An easy-to-use energy meter (we call them wattmeters) is an easy way to find out how much wattage your coffee roaster is using, resulting in more consistency and repeatability in roasting.
An electrical energy meter is a great addition to your home coffee roasting
The application of heat to green coffee seeds (beans) to create palatable material for brewing a great cup!: Coffee roasting is a chemical process induced by heat, by... setup, especially if you use air roasters. (But really it’s great for any machine, from the BehmorA popular electric drum roaster designed for home use, with variable batch sizes (from 1/4 pound to 1 pound) and a smoke-reduction system. It has been modified and... to the Bullet). The watt meter reflects the power draw as you roast, showing you a numerical value that reveals your heat level. No more guessing when it comes to setting a heat dial! As you make changes in your roast settings, the watt meter reflects this numerically.
Use it to take the mystery out of mid-roast adjustments, allowing you to repeat roast profiles with adjustments measured in watts!
To use a meter like this, you simply plug it into your electrical outlet, then plug your roaster into it. That’s all! But why would you want to?
Video Excerpt on using a Watt Meter with Popper (from a longer video about Popper)
Volts Matter, and they Can Change During the Day
We call it a watt meter but it does more: Measuring the voltage of the outlet you are plugging your roaster into is just as important.
What is your actual voltage? Voltage in a typical house varies, and often that’s based on the distance of the outlet from the electrical supply, from the breaker box. But it’s also important the type and quality of wiring. On top of that, the supply to your house or shop can vary. We see 117 volts in the morning, and 123 in the afternoon from the same outlet. That’s going to impact your roasting a lot.
Voltage drop is key too. Coffee roasters, air roasters in particular, draw a lot of power. To get consistent roasts it’s important to know the voltage of the outlet you are plugging into, the “voltage drop” once the roaster is running, and how many watts it is consuming.
You might find one outlet in your house, often closer to your meter, runs hotter, while more remote ones don’t have the same oomph. That impacts your roasting a lot. Many people use electric energy meters (we call them watt meters) to monitor the cost of using an appliance as well.
Watts Show How Much Power your Roaster is Using
How many watts is your roaster using? THIS is the real reason for me to use an energy meter … because when you change the heat dial setting on your roaster (such as the Freshroast, the Behmor, the Gene Cafe, and the Popper roaster) you can see that change reflected immediately, numerically, on the watt meter.
A watt meter takes the guesswork out of the heat level setting on roasters like Popper or Freshroast 540 that simply have a heat dial. It puts a numerical value on dial position, so you can set it at the same level in a future roast, or make adjustments knowing what they mean. It means you aren’t roasting blind.
You can even log those numbers if you wish, creating roast profiles and repeatable settings measured in watts from this meter.
Our Watt Meter
This meter is a basic version (the brand name version most often used is the Kil-A-Watt). But I have been using this same model for nearly 2 years when testing batches on the Popper roaster and it works great. I figured if I find it so useful, why not stock them at Sweet Maria’s?
The watt meter we offer comes with terse yet functional instructions to change modes if you wish, or enter in your cost of energy. That’s great, but I just plug it in and go, using it only to see the voltage on my outlet and the wattage as I make changes during roasting. It has a bunch of other functions, like showing you the cost of running your machine, but I haven’t used it that way.
Function Button to Switch Modes.
When you first plug it in you see a V measuring the volts of your outlet. Press the Function key 5x to switch to watt measurement. It should read 0 when the roaster is off, and in about 5 seconds after starting your roast you should see the wattage, and it will update continuously through the roast process.
It can be a little confusing because in between the Volt mode and Watt mode are others I don’t use. Watt HI and Watt LO mark the highest and lowest readings, but do not give the the actual real time reading of watts. Hit the function key to bypass them.
Downsides of the Wattmeter
My only issue with using these is that the screen can be a bit dim, hard to read on my old eyes! Also, the placement horizontally at the outlet isn’t great in some cases, especially if you are plugged into a baseboard outlet. You can’t monitor the level on your knees each time you want to check it.
I recommend getting a heavy duty, grounded extension cable, as short as possible. 3 feet works perfect for me, allowing me to place the wattmeter in a table height location and read it easily with just a glance.
You can check out the wattmeter we currently stock here.
One Response
I have been using a watt meter to monitor roasting on a FreshRoast 800 for a couple of years. I focus on the KWH and stop when a goal is reached, eg 0.250 kWH for a Sumatra Acheh Benesen, 8oz, temperature kept between 440 and 443, fan at 7, heat level 5 to 6 to control temperature. As you must be aware, the FreshRoast chaff collector screen should be run through the dishwasher after each use to produce repeatable results. This produces a 14% weight loss after roasting. Another example: Liquid Amber, 7 oz: 445 — 450 , fan/heat level 6/3-4, 0.420 kWh, 17.3%.
I pay no attention to the watts reading.