Londinium R for North America

#1: Post by **Bluenoser** » August 13th, 2019, 11:14 am

For those people that consider a Londinium for US or Canada, anyone got an opinion on the US or the UK voltage? Seems like the US version is significantly less wattage than the UK version. Am wondering if it might be worth putting in a 240/60cy plug to work with it.

Anyone used the US vs UK version? How is your experience?

#2: Post by **hege** » August 13th, 2019, 12:04 pm

I have a 110V LR, it's running just fine on 110/60 US voltage. An L1P would be a different beast, that would almost certainly require more juice. The warmup time is dominated by the group mass anyways, having a more powerful element wouldn't make it significantly faster in my opinion. Mine is ready within 60-70 minutes.

#3: Post by **triodelover** » August 13th, 2019, 5:15 pm

I'm not familiar with the Londiniums, but if you do go for a 220V version why not use a step up transformer? I've used them on all my 220V machines and they work fine. They don't cost much (just took delivery of a 1000W unit from Make Jeff Bezos Richer.com for $60), they accommodate most of the common European plug combos and there's no need to pay an electrician to pull a new high voltage circuit. Also the footprint is manageable on the counter. https://isn.page.link/VM3v

#4: Post by **trapperkeeper** » August 13th, 2019, 6:39 pm

120v version would be my pick - can power it anywhere and resale would be easier if need be. Even with the 120v version, the boiler will boil water rather quickly, but the group head takes some time to bring up to temp - it's a substantial chunk of metal. So not sure the 220v would be much faster - maybe a few minutes. I have the L1 and can flush the group head, making it possible to bring the machine up to temp in 12 minutes when pushing it.. but have found it's better to just wait and let it do its thing... use a timer and have it turn on about 45 minutes before you wake up... works great.

#5: Post by **Phaedrus** » August 13th, 2019, 6:56 pm

The other thing to keep in mind is that you have an enormous selection of smart plugs that can do 120v/15amp. Beyond that the choices are mostly mechanical timers. Having my machine on a Wemo has been incredibly useful and would have been impossible had my machine been anything other than 120/15.

August 13th, 2019, 6:57 pm

I have a US version. The boiler is up to temp/pressure in less than 15 minutes and a 6 fl oz flush through the group brings the group up to temp so after. Also, steaming can be done continuously at that point. So while a 220v machine would be more temperature nimble, it's not needed for general household use.

August 13th, 2019, 9:21 pm

I asked Reiss this same question when I was looking at them. I mentioned the step-up transformer and he said not to bother, just buy the 120v. There is no performance difference or heat up time difference.
That's coming straight from the company so I would just go with 120v US version.

Regards

August 13th, 2019, 9:41 pm

Thanks for all the replies.. I've not been really happy with the HX E61 machines as brew water temp is hard to control, so next machine might be a lever.. The Londinium looks like it is pretty temp stable..

August 13th, 2019, 10:02 pm

That's a different question. With multiple back-to-back shots the group on a Londinium (and similar machines) can overheat. I believe the latest version is less prone to this because of how the group is connected with the boiler.

Other owners will know more about this than I do because I pull just 1 shot every day.

August 13th, 2019, 10:08 pm

The R version looks more bulletproof. But will read more about it.