Coffee Machine Running Costs UK: What a 1, 2 or 3-Group Really Uses
Last updated: September 2026
Nobody reads the electricity bill line by line. Then the machine gets bigger, the bill jumps, and the two never get connected. A commercial espresso machine heats water all day, every day. Few things in a coffee shop do. So it earns its own line in your costings.
Working out coffee machine running costs from the element rating is widely regarded as the standard method for UK coffee shops. The element kW is the one figure the manufacturer publishes. For a plumb-in Fracino, that means roughly 4.5 to 8.5 kWh a day on one group and 13 to 24 kWh a day on three.
In 30 seconds:
- Fracino element ratings are fixed and published: 1 group 2.7kW/13A · 2 group 4kW/20A · 3 group 7.5kW/30A.
- The element does not run flat out all day. It cycles on and off to hold boiler pressure, so real use is a fraction of the rating.
- Typical daily use on a 10-hour trading day: 1 group 4.5–8.5 kWh · 2 group 7–13 kWh · 3 group 13–24 kWh.
- On a 2-group doing 150 drinks a day, the machine’s electricity works out around 1.5p to 2.5p a drink at 30p per kWh.
- Jumping from 2 to 3 groups usually costs more in electrical installation than in electricity — 7.5kW needs a 30A commercial circuit, not a 13A plug.
Not sure which size you actually need? Start with our what size coffee machine guide for coffee shops. Get the size right and the running cost looks after itself.
Why the kW rating misleads people. A 4kW element is a 4kW element only while it is switched on. It heats the boiler, the pressurestat cuts it, and it sits off until pressure drops. A busy bar pulls that element back on far more often than a quiet one.
Why we give you a range, not one number. Fracino publishes element ratings. Nobody publishes a duty cycle, because it depends on your trade. We will not invent one and dress it up as a spec.
Why the supply matters more than the unit rate. A 13A machine plugs into a socket. A 30A machine needs a dedicated circuit and an electrician. That is a one-off cost, but it dwarfs a year of unit-rate differences.
The honest summary: the biggest mistake is buying a 3-group “so we never run out of steam”. Then you pay to heat a 20-litre boiler all day for a shop that peaks for two hours. Oversizing costs you twice — once on the machine, then every trading day after.
The numbers that are fixed: power per group
These come straight from Fracino’s installation requirements. They are the standard elements; several models offer an alternative element, which changes both the draw and the circuit you need.
| Groups | Standard element | Current | Alternative elements |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 group | 2.7kW | 13A | 4kW / 20A |
| 2 group | 4kW | 20A | 2.85kW / 13A · 7.5kW / 30A |
| 3 group | 7.5kW | 30A | 9kW / 45A · 3-phase |
| 4 group | 7.5kW | 30A | 9kW / 45A · 3-phase 415V |
Two things fall out of that table. A 2-group can be specified at 13A if your supply is tight — the Bambino 2 Group runs a 2.85kW element on 13A. And a 3-group is never a plug-in machine.
Grinders are all 13A, and they draw far less than the plate suggests. A Fracino F4 motor is 300W and a F6 On Demand is 480W, running for about three seconds a dose. Over a whole day a grinder is pennies, not pounds.
Turning kW into kWh: the method
A kilowatt-hour (kWh) is one kilowatt drawn for one hour. That is the unit your bill charges you for. Two things make up a trading day.
- Warm-up. From cold the element runs close to flat out for about 15 minutes. So warm-up costs roughly the element kW divided by four.
- Holding and recovery. After that the element cycles. Across a trading day it is on somewhere between 15% of the time (quiet) and 30% (busy).
Put those together for a 10-hour day and you get the figures below. Treat the 15–30% band as a modelling range, not a manufacturer figure.
| Machine | Warm-up | Per 10-hour day | Per 6-day week | Per month (26 days) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 group · 2.7kW | 0.7 kWh | 4.5–8.5 kWh | 27–51 kWh | 117–221 kWh |
| 2 group · 4kW | 1.0 kWh | 7–13 kWh | 42–78 kWh | 182–338 kWh |
| 3 group · 7.5kW | 1.9 kWh | 13–24 kWh | 78–144 kWh | 338–624 kWh |
kWh into pounds: find your own column
We can’t tell you your unit rate. Business electricity contracts vary hugely by supplier, meter and when you signed. Your rate in pence per kWh is printed on your bill — find it, then read the matching column.
| Monthly cost | 20p/kWh | 25p/kWh | 30p/kWh | 35p/kWh | 40p/kWh |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 group | £23–£44 | £29–£55 | £35–£66 | £41–£77 | £47–£88 |
| 2 group | £36–£68 | £46–£85 | £55–£101 | £64–£118 | £73–£135 |
| 3 group | £68–£125 | £85–£156 | £101–£187 | £118–£218 | £135–£250 |
Those are the machine only. They exclude your grinder, fridge, dishwasher and lights. Standing charges are not in there either — they are fixed whatever the machine does.
The headline most people want: even at 40p a unit, a 2-group costs less to run per month than one busy Saturday’s takings. Electricity is rarely the reason a coffee shop struggles.
1 group — for low covers and a second site
Quick specs
- Element: 2.7kW · 13A (Cherub and Classico 2.85kW · 13A)
- Boiler: 2.3L tank-fed (Cherub) · 7L plumb-in (Contempo 1 Group)
- Output: 120 cups/hr semi-auto · 200 automatic (Contempo 1 Group)
- Weight: 18kg (Cherub) · 35kg (Contempo 1 Group)
- Daily energy: 4.5–8.5 kWh
- Price: from £1,240 (Fracino Cherub CHE1)
Best for
Delis, bakeries and small cafés serving under about 80 drinks a day. Also the sensible choice for a second counter or an office.
What it costs you
- No electrical work — it plugs into a standard 13A socket
- Tank-fed models need no plumbing either, so no waste standpipe
- £35 to £66 a month in electricity at 30p per kWh
Don’t use it for
- Two baristas working side by side — one group is one shot at a time
- Back-to-back milk drinks at a morning rush on a small 2.3L boiler
- Events or festivals where 200 people arrive at once
Trade-off
A 1-group is the cheapest thing in the range to buy and to run. What you give up is steam recovery, and that is what queues punish.
2 group — the shape most coffee shops should buy
Quick specs
- Element: 4kW · 20A standard (alternatives 2.85kW/13A or 7.5kW/30A)
- Boiler: 14L (Contempo 2 Group) · 10L (Bambino 2 Group)
- Output: 240 cups/hr semi-auto · 400 automatic
- Hot water: 60–80L per hour
- Weight: 55kg · 575×580×500mm
- Daily energy: 7–13 kWh
- Price: from £2,490 (Contempo 2 Group Semi-Automatic Electric)
Best for
High-street cafés, coffee bars and anywhere with a morning peak. Two groups let one barista pull while the other extracts.
What it costs you
- A 20A supply — a dedicated circuit, so budget for an electrician
- A 15mm cold feed plus a waste standpipe within a metre
- £55 to £101 a month in electricity at 30p per kWh
Don’t assume
- That a 2-group costs twice a 1-group to run — the gap is nearer half again
- That the 13A option is a free lunch; a 2.85kW element recovers more slowly
- That “400 cups an hour” means yours will do that — that figure is the automatic model flat out
Trade-off
You pay for a bigger boiler whether you are busy or not. In exchange you stop losing sales to a queue that won’t wait.
3 group — volume, and a real installation job
Quick specs
- Element: 7.5kW · 30A standard (alternatives 9kW/45A or 3-phase)
- Boiler: 20L
- Output: 360 cups/hr semi-auto · 600 automatic
- Hot water: 100L per hour
- Weight: 84kg · 575×785×500mm
- Daily energy: 13–24 kWh
- Price: from £3,070 (Contempo 3 Group Semi-Automatic Electric)
Best for
Stations, airports, large venues and drive-throughs. Anywhere three baristas work the bar at the same time.
What it costs you
- A 30A commercial circuit — this is the part people underestimate
- Enough counter for 785mm of machine plus working space either side
- £101 to £187 a month in electricity at 30p per kWh
Don’t buy it for
- Headroom you hope to use one day — a 20L boiler holds heat all day regardless
- A site where the incoming supply is already near capacity
- A counter that can’t take 84kg without reinforcement
Trade-off
Per drink, a busy 3-group is the cheapest machine in the range to run. Half-empty, it is the most expensive thing on your counter.
How to work out your own running cost
Modelling gets you a range. Measuring gets you a number. If your machine is a 13A plug-in, this takes a week and costs less than a bag of beans.
- Read the data plate. Find the element kW and the current rating on the plate or in your model manual. Write both down — everything else builds on these.
- Find your unit rate. Take the pence-per-kWh figure off your electricity bill, not an average you read somewhere. Note the standing charge separately.
- Fit a plug-in energy monitor. For any 13A machine, put a monitor between plug and socket. Hard-wired 20A and 30A machines need a clamp meter or a sub-meter — that is an electrician’s job.
- Log a normal week. Record the kWh total each night for six or seven trading days. Skip holiday weeks and freak weather.
- Divide by the drinks. Weekly kWh multiplied by your unit rate, divided by the week’s drink count, gives your true cost per cup.
- Repeat in six months. If the figure has crept up and trade hasn’t, you are heating scale rather than water.
Five things that quietly raise the bill
Scale. Limescale on the element is an insulating layer. The element has to run longer to reach the same pressure, so the same coffee costs more. Our guide to cleaning and descaling a commercial coffee machine covers the routine.
No water treatment. A filter or softener is cheaper than the descaling it prevents. Fracino specifies a filter or softener change every two months — see our coffee machine water filter and softener guide.
Leaving it on overnight. A machine held at pressure for 14 idle hours is doing nothing but burning units. Warm-up from cold is about 15 minutes, so switching off is almost always the better trade.
A drifting pressurestat. If the boiler is cycling at the top of its range it is using more than it needs. Our coffee machine pressure gauge guide explains what the needle should be doing.
Steaming badly. Reheating milk you already scorched means two goes at the same drink. Wasted milk costs more than the steam that ruined it.
Five mistakes we see most
- Sizing on the busiest hour you can imagine. Size on a normal week and accept a queue at Christmas.
- Forgetting the electrician. Going from 13A to 20A or 30A is a quote, not an afterthought.
- Comparing machines on element kW alone. A bigger element is not a bigger bill if the boiler is better insulated and the shop is busy.
- Using a domestic unit rate. Business contracts differ, and so do standing charges.
- Skipping the service. A neglected machine works harder for the same output — our Fracino coffee machine servicing and warranty guide sets out what an annual service covers.
What we don’t know, and won’t guess
Two figures here are ours, not Fracino’s. One is the 15–30% duty-cycle band. The other is how hard the element works during warm-up. The 15-minute warm-up time itself comes from Fracino’s installation notes.
Fracino does not publish a duty cycle, and any supplier quoting you an exact monthly running cost without asking about your trade is guessing too. That is why step 3 above matters more than the tables.
Need help matching a machine to your covers and your supply? Our electric coffee machines buying guide for coffee shops walks through the whole range. Our coffee grinders guide for coffee shops covers the other half of the bar.
Frequently asked questions
How much electricity does a commercial coffee machine use per day?
On a 10-hour trading day a 1-group uses about 4.5 to 8.5 kWh. A 2-group uses 7 to 13 kWh and a 3-group 13 to 24 kWh. The element only runs while reheating the boiler. A quiet day sits at the bottom of each band, a busy one at the top. Measure yours with a plug-in monitor for a real figure.
How much does it cost to run a 2-group coffee machine in the UK?
Around £55 to £101 a month at 30p per kWh over 26 trading days. At 20p the same machine costs £36 to £68, and at 40p it costs £73 to £135. Your own unit rate is on your electricity bill — business contracts vary too much for an average to be useful.
What does a coffee machine cost per cup in electricity?
Roughly 1.5p to 2.5p a drink on a 2-group serving 150 drinks a day at 30p per kWh. The figure falls as volume rises, because the boiler is held hot whether you serve ten drinks or two hundred. Milk, beans and labour all cost far more per cup than electricity does.
Should I turn my coffee machine off overnight?
Yes, for almost every shop. Holding a boiler at pressure through 14 closed hours burns units for no sales, and warm-up from cold takes only about 15 minutes. Leave it on only if you open before anyone is there to switch it on. Even then, a timer is the better answer.
Does a 3-group machine cost three times as much to run as a 1-group?
No — closer to three times on paper, but far less per drink. A 3-group draws 7.5kW against 2.7kW, yet it serves three times the volume, so the cost per cup usually drops. The catch is a half-empty 3-group, which pays the standing energy cost without the sales to spread it over.
Can I run a commercial coffee machine from a 13A socket?
All 1-group machines run on 13A, and some 2-group models can be specified with a 2.85kW element on 13A instead of 4kW on 20A. A 3-group cannot — 7.5kW needs a dedicated 30A circuit. Choosing the 13A route on a 2-group trades faster steam recovery for a simpler installation.
Does limescale increase running costs?
Yes. Scale coats the element and insulates it, so the element runs longer to reach the same boiler pressure. You pay for that extra running time every day until the machine is descaled. Fracino specifies a filter or softener change every two months, which is why treated water is the cheaper habit.
Is a bean-to-cup machine cheaper to run than a traditional espresso machine?
Not reliably. A Fracino Cybercino super-automatic draws 2.8kW on 13A, in the same band as a 1-group traditional machine, so the energy difference is small. Bean-to-cup saves labour rather than electricity, and it costs more in service parts. Choose it for staffing reasons, not for the bill.