How many cups does the Haden 12-Cup coffee maker actually brew, and what's its capacity in liters?
Haden rates it at 12 cups with a 1.5-liter capacity. That works out to a small coffee-maker cup rather than a full mug, which is the usual convention for drip machines, so a full pot fills noticeably fewer mugs than twelve. If you need to know exactly how many of your own mugs it fills, run a pot of plain water through and pour it out.
What do the Delay Brew and Brew Strength settings actually do?
The programmable clock lets you set a Delay Brew time so the pot starts on its own before you're up, and a separate Brew Strength setting brews a bolder cup on demand. Owners who use the strength setting say the difference is real, and one recommends it outright. One owner who never uses the timer still rates the machine highly, so Delay Brew is a convenience rather than the whole point.
Is the included filter really reusable, or do I still need paper filters?
Haden supplies a reusable, washable filter and builds the machine for ground coffee, so there are no paper filters or pods to buy. One owner says it is easier to clean than the machine they had before and likes not having to buy filters. Rinse the filter after each pot so grounds don't dry onto it.
How long does the auto shut-off timer run before it turns the machine off?
Haden sets it to switch off after 120 minutes, so a pot left on the machine is kept warm for up to two hours before it turns itself off. An owner who brews every morning says it shuts off as promised and counts that as a plus. Coffee temperature is inconsistent, though, and one owner finds the coffee stays hot long enough for a few morning cups but not much longer, so the window for really hot coffee may be shorter than the full two hours.
Does the coffee stay hot, and are leakage or durability complaints common?
Coffee temperature is inconsistent: one owner finds it stays hot long enough for a few cups in the morning but not much longer. Leakage and durability are the two other complaints that come up, and one owner describes a unit that stopped working entirely after about six months, followed by a difficult support runaround between Amazon and the third-party seller. These aren't universal complaints, but they come up often enough to weigh before buying.
Does it suit a household that drinks coffee through the day?
Less well than a thermal-carafe machine would. It brews into a glass carafe and switches itself off after 120 minutes, so a pot made at breakfast won't be hot at lunch. Owners who drink the pot within the morning are the happiest with it. If you sip slowly over several hours, brew fewer cups at a time and make a fresh pot later.
