How safe is it to leave an espresso machine on unattended?

#1: Post by **Gargamel40** » March 11th, 2022, 8:36 am

Wife wants to turn on the machine (Profitec PRO 600) around 1 hour before she comes home from work so she can make herself coffee quickly. There is no one else at home at that time, house is empty.

Is that safe? I have it programmed (smart plug) to turn on in the morning 1 hour before she wakes up so she can make herself coffee. I don't think this is such a problem since we are at home if anything goes wrong.

What kind of track record do these machines have (malfunctions, fire,...)?

#2: Post by **Ypuh** » March 11th, 2022, 8:53 am

Not much that can happen. It's all metal and little electronics. Nothing really gets that hot that it will start burning or catch a fire.

Only thing to look out for might be leaks when having a machine plumbed in. For reservoir run machines I see little to no potential issues. Most machines are capable (or even intended) to run 24/7.

#3: Post by **JRising** » March 11th, 2022, 9:29 am

Incredibly unlikely to burn the house down, explode, eat your dog or anything catastrophic.
In the worst case scenario of things that actually might happen are that it would try to top up the boiler with a clogged fill-solenoid and end up burning out a pump (or some similar act of minor damage to itself)... The one hour before someone shows up to check on it, it will usually behave the same as the first hour it's on when people are home... How often do you catch it making a mistake?

#4: Post by **BaristaBoy E61** » March 11th, 2022, 2:48 pm

I would not worry about it especially since it's not plumbed in. Even then it would be almost at the same risk if powered 'ON' or 'OFF'.

#5: Post by **Splunge** » March 12th, 2022, 1:49 am

My plumbed-in Vetrano ran 24/7 from 2006 to 2021 catastrophe free. I'd shut off the power and water supply anytime we'd be away for more than a couple of days.

#6: Post by **erik82** » March 12th, 2022, 2:25 am

As long as you keep it in a good state and do all the needed maintenance there's not much that can go wrong. Most common issues with bad maintenance will be leaking water which in will come in contact with electrical parts.

#7: Post by **Graymatters** » March 12th, 2022, 1:28 pm

Turning on the machine, either remotely or on a schedule, an hour or so before I want to pull a shot, has been standard operating procedure for me for 15 years or so. If I had to manually turn on the machine and wait for warm-up every time I wanted to use it... I probably would have sold it all 14 years ago.

#8: Post by **charlesaf3** » March 12th, 2022, 2:42 pm

I've had my espresso machine on for 15 years now. Different machines, but this is not a concern of mine

#9: Post by **Jeff** » March 12th, 2022, 3:05 pm

As Steve (BaristaBoy) mentioned, the plumbing leaking is probably a concern to consider addressing (for a plumbed-in machine).

Although many recent machines prevent the heater from starting up if the boiler (or at least reservoir) is empty, double check that yours has such a feature. Even if it does, I think it's a good practice to check the reservoir before leaving the machine for the next unattended heat-up. (Like others, I had an E61 machine on a timer for many, many years.)

#10: Post by **Pressino** » March 12th, 2022, 3:13 pm

In my opinion the problem leaks you're likely to get with a plumbed in machine are in the water line to the machine and would be just as likely to occur with the machine either on or off. The one time I had a water leak was with a machine that happened to be turned off...