Countertop Distillers questions

[VikingGnome]

I've been researching countertop distillers and am interested in 2 available from AMAZON that cost about $200. Takes 4-5 hours to make a gallon of distilled water. How do I figure out how much KW will be used to distill one gallon? Trying to see how cost effective it would be. I'm sure tired of lugging home 4-8 gallon jugs per month.

I want a distiller for CPAP but also use in room humidifier and coffeemaker. Reviews say the fresh distilled water doesn't have the flat, bad aftertaste of store bought stored for months in plastic jugs at warehouses and stores. If this is true, I could also drink my own distilled waster and save money on drinking water I buy each month.

I would probably produce about 3 gallons of distilled water per week so this isn't a large amount.

[JeffL]

I think the answer would be the wattage rating of the distiller times the number of hours it runs. For example, if it is 600 watts and runs for 5 hours, that would be a total of 3,000 watts or 3 KW hours.

One more thing, drinking distilled water is not good for you. See this: Early Death From Drinking Distilled Water - http://www.mercola.com/article/water/di ... _water.htm

[ughwhatname]

I've been researching countertop distillers and am interested in 2 available from AMAZON that cost about $200. Takes 4-5 hours to make a gallon of distilled water. How do I figure out how much KW will be used to distill one gallon? Trying to see how cost effective it would be. I'm sure tired of lugging home 4-8 gallon jugs per month.

I want a distiller for CPAP but also use in room humidifier and coffeemaker. Reviews say the fresh distilled water doesn't have the flat, bad aftertaste of store bought stored for months in plastic jugs at warehouses and stores. If this is true, I could also drink my own distilled waster and save money on drinking water I buy each month.

I would probably produce about 3 gallons of distilled water per week so this isn't a large amount.

I bought my countertop distiller from the seller on craigslist. I was very fortunate and got it for $30. I did find many on eBay, some were used, for around $100.

The water does not taste good. I'm not sure what the definition of fresh tastes like, but it doesn't taste fresh to me.

I'm not sure how much energy it uses to heat the water. I do know it has a fan that runs as well. I just don't use mine often enough to notice a difference in my electricity bill.

[khauser]

Here I was hoping this was about distilling alcohol

After all, it helps us fall asleep! (No, I am not recommending this. All of the preceding text is humor, only.)

I never thought about distilling the water myself. I don't like using tap water in my machine both because of possible deposits AND because it has an odor when it is heated by the machine ... an odor that I can do without.

BTW, the reason distilled water doesn't taste good is that it technically has no taste ... the taste comes from the minerals that are normally present in water.

In fact the bottled water (for consumption) process often involves filtration to "remove undesired impurities" followed by a process to introduce "desired impurities" for taste.

[hyperlexis]

I've been researching countertop distillers and am interested in 2 available from AMAZON that cost about $200. Takes 4-5 hours to make a gallon of distilled water. How do I figure out how much KW will be used to distill one gallon? Trying to see how cost effective it would be. I'm sure tired of lugging home 4-8 gallon jugs per month.

I want a distiller for CPAP but also use in room humidifier and coffeemaker. Reviews say the fresh distilled water doesn't have the flat, bad aftertaste of store bought stored for months in plastic jugs at warehouses and stores. If this is true, I could also drink my own distilled waster and save money on drinking water I buy each month.

I would probably produce about 3 gallons of distilled water per week so this isn't a large amount.

You burn through 8 gallons of distilled a month??? OMG that's really a lot. My machine, even at max humidification, uses a fraction of that.

I have my machine on auto humidification which could be part of it -- unless my machine is just plain malfunctioning....

I would get the cheapest working distiller you can find -- I'd imagine with the cost of a new machine plus the electricity would mean your break even point will be very, very long if ever. With Wal-Mart selling distilled water for 88 cents a gallon, you would really just be getting it for the convenience factor, which alone may be worth it, regardless of the much higher cost per gallon from the distiller.

[Lambeau]

My PR System One with the humidification set at the middle level of "3" uses less than one gallon per month with 7-1/2 hours of use each night. I buy distilled water at a local mega hardware store for .70 cents a gallon. That's less than $10 a year.

Maybe its just me, but I would find the inconvenience factor of distilling my own water at home far in excess of bringing it home from the store. And that says nothing about the cost of buying a machine and then the electrical costs of running it.

Sometimes in trying to be innovative, we wind up on an awfully long, inconvenient, and expensive path to solve a problem that does not exist.

[Slartybartfast]

A countertop distiller might not be the best for providing water for your CPAP humidifier because the process of distillation doesn't remove the volatile components of water; just the minerals. Volatiles like chlorine and ammonia are driven out by the heat into the headspace above the boiling water, but redissolve back into the water as it cools in the condenser. Sometimes they impart a funny taste to the water. And when you figure in the cost of the distiller, you're far better off lugging jugs. Or, you might want to look into installing a reverse osmosis system in your kitchen to provide demineralized water both for drinking and your CPAP. Cost to distill a gallon of water should be about 30-40 cents/gallon. BTW, the various health concerns ascribed to drinking distilled water are a myth and Dr Mercola should know better.

Here's a resource: http://ianrpubs.unl.edu/live/g1493/build/g1493.pdf

[VikingGnome]

A countertop distiller might not be the best for providing water for your CPAP humidifier because the process of distillation doesn't remove the volatile components of water; just the minerals. Volatiles like chlorine and ammonia are driven out by the heat into the headspace above the boiling water, but redissolve back into the water as it cools in the condenser.

Most home distillers use carbon filters to remove volatile components including benzene.

Found equation: (Watts x Hours used per day) / 1000 = Daily kilowatt hours (kWh)
Multiply your kWh by the cost of electricity from your electric provider for annual cost of operation

The unit I'm considering is 565 Watts. So (565 x 6 hours for one gallon) / 1000 = 3.39 kWh per gallon of distilled water

My electric company charges $0.053259 per kWh so the electricity needed to distill one gallon of water is 3.39 kWh x $0.053259 = 18 cents per gallon distilled at home.

If buy 8 gallons per month at 88 cents each, I'd save 60 cents per gallon = $4.80 per month. It costs me at least a gallon of gas ($3.69 per gallon) in my car to drive to WalMart and back once a month for water. I don't go to WalMart for anything else. So I would actually save $8.49 per month or $101.81 per year.

The unit would pay for itself in two years. So with the added convenience of being able to distill a gallon as needed overnight while I sleep (units shut themselves off when finished), it looks pretty good to me. No more special trips to WalMart for water just to find out they don't have any and then driving around town trying to find some like last night.

The cost of electricity could go up but so could the cost of gas for my car. Will my back handle the heavy lifting of 3-gallon boxes of distilled water much longer? I already have sciatica from bulging disc and my monthly water runs are exhausting.

[ughwhatname]

It sounds like you're sold on the idea of getting a countertop distiller. If that's the case, I just saw one on eBay for $69.99 with $25 in shipping.

You be at breakeven a whole lot faster.

[Slartybartfast]

Wow, that's cheap electricity. We pay about 13 cents/kwh here so that's what I was basing my figures on. I have free access to USP Purified Water and even water-for-injection, if I wanted it, at work, so that's what I use. But I've never used more than 1 gallon/month for my machine. If you're planning to use the water for drinking and coffee, I'm with you; the still makes sense.

[joesetx]

Distilled water is preferable in CPAP machines because it will not cause scale or mineral build up in the machine.

Distilled water as drinking water will taste awful because it will not have the usual dissolved minerals. Bottled water is filtered to remove particulate matter and dissolved solids but the minerals remain.

Be careful when buying bottled water for your CPAP that it actually says Distilled on the label.

[VikingGnome]

Distilled water as drinking water will taste awful because it will not have the usual dissolved minerals.

Distilled doesn't taste awful. It certainly tastes better than my city tap water (We have the worst water here in Mississippi. We get boil water alerts regularly). I usually add wedge of lemon, MIO drops, or Crystal Light zero calorie energy packet in a bottle of water. I also use distilled water to mix dry milk and cooking.

But another huge use for distilled water is room humidifier. I need it during the day because A/C and Central Heat dries out the air so bad I have sores in my nose (not from CPAP). A small room humidifier will use a gallon of water over 2-3 days (Use in my computer room where I spend the most time but don't use every day). If you use tap water in room humidifier, you get a fine, white dust covering everything. So you either buy expensive demineralizing filter every 3 months or use distilled water.

My VPAP humidifiers uses a gallon a week. It's on auto climate control, temp at 75, and pressure 20/16 and sleep 7-8 hours a night.

[Goofproof]

NEVER use distilled water as drinking water, the body needs the minerals that are in normal water. By using distilled water for drinking minerals are leached out of the body into the distilled water resulting in bone loss and other unhealthy problems.

I solved the distilled water problems I no longer use water in my HH {in the off mode}, I have a big ice water cup by the bed, providing a cool drink anytime I want. Control mouthbreathing and you won't get as dry. I am addicted to cold water.

[idamtnboy]

It certainly tastes better than my city tap water (We have the worst water here in Mississippi. We get boil water alerts regularly).

You live along the Mississippi? As they say up in the Quad Cities of Iowa/Illinois area, "Be sure to flush. New Orleans needs the water!"

[hyperlexis]

Distilled water as drinking water will taste awful because it will not have the usual dissolved minerals.

Distilled doesn't taste awful. It certainly tastes better than my city tap water (We have the worst water here in Mississippi. We get boil water alerts regularly). I usually add wedge of lemon, MIO drops, or Crystal Light zero calorie energy packet in a bottle of water. I also use distilled water to mix dry milk and cooking.

But another huge use for distilled water is room humidifier. I need it during the day because A/C and Central Heat dries out the air so bad I have sores in my nose (not from CPAP). A small room humidifier will use a gallon of water over 2-3 days (Use in my computer room where I spend the most time but don't use every day). If you use tap water in room humidifier, you get a fine, white dust covering everything. So you either buy expensive demineralizing filter every 3 months or use distilled water.

My VPAP humidifiers uses a gallon a week. It's on auto climate control, temp at 75, and pressure 20/16 and sleep 7-8 hours a night.

Four gallons of distilled water a month in a PAP machine? In the South?

Does anyone else use this much water in their machine? It makes me wonder if my machine is broken if this is true. Something just doesn't seem right.