PeetsFan wrote:1 1/2 hours? How can it take so long? Can't you just pull a few dummy shots to bring the group head up to temp?

Nope

PeetsFan wrote:How do you measure temperature to ensure that the group head is fully heated?

You just make lots of espresso and eventually you will figure out what it takes to get consistently good shots. Or, ask someone who has and take their word for it. Or not.

At the time, I did it with an EricS in the group head and a Scace to determine when a given temperature at the EricS resulted in consistently the same temperature with the Scace. For my specific machine and my kitchen temperatures (cool) and airflow (not much), 20 minutes wasn't enough for 1° shot-to-shot repeatability, 45 minutes was.

IMO, 45 minutes minimum. 20 if you cover with towels

BaristaBoy E61 wrote: That might be so but it should be noted that a 15amp programmable timer in conjunction with a machine in 20amp mode on a 20amp dedicated circuit might sooner than later burn itself out.

I'm sorry; I guess I didn't explain correctly.
I meant that my espresso machine has a timer built-in. It's the Bezzera Duo.

cafeIKE wrote:IMO, 45 minutes minimum. 20 if you cover with towels

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Thanks Ike. You're a huge help and I always appreciate and respect your advice.

I keep my Bezzera's timer to wake an hour before I begin to make my morning drinks.

When I test it myself and start up cold, the brew group gets hot very fast. But it's no big deal to me to have the machine start up earlier.

cafeIKE wrote:Connect Sense 20A Programmable WiFi socket @ Amazon

One of the problems this option presents would be the loss of a GFCI receptical. To the cost of this 20amp timer you would need to add a 20amp GFCI circuit breaker installed in the electrical panel or have this option 'slaved' (can I still use that word?) after another outlet with a GFCI.

You're right, GFCI definitely works in receptacles downstream of a GFCI receptacle. It's common to have one GFCI outlet in a kitchen or bathroom which serves as GFCI to all the downstream outlets on the circuit. However, in this application you want a dedicated 20A circuit, and this timer outlet doesn't have GFCI, so the correct approach is to use a GFCI circuit breaker in your breaker panel.

And kudos to you for avoiding the S word. I endeavor to have it deleted it from all of our technical documents at work.