Power draw of Nespresso type coffee machine.

[GILow]

Originally Posted by Wotname

...
I suppose that is why Tassie is routinely left off the Aussie maps
...

I remember Sadam's foreign minister, Muhammad Saeed al-Sahhaf, explaining to the press that they were going to give everyone a jolly good thrashing. I noted at the time that the map of the world on the wall behind him didn't have Tasmania on it.

I decided that if the guy turned out to be right, I'd move to Tassie because they'd never find me there.

[chrisr]

really sorry to bring this thread back on track, but :

we have an elcheapo chinese 3000w/6000w PSW inverter (just i know, but let's stay on topic) that will NOT run our little nespresso. 700AH house never less than 95%

all that happens is the nespresso lights start sending morse code and the machine does not heat up. inverter does not alarm

now the inverter paperwork says "DO NOT USE WITH INDUCTION MOTORS" so i'm wondering if anyone knows if a nespresso has an induction motor ? maybe this is the problem ?

(although even if nespresso does have induction, i'm not sure if this is really a problem as the inverter happily runs our washing machine)

cheers,

[GILow]

Originally Posted by chrisr

really sorry to bring this thread back on track, but :

we have an elcheapo chinese 3000w/6000w PSW inverter (just i know, but let's stay on topic) that will NOT run our little nespresso. 700AH house never less than 95%

all that happens is the nespresso lights start sending morse code and the machine does not heat up. inverter does not alarm

now the inverter paperwork says "DO NOT USE WITH INDUCTION MOTORS" so i'm wondering if anyone knows if a nespresso has an induction motor ? maybe this is the problem ?

(although even if nespresso does have induction, i'm not sure if this is really a problem as the inverter happily runs our washing machine)

cheers,

This sounds like classic modified sine wave inverter symptoms to me. Any chance of getting a CRO on it to see what the wave form looks like?

Given that I have seen PWM solar controllers sold as MPPT controllers on Ebay, I take any claim by a no-name manufacturer with an artery hardening amount of salt.

[iEMH]

Originally Posted by dougweibel

I've never used one but your question got me interested enough to track this down:
https://nowpresso.com/pages/tech-specs

It is rechargeable and draws only 56 watts at 12 volts, so that would be 4 2/3 Amps. Charges in 2.5 hours and will make 3 cups on a charge, so if it is just you drinking coffee that probably is OK. Interestingly it also lets you heat the water externally so if you boiled water and started with a thermos of hot water you could make all the coffee you would need for a crowd without recharging.

This is worth a look being rechargeable ac and usb. Would be perfect for a live aboard couple on passage.

[BigAl.NZ]

I put my Amp Meter on my Nespresso. It needs 5A @ 240VAC.(1200W).

The milk frother needs 1.9A (456W)

[GILow]

Originally Posted by BigAl.NZ

I put my Amp Meter on my Nespresso. It needs 5A @ 240VAC.(1200W).

The milk frother needs 1.9A (456W)

Good to see, those numbers correlate almost exactly with readings on my inverter.

[wingssail]

Originally Posted by GILow

Good to see, those numbers correlate almost exactly with readings on my inverter.

Heating or cooling with electricity takes a lot of amps. Most boats have limited battery capacity and 1200 watts for even a few minutes would seem excessive to me (however, those with solar panel "helo landing pads" on the stern obviously are well endowed electrically, so, no problem. And for those on shore power or running gen sets, again, no problem.)

But, if you're trying to cruise on a limited electrical budget then heating the water can be done without electricity on the stove top. We can heat 6 cups of water in the tea pot in the time it takes us to get the dark roasted whole beans out of the freezer and grind them. then a coffee press or a Melita type quickly produces a whole pot.

And while we have had a few interesting quests for whole beans in some places (Sumatra for example!) we don't have to search for nespresso pods in those third world countries or store them or figure out how to discard the used (usually plastic) ones.

So we recommend taking a step back from the disposable society and leave the Nespresso machine home.

[GILow]

Originally Posted by wingssail

Heating or cooling with electricity takes a lot of amps. Most boats have limited battery capacity and 1200 watts for even a few minutes would seem excessive to me (however, those with solar panel "helo landing pads" on the stern obviously are well endowed electrically, so, no problem. And for those on shore power or running gen sets, again, no problem.)

But, if you're trying to cruise on a limited electrical budget then heating the water can be done without electricity on the stove top. We can heat 6 cups of water in the tea pot in the time it takes us to get the dark roasted whole beans out of the freezer and grind them. then a coffee press or a Melita type quickly produces a whole pot.

And while we have had a few interesting quests for whole beans in some places (Sumatra for example!) we don't have to search for nespresso pods in those third world countries or store them or figure out how to discard the used (usually plastic) ones.

So we recommend taking a step back from the disposable society and leave the Nespresso machine home.

Actually, it’s a bit more complicated than that. The energy required for the pod machines is trivial. Instantaneous power is pretty high, but it is only for moments, so provided the battery bank can supply the CURRENT, there’s no great difficulty in powering the machine.

As for disposal of waste, just use the stainless steel pods.

[wingssail]

Originally Posted by GILow

Actually, it’s a bit more complicated than that. The energy required for the pod machines is trivial. Instantaneous power is pretty high, but it is only for moments, so provided the battery bank can supply the CURRENT, there’s no great difficulty in powering the machine.

As for disposal of waste, just use the stainless steel pods.

OK, let's examine that.

It takes roughly 23 watt hours to bring a cup of water to a boil, or 1380 watts for a minute. That's rather high. Let's use 5 minutes: 276 watts at 12 volts = 23 amps. Not bad, only 2 amp hours (for one cup). For two people at 2 cups each, it's still only 8 amp hours. Is my math right?

Alternately, without boring you with the math, it takes about 1/330th of a gallon or .01 milliliter of propane to heat 4 cups of water to a boil.

That is a choice we each get to make to suit our preference.

Now if you use stainless steel pods, which is good from a waste disposal point of view, then you need to either grind the beans or fill the pods with ground coffee. Again, your choice, but I prefer freshly ground coffee. So I grind for 10-15 seconds at 5 amps. Fairly insignificant.

But it all brings up the basic question: If you are filling the pods and boiling the water, what is the advantage of using the Nespresso machine anyhow?

I'd just as soon boil the water in a teapot on my stove and pour the hot water though a Melita filter.

But each to his own.

[newhaul]

Originally Posted by wingssail

OK, let's examine that.

It takes roughly 23 watt hours to bring a cup of water to a boil, or 1380 watts for a minute. That's rather high. Let's use 5 minutes: 276 watts at 12 volts = 23 amps. Not bad, only 2 amp hours (for one cup). For two people at 2 cups each, it's still only 8 amp hours. Is my math right?

Alternately, without boring you with the math, it takes about 1/330th of a gallon or .01 milliliter of propane to heat 4 cups of water to a boil.

That is a choice we each get to make to suit our preference.

Now if you use stainless steel pods, which is good from a waste disposal point of view, then you need to either grind the beans or fill the pods with ground coffee. Again, your choice, but I prefer freshly ground coffee. So I grind for 10-15 seconds at 5 amps. Fairly insignificant.

But it all brings up the basic question: If you are filling the pods and boiling the water, what is the advantage of using the Nespresso machine anyhow?

I'd just as soon boil the water in a teapot on my stove and pour the hot water though a Melita filter.

But each to his own.

Your boat your choice but think of it this way my little 400 watt solar will replace that power in less than 15 minutes. Without having to find propane in some off grid hidden cove.
Alternatively doing the same with an electric kettle .

[wingssail]

Originally Posted by newhaul

Your boat your choice but think of it this way my little 400 watt solar will replace that power in less than 15 minutes. Without having to find propane in some off grid hidden cove.
Alternatively doing the same with an electric kettle .

Not trying to be argumentative but I think it will take you about 15-20 minutes to capture 115 watts from your 400 watt panels, (yep, my math was off a bit ago) and that's for one cup!

And then there is the loss in converting it to AC unless you boil water with straight 12 DC power.

But how do you do all the rest of your cooking?

Shore power in PNW is cheap. It's not bad in Mexico. But off the grid, like at anchor, electricity is not as easy to come by without a significant investment in renewable sources and batteries and other electrical equipment which is a potential source of failure and complexity.

If you have 400 watts that is good. It's nearly 50% more than I have and that might address my electrical needs (except for cooking). To add cooking, I'd need a serious upgrade.

No way do I want to or can afford to convert my boat to fully electric for cooking and water heating. I can get much less expensive BTU's from propane and finding it has not been a problem anywhere in the 35 countries we've visited with our boat.

But like you said, my boat, my choice.

Right now I am pretty happy with my simplicity, self sufficiency, and abundance of energy.

[Dooglas]

Originally Posted by wingssail

Now if you use stainless steel pods, which is good from a waste disposal point of view, then you need to either grind the beans or fill the pods with ground coffee. Again, your choice, but I prefer freshly ground coffee. So I grind for 10-15 seconds at 5 amps. Fairly insignificant.

But it all brings up the basic question: If you are filling the pods and boiling the water, what is the advantage of using the Nespresso machine anyhow?

I'd just as soon boil the water in a teapot on my stove and pour the hot water though a Melita filter.

I agree with you and I'll go you one better. There are several high quality hand grinders available that do an excellent job if you only need coffee for one or two. While we are at it, the Aeropress is also an excellent brewing method which only requires hot water. And, as you say, every boat has to have some practical way of producing boiling water.

https://wiki.ezvid.com/best-hand-coffee-grinders

[weavis]

I actively dislike electrical items that have specialised one use output for cooking.
You have water heating via whatever method you use for all your requirements.
Just need a coffee filter holder and you have coffee.

my opinion.

[CatNewBee]

You can use 2 stones to grind the coffee and rub sticks to start a fire... Or you push a button.

And why filtering the coffee, just let it sit on the bottom.

[s/v Jedi]

Here’s a couple of thoughts:

- Burning propane releases an enormous amount of moisture into the cabin. Not only is this bad for the boat (mold), in the tropics it’s madness.

- If you have an induction cooktop, you can buy the modern version of the old fashioned teakettle that boils water as fast or faster than an electric kettle.

- Moka: there are some very good electric coffeemakers like Zojirushi and Technivorm (who can call their machine the mokamaster) but remember that a real Moka is made with the Bialetti of which a version for induction is available as well

- We will be trying the Zojirushi next season. It is more robust than the Technivorm and we drink too much coffee for a Bialetti (but have one just in case)