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Can a Keurig Be Left on All Day? What You Need to Know!

By: Author Jeff Campbell

Posted on  - Last updated:

Categories Keurig Coffee

My wife and I love our Keurig coffee maker for the convenience. But since we each drink coffee at different times of day, we’ve wondered can a Keurig be left on all day?

A Keurig can be left on all day by turning off the Auto-Off feature. While this increases wear & tear on the heating element, it does not pose a safety hazard. It may also be more energy efficient to leave on rather than repeatedly powering off & on, as the Keurig uses the most power in the start-up phase.

But there’s a more to know about leaving a Keurig on, electricity use, energy savings, and possible fire hazards, so read on!

If you’re looking to buy any small kitchen appliance, don’t forget to check out my Recommended Products Page (click to see my page) which breaks down all my best picks by category.

I always hand select items that I either own, have used, or have researched well to ensure they are great items. I also give not only top of the line as well as inexpensive alternatives so my choices work for any budget.

Can you leave a Keurig on all day?

The short answer is yes.

You can leave a Keurig on all day, using relatively little electricity (more on that below). That being said, I personally wouldn’t leave it on for hours if no one is making coffee because it’s so quick to heat up when you first turn it on.

I get up most mornings between 4 am and 4:30am to work on my blogs. You can bet I like to have a cup of coffee to jumpstart my brain that early.

So I turn on our Keurig and make a cup.

Personally, I don’t like the environmental impact of disposable K-cups, so my wife and I buy Refillable K-Cups (click to see my favorite one on Amazon). That way we can fill them with any coffee we like and just toss ’em in the dishwasher once or twice a week to keep them clean.

We have several on hand so we never have to wash one before we brew (waiting for coffee = cranky parents).

My wife, on the other hand, often doesn’t wake up until 7 or 8 am. So while we don’t leave our Keurig on all day, I do leave it on after my first cup, until we’ve both had our normal 2 days, which is usually around 9 am.

So ours is on a total of about 4.5 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Of course, leaving it on also engages the heating element inside the unit and if left on for hours a day, multiple days a week, you are potentially shortening the lifespan of your Keurig.

That being said, if you do want to leave it on all day, there isn’t really a safety concern associated with that. You will need to disable the auto-off function (see my chart below to see how your model does that), as all Keurig models automatically turn off after 2 hours.

How much electricity does a Keurig use if left on?

In terms of power usage, a Keurig uses, by far, the most electricity when you first hit the power button. Just maintaining the unit throughout the day uses relatively little power.

As an example, turning it on once, and leaving it on for 4 hours might use about 5,440 watts. By comparison, if you turned it off after each cup, and then turned it back on again, over the course of brewing 8 cups of coffee, you would use 10,400 watts of electricity.

The initial power usage is 1500 watts every time you turn it on after it has been off. This stage lasts about 3 minutes.

If you do choose to leave your Keurig on, just know that aside from the water reservoir you fill up, there is also an internal tank too. The Keurig will automatically keep the water in the internal tank heated to make future brews faster.

Keeping the internal water tank warm uses between 200-400 watts of electricity. But like your home AC unit, it only comes on when the water temp dips below a certain temperature. So that electricity use isn’t constant.

When it’s just sitting idle, in between water-heating cycles, the Keurig uses about 60 watts of electricity just sitting turned on.

If you love hot coffee as much as I do, also make sure and check out my article on What Coffee Maker Makes the Hottest Coffee? (click to read on my site).

I break down all the best brands (including how Keurig stacks up) for delivering the hottest coffee as well as what the experts say is the perfect temp for both brewing AND serving.

How do I disable the Auto Off feature on my Keurig?

All Keurig coffee makers come with an Energy Savings Mode Auto Off function. So they automatically shut off after 2 hours when not in use.

You can disable the auto-off function, but as every Keurig does this a little differently, refer to this handy chart to see how the most common Keurig models do it:

KEURIG COFFEE MAKER MODEL HOW TO DISABLE AUTO-OFF FEATURE
Keurig B-77 Press the MENU button 2 times until you see the “AUTO OFF” MENU displayed. Then press and release the blue “left” button underneath where you see the blinking “H”. This will allow you to move forward 1 hour at a time until you get to “OFF”.
Keurig K-Select Turn your Keurig off while plugged in. Then press and hold both the “strong” button and the “10oz. Large Mug” buttons for 3 seconds. You will see that the green “Auto Off” light turns off. Turn your Keurig back on. The auto-off light will stay off.
Keurig K-Cafe Turn your Keurig off while plugged in. Then press and hold both the “strong” button and the “10oz.” buttons for 3 seconds. You will see that the green “Auto Off” light turns off. Turn your Keurig back on. The auto-off light will stay off.
Keurig K-Classic (also known as the K55 or the K50) IF the green auto-off light is on, simply press the black Auto-Off button
Keurig K-75 Press the MENU button repeatedly until you come to the “set ON time” and set “OFF time” options. This unit can be timed to come on at set times too. When at the “OFF” setting, use the left arrow to tab through the hours’ settings until you get to “OFF”.

Should you leave a Keurig plugged in?

Ultimately, almost all of us leave our most-used applianced plugged in at all times. My coffee maker, my toaster oven, my juicer, and my air fryer are all plugged in at all times.

Do appliances that are turned off use small amounts of electricity?

Yes, is the short answer. They do.

Anything that can be plugged in will use some energy even when off; cell phone chargers being among the biggest energy hogs. Even if you don’t have your cell phone charging, your charger, if plugged in, is still using energy.

How much energy do things use when not turned on?

Not a lot, honestly. In most cases, you might save $20-30 bucks over the course of a year if you ran around the house like a madman unplugging TVs, computers, sound systems, and small kitchen appliances.

But if you want to be mindful, without being manic, unplug anything with a transformer (a box where the plug comes out of). Those use the most energy when plugged in, and are among the least energy efficient things in your house.

Beyond energy use, the only other concern would be the risk of fire. More on that below. However, one of the biggest frustrations Keurig owners have is with the descale light.

The dreaded Descale light always seems to come on right before we’ve had our morning coffee, making us wait. But then sometimes, going through the descaling cycle, the Keurig Descale Doesn’t Work (click to read my article on what to do). Very frustrating!

If you’ve ever been in that boat, do take a moment to review my best tips on what to do!

Can a Keurig catch on fire?

The short answer is that while it’s possible, it’s HIGHLY unlikely.

Electronic items really only pose a fire hazard if the wall outlet is old or broken, if the home has old, outdated wiring, or if the cord from the appliance is old, worn, frayed, or otherwise obviously needs replacing.

That being said, coffee makers do have a heating element in them, so can they really catch fire? There are a few reports floating around online, but not a lot of actual proof or evidence.

It’s also worth noting that there are no entries in the website Snopes (which prove or debunk urban legends) regarding Keurig coffee makes and fires.

Keurig themselves says the following with regards to safety concerns over over-heating or fires:

“At Keurig, the safety and satisfaction of our consumers is our top priority. Keurig brewers are manufactured to include thermal protection mechanisms, among a number of safety features. These thermal sensors are designed to cut power to the brewer in the event of a malfunction.”

IF however, a Keurig model has been issued a recall, you’ll want to act on that if your model is affected.

After all, while the recall might not have anything to do with overheating or catching on fire, a defective model is defective. AND who knows what a defective model might do.

Currently, there is only 1 Keurig model with an active recall (Keurig Mini-Brewer Plus), but that could change in the future.

To check for updates, just scroll to the bottom of the Keurig Support Page and click where it says “Product recall”.

Final Thoughts

In this article, we took a quick look at the Keurig coffee maker.

We examined the pros and cons of leaving it on or turning it off between uses. Of course, any appliance that gets left on for an extended period of time uses more power. But we looked at energy usage and whether it was a fire hazard too.

Ultimately we answered the question “can a Keurig be left on all day?” with a resounding yes.

What’s your favorite coffee maker?

Check out all my coffee product recommendations (click to see my list) with additional features and direct links to Amazon for easy purchase.

I always hand select items that I either own, have used, or have researched well to ensure they are great items. I also give not only top of the line as well as inexpensive alternatives so my choices work for any budget.

Photo credits:

Day 129: Easy (Red Keurig pic) by Keith McDuffee is licensed under CC2.0

As an Amazon Associate I may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases if you click to Amazon from my site and choose to make a purchase. You can read my complete affiliate disclosure for more details.

Jeff Campbell
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Amber

Monday 25th of May 2020

Great and thorough article! Thanks.

Jeff Campbell

Tuesday 26th of May 2020

Thank you, Amber! I appreciate your taking the time to read it and comment.

Jeff

Tom

Friday 11th of October 2019

If we left on vacation for a week and forgot to turn off our Keurig, but the on-off feature was enabled, would the water have evaporated in the heating reservoir in that amount of time?

Jeff Campbell

Saturday 12th of October 2019

Hi Tom

Great question! In short, no, if the unit shut itself off automatically (after 2 hours on most models), the water in the reservoir should not evaporate by any significant amount.

I hope that helps and hope you had a great vacation!

Cheers, Jeff