If you love nothing more than a great cup of coffee and want to take your home espresso-making capabilities to the next level, a prosumer machine may be perfect for you. “Prosumer” refers to a class of espresso machines that are ideal for home use, but share the most popular features of commercial machines. If you’re interested in purchasing a prosumer machine, you may also prefer to conserve energy usage. Here, we outline common features of prosumer machines and offer tips for reducing energy use.
What Are the Benefits of Prosumer Machines?
As you may have guessed, “prosumer” is a colloquial term that combines the worlds “professional” and “consumer.” Prosumer machines offer the best of all worlds: they’re often compact, beautifully styled, and equipped with upgraded technology for superior shots. The Rocket Appartamento Nera is one of our best-selling prosumer machines, and for good reason: it has one of the smallest footprints on the market, features an E61 group head, and a copper heat-exchange boiler. Machines such as this elevate the espresso brewing experience and are capable of simultaneous brewing and steaming.
How You Can Conserve Energy
If you want to make espresso at home to be more environmentally friendly (or simply want to keep your electricity bill a bit lower), it’s helpful to know how to operate your machine to conserve energy. Espresso machines use more energy than a drip coffee maker, and prosumer and commercial machines often require even more electricity than a less powerful product.
Everyone has their own preferences when it comes to how often they use their machine, and ultimately, you can only do so much to reduce energy wastage. However, user tests have shown that prosumer machines should be left on if they’ll be used again within four hours. Since these machines use quite a bit of energy to turn on and warm up, you’ll waste energy by shutting it off just to power it back up a few hours later. The machine won’t use much energy while sitting idle, but you can save a few cents by turning it off if you only plan to use it once per day or several (5+) hours apart.
If you’d like to purchase a prosumer machine, we offer an excellent selection of options. Whether the Rocket Appartamento Nera has caught your attention or you’d like to explore other possibilities, you’ll find everything you need for a high-tech home coffee bar setup here. Have questions about any of our espresso machines or accessories? We’re here for you. Please contact us to schedule a chat.