I like to drink tea. The only problem I have at work is, there's no convenient way to do it. Usually I take water from a fountain and microwave it, which leads to questionable results. At home I use an electric kettle purchased in Canada with a removable base, long before those styles became popular in America. It does a decent job, but when I recently travelled to Asia I was introduced to the joys of the Thermo Pot.

What's a Thermo Pot?

Basically, a thermo pot is an electric kettle with a few bells and whistles. Just like an electric kettle, they boil water. The big difference is that they're designed to keep the water hot after they are done boiling....hot water on demand all day long. Thus they are generally designed to hold more water than a typical electric kettle.

There are two serving mechanisms I've seen. One is a manual pump style such as the coffee caraffes found in many cafes for the standard coffee. A push or two of the big button on the top pumps some water into the cup.

The second style is through an automatic pump. Just press and hold a button and the pump fills up your cup. Some models have both methods available.

Ok, enough about what a thermo pot is, I want to know about this one!

This is the first thermo pot I've owned. I used multiple models at hotels around Asia. I specifically purchased this one for a few basic reasons, which won't apply to everybody.

First, I got it for a good price. I have access to Panasonic Direct which gives me a good price. This thermo pot was quite a bit cheaper for me than comparable models from other makers.

Second, I have been generally satisfied with the Panasonic brand over time and my next best alternative was through mail order from a Chinese company I'm not familiar with. That, and all the buttons are in Chinese characters and it would confuse the obnoxious employees who like to push my buttons. At least in English I won't have to worry about them dumping boiling water on my desk!

I went with the 2.2L model since it's plenty for me and 1 other person to use in one day. Between the two of us we go through almost all the water in a day. The 2.2L model also has the same power rating as the larger capacity ones, so I assume it uses the same internal components. I prefer a product that's beefier than needed than one that's underpowered and has to work harder all the time.

This model is an electronic pump only model, there is no manual pump. I have had it less than a month so I cannot fairly comment on its longevity or reliability. I did want one with an electronic pump, but was open to having a manual pump as well. The reason being that I've read some reviews of the manual pump seals wearing out in 1-2 years. I haven't seen much about the electronic pumps dying that fast.

Some nifty features
In fairness, let me state that I believe most of these features are common to thermo pots and may not set this particular pot apart.

The NC-EM22P has an internal locking mechanism such that if the unit tips over, it blocks the water outlet to prevent a water spill.

It also has a lock on the dispense button. This lock consists of another button appropriately named "Lock/Unlock". You must press the button to unlock it, at which time an indicator lamp shows that it is unlocked and you can dispense. After 10 seconds of not dispensing, it automatically locks itself to prevent accidents.

There is a long boil/reboil option. The long boil feature is to remove chlorine flavor in the water. Panasonic calls it a "Dechlorination" system. Basically, if the unit is full (2.2L) then it takes about an extra 6 minutes to finish boiling. Also if you decide you want your water boiled again, you can simply press the button and it'll boil again.

There is an easy to read window on the front showing water capacity. It does not show full capacity, just between Min and 1.6L.

The inside pot is similar to those found in rice cookers. It looks like a polymer resin coated aluminum pot. The pot has an indicator for where to dump the water out such that it avoids any sensitive parts of the design, such as the front panel.

The lid looks like highly polished aluminum with a decent gasket around it. The lid is removable for cleaning, drying, dumping, etc. When the lid is closed, the unit feels solid. When the lid is open it feels like it has a flimsy joint. This shouldn't be a problem for most people, but I could see kids terrorizing the device to death.

The unit also has a carrying handle on it for transporting to sinks to dump, etc. Overall a pretty nice design.

Features that may be more unique
This unit has 3 temperature options. Most units I've seen keep the water around 208F after boiling. This unit will maintain 208F (soup, they claim), 185F (Japanese tea, they claim), and 140F (for mixing baby formula, they claim). It also has a 6 hour delay for those who don't like a good 8 hours of sleep at night. This is touted as a "power saving" feature to just leave the unit full of water and it'll start heating 6 hours later. Personally I think it would be better as an 8 hour timer, or even a programmable timer. Since I use it at work, I just unplug it when I leave and plug it back in when I get back.

Please keep in mind though that the lower temperatures require time for the water to cool off. The manual states rough estimates, such as about 1 hour to come down to 185 and 2 hours to come down to 140. Keep that in mind if you want to use it at lower temperatures. I use mine for tea, always set it to 185, and just tolerate the water being hotter int he morning than in the afternoon when it's down to 185.

Overall I am very satisfied with this unit. I am mostly satisfied just to have a thermo pot and this one fits the bill quite nicely. I can't honestly say it's better or worse than other models available, but for what I do it is perfectly adequate and was a good price.

Recommended: Yes