Should I leave my Espresso Machine on 24 hours a day or
not?
For a prosumer machine leaving it on all the time causes the following
problems I consider important to my personal ownership of the machine.
1. Reduces the life of the heating element 2. Reduces the life of the
Gicar/Giemme (whatever) autofill boxes and other electromechanical
components 3. Stresses the vaccum breaker (as they normally let by a
bit) 4. Reduces the life of the pressurestat 5. Reduces the life of the
group gasket but more importantly the life of all the little
O'rings/gaskets in the E61 group and throughout any hot parts of the
machine 6. If something goes wrong...i don't want to be asleep (or
out of the house) 7. If it trips the whole house RCD, other things switch off
while I am out (during the night, the house burglar alarm will go off after a
few hours) and the smoke alarms beep constantly 8. The wiring insulation
(depending on type) and any plastic connectors become brittle 9. The life of
the neons is reduced
Why on earth would I want to leave it on all the time, when it can be on
a timer and ready when I wake up, or I just wait 20 mins!
