microwave/toaster. I have one in the sailboat and managed to find another on Craigslist for the trawler. Also in that picture is one of several different types of stovetop espresso machines I own. The best of those is the Il Sorrentino "Atomic Coffee Maker" (not pictured).

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[HeadedToTexas]

Whoa, love that combo microwave toaster. Very nice.

 

[rslifkin]

For the toaster thing, we just keep a regular 2 slice toaster stowed in one of the galley cabinets to pull out when we want to use it. We don't use it all that much, so having it stowed most of the time isn't a big inconvenience.

 

[PierreR]

My old boat was the ultimate in ridiculous, in-your-face huge coffee budget. We had a drip 10 cup maker and when it would click on, the power draw would cut the boat speed a half knot if nothing was adjusted. You read that right.
I built my boat. I was 26', 8,500 lb full round bottom displacement trawler powered by an 18hp Sabb H2 with CCP. The Sabb was equipped with a 150 amp alternator that could suck as much as 36% of the total motor output if it was drawing full. At hull speed, the boat would use 45% of the available output burning 0.45 gph at a hull speed of 6 knots.
With paravanes down the speed was also cut by a half knot. Adjusting power brought the speed back up to 6 knot burning 0.6 gph for an 0.15 gph increase, the same as the coffee pot. That's right, a whopping 30% increase in fuel burn and a drop in miles per gallon from 15.5 down to 11.5. That is some serious coffee. That coffee pot was double the AC draw.
All said tongue in cheek because I now have a pair of Detroit's that waste more fuel than my other boat burned.

 

[GoneFarrell]

Bialetti Moka Express in my galley. Simple, economical. No filters to toss.

 

[O C Diver]

I have a Nespresso machine on the boat (actually 2, redundancy on critical equipment). The home unit is a little more elegant than the boat units.



Warm up and delivery is under 2 minutes. But then I usually do 2 or 3 Amercanos per morning.

Ted

 

[Marco Flamingo]

Next to our perforated steel toaster, shown above, is our induction espresso pot. It is a four cup espresso pot, which means it makes two cups of coffee Americano. Get it ready (usually the night before) and then just press level 2 for 5 minutes in the morning and, boom pow, coffee's ready. I haven't checked amp hour usage yet because after two cups we are ready to travel.

 

[HeadedToTexas]

Next to our perforated steel toaster, shown above, is our induction espresso pot. It is a four cup espresso pot, which means it makes two cups of coffee Americano. Get it ready (usually the night before) and then just press level 2 for 5 minutes in the morning and, boom pow, coffee's ready. I haven't checked amp hour usage yet because after two cups we are ready to travel.

Sorry Marco, I couldn't remember where I found that steel induction toaster. Such a great idea. I know this is a coffee budget thread, but could you please run through your toasting routine with that perforated steel grid?

 

[BruceK]

I have an original version of this stovetop model by Atomic at home, long replaced by espresso machines, might give it an overhaul, they sell for up to $1000 now and parts are even available.

 

[pjtemplin]

We've been enjoying a Cuisinart grind-and-brew coffee maker for over a decade. Load it up with beans and water the night before, clean the metal mesh filter, and stick the pot in position. Hit the start button or use its built-in timer when ready, and about five minutes later it beeps to say that coffee is ready. Fair warning: the grinder is loud and spins up to quite the RPM as it progresses through the grind process - the first few times you'll jump, especially if it's on the self-timer.


Can't say it's easy on the "utility budget", but it makes a nice cup of coffee and is done in five minutes.

 

[Serene]

I too have a Nespresso machine on the boat, but without an inverter at this stage can only use it when the genset is running. So, it only gets used once a day.

Otherwise it is boil the kettle on the gas stove and use instant coffee. Not the best outcome, but better than nothing.

Have looked at Moka pots and am tempted to give one a go, but otherwise use a French Press.

 

[Iggy]

Yes!! Coffee every morning. My wife even bought a pack of 20 of those non-refrigerated creamers to have on board. Just in case the milk runs out!