Before you make an investment in a Keurig coffee maker, or any other brand for that matter, you want to make sure that it has a good lifespan.
Fortunately, I intend to answer that question for you today. In addition to that, I will even provide you with some top tips on how to keep your Keurig coffee maker in pristine condition, and increase its overall lifespan!
So without further ado, here is how you get the most from your Keurig coffee maker.
How Long Does A Keurig Last?
The average lifespan of Keurig machines has been determined at five years. Of course, this does not mean that there aren’t any Keurig machines out there that can last for ten years or longer.
It all depends on how you treat your machine when you own it, something I will elaborate on a little later.
You will also find that when you buy a Keurig coffee maker, it will be accompanied by a mechanical warranty. This means that if there is a mechanical issue under the warranty, you can return it to the manufacturer for free repair or get a replacement.
For most Keurig coffee makers, the mechanical warranty is approximately one year. Please note that warranties on coffee makers can sometimes vary from seller to seller.
If your Keurig coffee maker has a warranty that is shorter than one year, be sure to check why with the supplier. If you aren’t satisfied with their reason, or they do not want to provide you with the full-year warranty, it is best to buy your Keurig coffee maker elsewhere.
Is It OK To Leave Your Keurig On All The Time?
Keurig coffee makers tend to come with an auto-off feature, this means that the coffee maker will shut itself down when you have not used it for a certain amount of time. The manufacturer recommends keeping this feature enabled, even though there is a disable option provided.
The reason why it is advised to keep the auto-off feature enabled is that the coffee maker could become a safety hazard if it is constantly enabled.
In addition to that, it also causes more wear and tear on the heating element of the coffee maker, which in turn could reduce its lifespan. Finally, leaving the auto-off function enabled can also be more energy efficient.
Also read: Best Keurig for College Dorm Rooms
Do Keurig Coffee Makers Get Moldy?
While the average Keurig brewer comes with all the convenient bells and whistles, it is not resistant to mold.
In other words, if you do not maintain your Keurig, then mold could rear its ugly head in your coffee maker.
Fortunately, there is an easy way to prevent such problems, this includes emptying your water reservoir at the end of the day, running a regular cleaning cycle, and simply follow the instructions provided by the manufacturer in the manual.
Also read: How Long Can You Leave Water in a Keurig Reservoir?
Do Keurigs Break Easily?
There are plenty of consumers who complain about their coffee maker breaking down prematurely, and this is the case for a variety of brands out there.
The same applies for the Keurig brewer, whose antics have puzzled a great many coffee drinker. However, I have found that most problems or breakages consumers experience are totally preventable!
One of the most common examples is a clogged machine. Of course, the main contributor here is someone not cleaning their Keurig machine. Or maybe they didn’t maintain their brewer frequently enough?
Of course, there is another big contributor to clogs and problems with the interior mechanics of the Keurig. In fact, the biggest enemy of this coffee machine might as well be hard water!
When there are too many hard minerals in your water, then putting this water straight into the Keurig could be a recipe for disaster. On top of that, it can make your cup of coffee taste a little chalkier than it should.
To avoid problems such as this, you should always use filtered water in your Keurig if you live in a hard water area.
Fortunately, filtering water is easier than ever with the affordable water filters widely available online. And once you own one, you can always have some filtered water ready for your daily brew.
Aside from that, I have never come across any serious problems with the Keurig coffee machine. If anything, mine has run for a considerable time without any problems or hiccups.
To make sure it stays maintained, I usually include my machine with the weekly kitchen clean. That way, I’m sure I cleaned the machine and there is nothing festering on the inside that could cause a problem.
If you should encounter a problem with your machine when it is brand-new, always return it to the manufacturer to get a replacement.
Since you have a mechanical warranty for a year, it would be crazy not to take advantage of this. It also ensures that a fault that could be present in your bought machine does not return later.
Even though rare, a manufacturing fault can occur in even the best products.
How Do You Throw Away A Keurig?
A brewer cannot be put in your general waste or even your recycling, it must be disposed of at a specialized center such as a small appliance recycling center.
That being said, it is technically possible to recycle them, but the effort it would take and the personal hazard towards yourself is a lot more effort than just taking it to a local small appliance center near you.
Keurig is also currently working on making all their Keurig K cups recyclable. While most of this should have happened in 2020, the pandemic did cause a bit of a delay on it.
If you still have the older Keurig K cups, you cannot recycle them whatsoever. If you do have the recyclable K cups, you can throw them in the recycling bin.
How Do I Increase The Lifespan Of My Keurig?
There are a few simple tips I can give you to increase the lifespan of your coffee machine. Of course, some of these take a little bit of effort, but it saves you from investing in a new coffee machine after only three, four years.
Maintenance
I stand by my statement that maintenance is one of the most important things to make your coffee machine last. In fact, my own mother had her coffee machine for twelve years and she only replaced the old one when I bought her a new one for Christmas!
So by the time it was recycled, it was still in perfect working order.
The trick to making our coffee machines last is definitely maintenance. By using filtered water in the water reservoir and regularly cleaning out the interior of the machine, the Keurig can last for a very long time.
I used to clean all my coffee makers (even the reservoir) with some vinegar. And while I believe in the cleaning power of vinegar, it might not be the best for coffee makers. Manufacturers now claim that vinegar could damage the interior of the machine.
Whether that is a sale point or genuine fact, I still haven’t found out. But just to be safe, I have not used vinegar to clean my machine for a while.
Instead, I use a manufacturer recommended cleaner with which I can fill the reservoir and run a maintenance cycle. Afterwards, I also put in some clean water in the reservoir and let it run before brewing anything.
Auto-Off Feature
I see very little reason to turn off the auto-off feature on a Keurig. The manufacturer states that turning off the feature could decrease the lifespan of your machine through wear and tear on the heating element, so I keep this feature in place nonetheless.
Of course, some office and work environments may have this feature turned off, as they might be brewing constantly. If the machine is in an environment where brewing is constant, maintenance becomes even more important.
Unfortunately, coffee machines in workplaces tend to be some of the least maintained appliances worldwide. As a result, the brew you get from one of these machines often tastes horrible as the machine is not clean whatsoever. In most cases, the work brewer is replaced with a new one, which gives a fantastic brew to start with!
However, the problem soon repeats itself and once again work colleagues end up with a bad brew and a broken machine in a matter of months. This once again shows just how important maintaining that coffee maker truly is.
Conclusion
A good coffee machine will not only deliver delicious cups of coffee, it will last you for years to come. Of course, good maintenance practices can increase the lifespan of your coffee machine much!
Being familiar with manufacturer maintenance recommendations and schedules can therefore be really helpful. So, when you find a machine you absolutely love for your daily brews, make sure you give it some TLC!
