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Old 11-19-09, 09:23 AM   #22
AC_Hacker
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Default Coffee Maker Eco-Hack...

Quote:
Originally Posted by Southcross View Post
I wonder... could it be possible to hack a coffee maker in a similar fashion? a "normal" coffee maker can consume 900-1000w while its in initial warmup (then levels off to an average of about 150-200w between heating element on and off time). Also, insulating a glass carafe would be interesting.
My thinking when I did the hack was that if I could prevent heat from radiating away, that I could reduce the amount of energy needed to cook the rice.

The rice cooker is already designed with a heating element of the properr wattage that will provide a medium simmer. The simmer will continue until enough water has been boiled off that it will no longer limit the temperature in the pot to 212 degrees. Then, when the temperature rises, te power is cut. So there is a time-temperature limit built into the design.

I figured if I insulated the pot well, it would retain heat and I could reduce the power by half with a diode, the 212 temperature level would still be reached and cooking would happen with a lower power. It worled out that way, but the cooking time takes a bit longer.

It will be interesting to see what you come up with regarding your coffee pot hack.

BTW, I think that thermally insulated carafs are already included in some coffee makers.

Regards,

-AC_Hacker

Last edited by AC_Hacker; 11-19-09 at 09:27 AM..
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