JohnB. wrote:I do. Tried it both ways. On 24/7 for 2.5 years, on in the morning/off late afternoon for 1 year & back to 24/7 since last summer. I didn't see any real change in my electric bill & preferred having the machine on full time. If you are concerned about excess heat & wasting electricity make sure the boilers are insulated.

Thank you JohnB. That is really interesting. I might just leave it on if that's the case. I will see how much heat the R58 radiates as that might be a consideration. The summers are bloody hot here in Louisiana and I try to keep heat generating things turned off during those times.

The cost/benefits of 24/7 operation have been discussed many times before; Leaving a Prosumer HX Espresso Machine On CAN SAVE ENERGY is the latest. My findings:

HB wrote:Rather than try to recall my college physics lessons, this evening I measured my Elektra Semiautomatica using the Kill-a-Watt. The cumulative kWh data from a cold start:

1 hour consumed 0.30 kWh
2 hours consumed 0.45 kWh
3 hours consumed 0.60 kWh

Based on the last hour of usage, it consumes around ~0.15 kWh per hour when fully heated, or 3.6 kWh per day (0.15 * 24). If you were so inclined to cycle it four times per day for two hours per cycle, allowing it to cool completely between each cycle, it would consume 1.8 kWh per day (0.45 *4). The additional energy cost of 24/7 operation in this case would be 1.8 kWh (around $0.20 in our area).

The above calculation ignores the impact on A/C operation.

Engraver wrote: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.

Did you get the normal plug or the insight? I returned my journal plug for the insight... $10 extra for the ability to monitor energy usage is great!

I got so frustrated with the built in scheduling but then I tried the ifttt functionality and never looked back.

I think the built in timers upload to the plug so I don't think power failures would be a problem. But as long as your router comes back up I don't see what the problem would be anyway.

JohnB. wrote:I do. Tried it both ways. On 24/7 for 2.5 years, on in the morning/off late afternoon for 1 year & back to 24/7 since last summer. I didn't see any real change in my electric bill & preferred having the machine on full time. If you are concerned about excess heat & wasting electricity make sure the boilers are insulated.

I've been leaving my Vetrano 2B on 24/7 since getting it in December too. My previous machines I used a timer but quit because I leave the steam boiler off on the 2B. Problem wasn't/isn't energy consumption though, all too often even though had timer set to turn on an hour before my alarm all too often I'd get up more than an hour before my alarm and have to wait/speed warm up machine!

I use this timer from Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001BP ... UTF8&psc=1

And this surge suppressor, (to protect the R58's electronics):
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00006 ... UTF8&psc=1

The timer works great, is easy to program, but is a little difficult to read when you want to manually turn the machine on and off. The timing function is pretty flexible, you can program the times differently for every day of the week. I set the machine to come on about 30 minutes before I get out of bed.

Here is a photo of the combo.


Sorry for dirty machine!

That timer is only rated for 1750 Watts. I'd want a bit more capacity on the solid state relays. A good HX can easily hit 1750W if the pump and heater are both on at the same time.
What do you need to protect the machine's electronics from? If lightning strikes are common in your area, I suggest you investigate a whole house surge system that goes on your meter base.

Some where on this forum, many years ago, was a discussion about the inductive load effects on a coiled mains cable. I cannot recall if the speculation was physics-based or paranoia. But I think the general advice would be not to coil up your mains cord like that. At the worst you're probably creating a heck of an electromagnet.

I'm not even sure if AC has induction. Maybe that's just DC.

From a series of discussions about longer extension cords, not 6-10ft power mains:
Running at full load or overload, the cables are tightly bunched in a coil, and the heat created by full load or overload has nowhere to go, thus melting the cables. Or the cable could be damaged internally, but no visible signs, even more dangerous IMO.

Induction is reactance, not resistance, and doesn't make the coil dissipate more heat...if anything, it would reduce heating by limiting the current. With such a small number of turns and the low frequency of the AC power combined with the self canceling effects of both conductors being coiled together, I don't see it making a difference anyway. A more likely explanation: weight and flexibility are at a premium for extension cables (plus, copper is expensive). The conductors are thin and heat up when carrying large amounts of current. When coiled together, heat buildup can damage insulation and potentially cause shorting. In addition, if kept coiled up for long periods of time, simple abrasion and wear could damage insulation with similar effects. Uncoiling the cable makes damage likely to be spotted and makes it less likely to cause problems if it's not. It's possible that coiling it increases *capacitative* coupling between adjacent loops. This would lead to current flowing through the cable even with nothing plugged in the end, and would waste power and increase heating of the cable. I wouldn't expect it to be a major issue if the parallel conductors of the stretched-out cable aren't, but it makes more sense than it forming an inductor.

http://www2b.abc.net.au/science/k2/stn/ ... 13118.shtm
http://cosmoquest.org/forum/archive/ind ... 89428.html