A commercial machine at home

What the machine asks for

A bar machine is built to pull a hundred shots an hour for ten years. The engineering that makes that possible is also what makes it awkward in a kitchen.

Power. A single group commercial machine draws around 2 kW, which a normal circuit tolerates if it is not sharing with a kettle and an oven. Two groups typically want 3 to 5 kW, a dedicated circuit, and in some countries three phase supply. This is an electrician conversation before it is a coffee conversation.

Water in. Most are plumbed, with a 3/8 inch braided line, an isolation valve you can reach, and a softener or filter sized for your water. Skipping the filter on a plumbed machine is how a 5,000 euro boiler becomes scrap.

Water out. The drip tray drains rather than fills. That means a drain line to a waste pipe, with a fall the whole way, or a pump. A drain line that rises anywhere becomes a smell within a week.

Heat. A machine that idles at 1,200 watts is a small radiator you have installed in a room you cook in. In summer it is noticeable.

Weight and space. Sixty to eighty kilos for two groups, and a worktop depth most kitchens do not have. Add the height of the portafilter swing and the cupboard above suddenly matters.

The honest middle: one group

A one group commercial machine is the version of this idea that fits a home. It keeps what makes the category worth wanting, a saturated group, a real steam boiler, parts that are still made and a body built to be serviced, and it drops the demands that make two groups impractical.

Many take a reservoir. Most run on a normal circuit. They still weigh thirty kilos and still cost what a good prosumer dual boiler costs, but the architecture is designed to run for years rather than for a warranty period.

When the answer is no

If you make four drinks a day, a prosumer dual boiler gives you the same cup with a fraction of the installation. The difference between the two is duty cycle, not quality. A bar machine is not better at one espresso; it is better at the hundredth espresso in a row, which is not a thing your kitchen will ever ask of it.

If you go ahead

Budget the installation as part of the price: electrician, plumber, filtration, and a timer so the machine is not heating a kitchen at 3am. Then budget an annual service, because a machine built to be serviced expects to be.