I will be installing a Rocket R58 machine shortly and am considering an on/off timer. Can anyone suggest what to use for this? I'm familiar with lamp timers, but I doubt these can handle the load (just an assumption). It would be nice to wake up with the machine warmed and ready in the morning and then automatically shut down for the night.

I've also seen comments that say it's better to leave the machine on 24/7 since it costs more to reheat it after a shutdown. Do any of you leave your machines on all day and night?

~Sam

I use a Belkin WeMo plug for my Rocket R58. It works great. You can set a series of on/off times and/or control the power from your smartphone etc.. The plug works with a grounded cord and is rated for 15 amps. I think one of the great things is I can set it at a below counter location and not need to get to it. Traditional timers are a pain if you need to mess with them.Kinda expensive, but, pretty trick. Hope that helps.

There are some very inexpensive mechanical lamp timers that handle 15 amps fine.* I use one.

My (uninsulated) Giotto averages a little over 100 watts when idling, which makes it worthwhile on energy cost alone to turn it off overnight. It uses less than 300 watt-hours to go from cold to full pressure, so if it's unused for more than 3 hours I'm saving energy by turning it off. It takes 30-40 minutes for the group to come up to temp, so having it on a timer is the only way I can make use of the Giotto for my wake-up coffee. The other issue has to do with having the machine on when nobody is paying any attention to it. For that, having on a timer is better than leaving it on 24/7, but a little more dangerous than turning it on/off manually and switching it off when you're asleep or away.

BTW, here's a timer related discussion you may find useful:
Espresso machines on timers...

* Edit addition: Just be sure they take a grounded 3-prong plug and are rated for 15 amps.

Thanks Leonardo and Homeburrero!

I'm looking into the Wemo switch. Looks like it could do the job.

leonardo wrote:I use a Belkin WeMo plug for my Rocket R58. It works great. You can set a series of on/off times and/or control the power from your smartphone etc..

I use a GE Z-Wave outlet. Similar functionality to WeMo but since I already have a FrontPoint alarm system it was very easy to add the outlet to my system.

leonardo wrote:I use a Belkin WeMo plug for my Rocket R58. It works great. You can set a series of on/off times and/or control the power from your smartphone etc.. The plug works with a grounded cord and is rated for 15 amps. I think one of the great things is I can set it at a below counter location and not need to get to it. Traditional timers are a pain if you need to mess with them.Kinda expensive, but, pretty trick. Hope that helps.

Leonardo: I've ordered a WeMo timer and have a question. Do you know if the timer will still turn the machine on if there's been a power failure or if it loses its wifi connection? I would assume that the setup writes the info to the device so that it's not dependent on wifi.

leonardo wrote:I use a Belkin WeMo plug ... It works great. You can set a series of on/off times and/or control the power from your smartphone etc.

+1. The option to turn on the espresso machine during commute home is pretty awesome.

I use a z-wave device with a master controller, battery powered, running any time schedule programs to turn things on and off. Not as connected as a WeMo, but in the house I can turn the machine on and off with the touch of a button from any room.

For my install I used 15 amp rated "appliance" switches and not the lamp modules.

Any appliance switch that is rated for the same or higher current than your espresso machine should handle the load.

I have this switch from homedepot http://www.homedepot.com/p/GE-15-Amp-7- ... /100685884 for use with my Cellini. Works well, do check your amp requirements tho'.