Leave espresso machine on 24/7?

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Macphi
Posts: 46
Joined: 9 years ago

#1: Post by Macphi »

Hi everyone,

I pull 2-3 shots of coffee in the morning on weekdays, before I leave to work. I don't drink coffee in the evening.
I currently have my GS3 programmed to turn on and off every morning between 5am and 9am.

From a wear and tear perspective, would it be better for the machine to leave it on 24/7 or to keep it on timer?

Best
Macphi

lain2097
Posts: 91
Joined: 10 years ago

#2: Post by lain2097 »

This topic does get discussion regularly but at least for me I always leave it on 24/7 unless I am away for extended periods. Electricity usage is not worth worrying about and one repair plus my time is far more costly. Added bonus it doubles as a room heater in the winter; lots of stainless and water :mrgreen:

Gs/3 in particular you're probably going to have to be servicing the vacuum breaker more often when on timer.

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TomC
Team HB
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Joined: 13 years ago

#3: Post by TomC »

Macphi wrote:Hi everyone,

I pull 2-3 shots of coffee in the morning on weekdays, before I leave to work. I don't drink coffee in the evening.
I currently have my GS3 programmed to turn on and off every morning between 5am and 9am.

From a wear and tear perspective, would it be better for the machine to leave it on 24/7 or to keep it on timer?

Best
Macphi

Don't leave it on. This has been discussed a million times before.
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HB
Admin
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#4: Post by HB »

I don't, but not everyone agrees what's best and why. See the poll Do you leave your espresso machine on all the time?
Dan Kehn

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Peppersass
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#5: Post by Peppersass »

I wouldn't say the electricity usage is not worth worrying about. At least not if you care about the planet (and your money.)

I have a device that monitors every circuit in my house to an accuracy of 1%-2%.

In 2015, my GS/3 was on for 14 hours per day and used 1264.7855 kilowatt hours of electricty. Right now we're paying $0.16373 per kilowatt hour (New England electric rates are among the highest in the country.) That translates to about $200 per year just to run the GS/3.

Actually, it cost more than that. During the winter of 2014-2015, our electric rates spiked to about $0.23 per kWh. But let's go with $200.

Now, if I'd had the machine on 24/7, the cost would have been $355 per year -- at the lower rate cited above.

Turns out the GS/3 was the third largest load in my house, behind the entertainment center (audiophile amps and a plasma TV) and my desktop computer (I'm a power user and work at home.)

I used to leave the GS/3 on for so many hours because my wife sometimes likes to use the hot water to make tea. Silly waste of electricity -- she can heat water in the microwave in a couple of minutes. I have since adjusted the GS/3 to be on only during the four hours per day when I make espresso. It's dropped down to the middle of the pack now.

Zoey
Posts: 176
Joined: 8 years ago

#6: Post by Zoey »

IMHO, with your low usage, if it was my machine, I would turn it off. With my Spaz, I was drinking 20+ shots per day (all day). Chris' Coffee technicians indicated, at that usage, it was better to leave the machine on 24/7.

lain2097
Posts: 91
Joined: 10 years ago

#7: Post by lain2097 »

Peppersass wrote:Actually, it cost more than that. During the winter of 2014-2015, our electric rates spiked to about $0.23 per kWh. But let's go with $200.
Wow you guys pay a lot more than I do for electricity. I am roughly 60$ for the entire month and that includes the fact I have electric heating. Obviously it's higher in the water months and basically the minimum during summer so that's my round figure. Agreed that winter of 2015 was freak cold and I paid nearly 200 a month which I am sure most was heating.

Compared to the hot water tank, the cooker (we cook a lot), all the vampire loads, the GS/3 is not all that much. Also I usually disable the steam boiler as its a waste to maintain since we barely use that.

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Peppersass
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#8: Post by Peppersass »

Electric rates are high in Northern New England due to the high price of natural gas needed to run the generation plants.

You Canadians have hydro power, which is much cheaper.

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psihodel
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#9: Post by psihodel »

Macphi wrote:I pull 2-3 shots of coffee in the morning on weekdays, before I leave to work. I don't drink coffee in the evening.
I currently have my GS3 programmed to turn on and off every morning between 5am and 9am.
I have a similar situation, i.e. I pull 2-3 shots on weekdays and 4-5 on weekends, and have a GS/3 AV since May 2014 (bought new). In the first year I switched the machine off when I went to bed and had it programmed to turn on at 6 AM, so I can make a morning shot before going to work. After about 6 months I started having a problem with the steam shut-off valve (constant steam and drip in the drip tray). I finally had the o-ring replaced by a technician in May 2015, and have kept the GS/3 constantly on since then (except when we go away on holiday). The problem with the shut-off valve has not come back, and I find things are more convenient this way.

The electricity bill has gone up, but by cca 15$ (although that cannot be compared, as I live in Serbia, and our monthly electricity bill for the whole apartment is cca 40$).