10 CUP BUILT-IN-THE-WALL – SELF FILLING COFFEE SYSTEM

Absolutely love this coffee maker! Besides the obvious benefit of saving space, I had never realized how tedious of a chore it was to fill the water reservoir in the morning! I know, it sounds like I’m being sarcastic, and I sorta am, but it IS pretty nice.As it is pretty expensive for a coffee maker, and as there are a few reviews questioning the longevity and durability, I purchased the 3 year Canopy protection plan, as well. Almost never buy extended warranties, but it seemed like a wise idea this time.I have a few installation and prior purchase tips for anyone that may be interested. I like to have everything ready to go in advance, so I bought all my supplies before the maker arrived. Made a couple of mistakes in the process.First, when I run flexible water lines to appliances, I ALWAYS err on the side of long-term durability. Ergo, I use the much-more expensive braided steel hoses (like the ones attached to your toilet, or faucet). Don’t do it, you MUST use either solid copper or flexible plastic like the cheap kits sold for ice makers. It has to be threaded through a grommet in the installation box, and the bigger braided hose won’t fit.Second, and I probably should have put this first, because it’s more important, the installation manual suggest tapping in to an existing outlet to provide power. It also says to use 12 gauge wire (it draws 1300 watts, IIRC). If you know electricity you already see the issue, but if not, here’s the issue. Most home outlets are 15 amp circuits, running 14 gauge wire, protected by, of course, a 15 amp circuit breaker. 1300 watts at 110 volts equals approximately 12 amps. The first time you run the coffee maker and, say, a vacuum cleaner on the same circuit, your breaker will trip (thank goodness). Additionally, mixing and matching different sized wires in the same circuit is a huge no-no. Definitely not to code. I was fortunate in that I tend to go overboard (surprise! See the braided hose comment above) with my electrical work, and had an under-utilized 20 amp circuit in the basement directly below the coffee maker, so no sweat for me. Unfortunately, these details aren’t mentioned in the installation manual, which I think is a pretty glaring omission.Third, for those of you with older homes (mine was built in 1927), you no doubt have plaster and lathe walls. The manual says not to use a saw to cut through the wall. Well, obviously that wont work with plaster and lathe, but I have a tip for you if you’ve never done it before. If you are tempted to use a reciprocating saw (Sawzall), knock yourself out. But be certain to use an orbital reciprocating saw, with a new blade. That cuts through the lathe easily. A standard recip tends to shake the lathe too much, which causes the plaster to break in places you don’t want it to. Don’t ask how I learned this…Finally, if you are the sort that likes to use a permanent filter, finding the right size is VERY difficult. I bought an 8-10 cup basket filter, which turned out to be too small. My wife picked up a 10-12 cup basket filter from a different manufacturer, that turned out to be exactly the same size. Too small. I can’t give a suggestion on which brand/size to buy, as we gave up and decided to just use paper filters for now.Anyway, like I said, I LOVE this coffee maker. Couldn’t recommend it enough. Time will tell, of course, if it holds up. But at least I have that extra 3 year warranty.Update 3/21/2018 Still love this coffee maker! Haven’t had any issues at all. We are planning on moving to a different city in a coupe of years, ABSOLUTELY intend to buy another.Update 6/29/2020 Well, after 4.5 years I had to buy a new one. Problems with the original? NO! Still going strong, but I sold my house and left it behind. Just installed the new one in my new home after using a counter top type for 2 months. This morning was blissful!I do have a minor suggestion for a design improvement. The water line connection is of the metal insert / ferrule / nut type. Works just fine, but the nut is brass and the body is plastic. WAY too easy to cross thread, and if you do you’re SOL until you can get a new one from the company. No, that didn’t happen to me (almost, though. I was cussing for a few minutes), but in these days of Sharkbite and John Guest fittings I can’t fathom why they’re not used.Last, as a pie-in-the-sky thought, it would be AMAZING if Brew Express would ditch the 1980’s VCR-style clock and timer controls and add IOT. Imagine waking up and requesting your coffee to start brewing as you’re brushing your teeth, or whatever. Sure, you can set the timer to start at a specific time, but if you have no particular schedule then there is little value in it. I did write an email to the company requesting this a while ago, but got no response. It’s too bad because they’d absolutely CRUSH the market…Alright, that’s enough. Obviously I love this thing because I’m still updating my review after almost 5 years. It really is that great.