How long will a coffee maker last?

QUESTION:

I have a Gevalia drip coffee maker it takes literally 52 minutes to brew the whole pot. I have tried the vinegar cleaning and it takes about 40 minutes now. How long should a good maker last?


ANSWER:

That depends on a lot of factors. The primary factor is probably the hardness of the water in your area.

If you have hard water, and don’t have a water softening system, then the tubes in your coffee maker will clog up much faster.

You can deal with this by descaling your coffee maker on a regular basis. But most of us don’t stick to a descaling schedule very well. And once the build-up is at a certain point, it’s hard to cure the problem. (Like with your Gevalia brewer.)

The life-expectancy of a coffee maker will also depend on how well it was made in the first place. If you buy a cheap model, you can expect it to start having problems within a few months.

But of you pay more, and descale regularly, there is no reason why a coffee maker shouldn’t last for years and years. I have a drip brewer and a Keurig brewer, both of which are still working just fine after almost five years.

If you have a brewer without a pump or tubing, like a French press or a percolator, you can expect them to last indefinitely. A French press will last until you break it. A percolator will last pretty much forever, so long as you replace the rubber gaskets from time to time.

In other words, the simpler the brewer, the longer it will last.

Once you get into drip brewers and single serve brewers, which have pumps and tubing, their life expectancy will depend both on the quality of the machine, and the hardness of your water.