I have a two year old coffee pot that was used for a year, then put into storage. This past weekend, the coffee (when poured) wasn't hot. What can I do?

Heat the coffee more?

Seriously, though. If it has been in storage that long, any number of things could have happened to the material it was made out of. Where was it stored? A garage, shed, box in the kitchen? Is there any more information you can provide us with?

Also, even if your father has the same make, his model is quite a few years different so I don’t think it’s a strong point-of-reference.

It’s an electric one I’m assuming. Did you use very cold water in the reservoir?

It worked fine this past week. Just on the weekend, it was started with the warm, freshly brewed.

It was well packed in a storage bin that was kept in my Dad’s garage.

Yes, it’s electric. The water was quite cold, yes.

If I had to guess, I would say the pot is simply worn out or there is something wrong with the circuitry. You could try taking it to a repairman to look at, buying a new one, or if that is out of your budget range, heating it a bit in the microwave after pouring.

I don’t know that the temperature of the water that you used has anything to do with it. I’ve read that for the best coffee, you should use cold water to brew it (I don’t know if there’s any truth to that, I just mean to say that hot coffee is often brewed using cold water). I suppose you could try putting hot water in the reservoir to brew with; that might make for hotter coffee.

If it worked fine after having taken it out of storage, but now isn’t working, I’d say that it’s likely just coming to the end of its life. My last coffeemaker died suddenly – it worked one morning, and did nothing the next morning. (I was pretty sad, but luckily there’s a Second Cup downstairs!)

If it’s this style of coffee maker, then it’s the boiling action of the water that actually propels the water up over the grounds, so the water temp wouldn’t be the problem. Maybe the little heating element under the pot has stopped working, though. See if that’s working, maybe?

The only other simple and cheap idea I had was try the vinegar thing,but I don’t think that’s the problem.