Addis Thermo Pot Instant Thermal Hot Water Boiler Dispenser, 5 Litre, Stainless Steel/Black

PROS:1) Hot water virtually on tap2) Energy efficiency3) Large capacity4) Quality build5) Ease of use6) No large emission of steam when it boils.CONS:1) Forgetting to fill means you have to wait 40-50mins for a "cuppa"2) Forces you into regular cleaning (by guilt rather than by design)3) Large (as expected) space requiredI was originally looking at a one cup kettle/dispenser which seemed like the answer to my energy efficiency and time efficiency requirements. However, when you realise that a lot of the one shot/cup kettles run on 2 to 3kWh you realise what a lot of energy that is to boil one cup. (Yes, I realise that's the energy per hour, before anyone comments!) This Addis Thermo Pot uses only 680W to boil 5 litres of water and 2W per hour to keep it warm. Thus it's significantl;y more energy efficient. Against a traditional kettle it is more expensive (dependent on kettle) however, against a one cup kettle/dispenser it's fractionally more expensive.I get up at stupid o'clock to commute to London and I often take a flask of coffee. Before this thermo pot I would have to go downstairs and boil it, and after ablutions, have to reboil and make the coffee. Of course at 0400hrs in the morning all noises are amplified, so even though we have a stone cottage, a click of the kettle switch and the boiling of it often sound like the World's coming to an end. The Thermo Pot means that I only make one trip downstairs and the coffee is made in a much quieter and efficient way.I have 4 older kids who turn up with boyfriends/girlfriends and by the time we have my mum and others we can easily have 12 or 13 people wanting a hot drink. That means we need around 4 - 4.5 litres of boiling water. That would mean boiling a normal kettle (1.7L) 3 times to serve everyone at the same time. Since we got this, we all sit round the kitchen table with our drinks at the same time.....brilliant!So what are the downsides? If you don't have a lot of space or sufficient kitchen surface area this is rather large, though the footprint is not much more than a normal kettle. It is however, considerably taller, though it probably will fit beneath a cupboard (I've not tried). The next problem is that if you forget to fill it, and I do try to remember to fill up before I go to bed, it can take between 40-50mins for it to boil. Then the other problem is that you are guilt tripped into cleaning it around once a month. This is time consuming and puts your Thermo Pot out of action for around 2hours. It involves adding citric acid to cold water and boiling it in the Thermo Pot, then running the whole pot empty. Then you have to refill and reboil and empty half of the water to flush the remains of any citric acid. By the time you've topped up the 50% you've spent 2 hours of your life cleaning. If you let it fur up, the efficiency will be reduced and there's potential for the dispensing spout to clog up. Having mentioned dispensing, there's two ways to do this. One, is using an electronically locked button (just requires press of an unlock button). The other way is to push down a manual "plunger" like in normal pump pots (the type you get at workshops, meetings etc). The rate of flow seems "psychologically" faster with the manual pump, but I don't think it is.Other things to note are that this is relatively safe. God forbid a child should pull this over, I wager, that the potential damage is potentially less than if a child pulled a boiling kettle over (please make sure you use common sense!) since there is no opening permanently open. Filling/refilling is accomplished by lifting a well secured lid and adding water via a jug. I have an IKEA fridge jug that requires 3 fillings to fill the pot. This also weighs over 5kg when full (1litre of water = 1kg) so it's not something to attempt to carry around from room to room, though it does have a handle. Lastly, you cannot evacuate the pot completely since it works on vacuum pressure. When you're cleaning this, the last remnants of water need to be tipped out since you can't use either the push pump or the electric dispenser for the last 200mls. That means carrying it to the sink and inverting it which is not an easy feat to keep the lid open, the handle out of the way, and to make sure you don't scald yourself. For this reason, if you are an elderly person or couple, who have no additional regular help, I would not recommend this product to you. However, if you are able bodied, have a lot of friends or family, or just like the idea of having plenty of boiling hot water on tap, this is for you. BUY IT!! It's Dottore Approved!

Love this water heater,plenty of instant hot water at the touch of a button,economical,costs about 20p a day at 23p/kW. Easy and cheap to descale. Timer easy to set to heat up in time for breakfast and stay hot ll day.Had thought about installing an under counter heater but maintenance cost ,ie sacrificial anode and filters uneconomical.I would recommend this product and the seller.

Well made and easy to use. Went for the larger capacity model of 5L. Our only criticism is that it is very difficult to see the amount of water left in the tank. Had they placed a red float ball within the water level indicator display you could then read the water level more clearly. Haven't tried out the self cleaning cycle yet. Overall pretty impressed. Highly recommended.

The Addis Thermo Pot is a device I really wanted to like over the 18 months I had access to it.The low energy use to slow boil water and keep it warm was a handy way to avoid tripping the electrics on an overworked circuit and meant there was hot water on tap all day long. The Thermopost, while generally well insulated, also produced some extra radiant heat in the cool kitchen.However, I've had one of the devices fail so far and a second is making a death rattle that makes me feel it's unsafe to use.The first device suddenly began to trip the electrics the second it was turned on at the wall. A credit to Addis, they replaced the unit under warranty without asking for the original device back. Upon inspection, my electrician neighbour said that water had gotten into the heating element and was likely shorting the device.The second device, started making a squealing, humming, whirring sound after six months. I realised after a few days it was coincident with the heater kicking in to keep the water at temperature. As the first device started tripping the circuit, I decided to retire the device as the heater, which was previously completely quiet was clearly struggling The device was also now loud and distracting every 15 minutes or so,I let Addis know. They kept telling me to "clean out the pump". The electric dispenser and manual dispenser to clean. The device was regularly descaled. And the noise was clearly related to the heater, not the dispensing pump. As my original purchase was now more than 12 months away, Addis did not send another device. I'm not sure if they did if I'd feel safe using it.So, my experience is that this device is great when it works, but the build quality of the internal electrics is not robust. I cannot recommend the device and I won't buy or use one again. So, one start from me. Sorry Addis.

Had the last one of these for 5 years before it gave up the goast, so I thought I would get another the same. It dos,ent seem as good quality as the old one. They have altered the pour button and removed the light from the water gauge. Lets see how long this one lasts.UPDATE Lasted 1 day, have returned.