Unique Hot Water Idea

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NagathaChristie

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Was not sure if I should have put this under cooking or hygiene.

An elderly man living out of his van was parked at the park today. Very friendly sort but did not want his rig photographed.

He uses a 100 cup commercial coffee urn (sorta like the one I included in this post) to make hot water for "washin' up" and for tea as well as cooking.

Any thoughts on this? I found it to be clever.
 

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I use what I call the "hot pot"--an insulated coffee holder like you'd see at a convenience store, where the brewing mechanism drips coffee into the pot. I found it at a resale place, encrusted with baked-on coffee, filthy. An hour of scrubbing and it was as good as new.

I fill it with boiling water, topping off as necessary. Works out very well for rinsing dishes and making some washing-up water at bedtime. It does lose a few degrees every hour, so it isn't the best for making instant coffee or cocoa.

I'm downsizing my camping gear, so the pot will probably be going away, replaced by an insulated growler or an air pot or something else that holds about a half gallon instead of 2.5 gallons.
 
Where does he get the power for the urn? I have seen gas powered commercial coffee urns. They were common through the 1950-60's. Might be some around.
 
Electric heating of any kind uses a lot of electricity. This is fine if you are plugged into an outlet. Boondocking, not so much. A propane stove and a good vacuum thermos will use less energy and will be easier to do in the Boonies.
 
I've been doing it for years, I started to use a commercial coffee pot when I lived on my boat. It's faster than a 5gal. Tank and Even with solar it's less draw than an on demand heater. Plus you can make coffee, heat water for oatmeal...etc. it's one of those muti purpose items you keep finding new things to do with.
The main thing I love about them is you can scrub up and usually there's enough water left over for that first cup of coffee to get the day started. No better way to get ready for the day.

Sent from my Z981 using Tapatalk
 
That might be a lot of water even for washing, considering you can't really bathe in boiling water and will have to mix it into a fair quantity of regular water first. Which is great and all, but I wonder if that much hot water all at once is really necessary?

If it's bathing you're thinking of, and you have the patience, I'm finding a black 5-gallon bucket and lid from Home Depot heats up well enough for a very comfortable shower/bathing situation when left out in the direct sun for a few hours.
 
You don't have to heat a whole pot, I usually just heat up two or three quarts at a time. And the rest is mixed with at temperature water. Around five quarts total for a nice warm shower.

Sent from my Z981 using Tapatalk
 
I normally don't even turn the heater on,just leave it on pilot and have plenty of hot water.
 
The on demand heaters can be set at pilot and still have some hot water in the tank.

Sent from my Z981 using Tapatalk
 

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