Purchasing a Countertop Ice Maker. Need Advice.

[yakima]

I can see it now. Continuation of the PBC Chronicles.
Input data. Water types, tap, distilled, filtered, hard, soft, beginning temps.
Processing data. Freeze times, ambient temps, household humidity, impact of washer or dryer cycles, decibel readings.
Final product. Clarity, hardness on the newly devised K scale, melt times at various ambient temps.

On a much less substantive level, I can only say that a table top ice maker at an off-road motorcycle rally, the Desert 100, generated many margaritas. After hours.

[fzxdoc]

And P.S. the idea of having something that easily contributes to a margarita-generating scenario is mighty appealing.

K.

[yakima]

This may be the most over analyzed purchase since debates over chili and beans.
Just get some whiskey stones; soapstone cubes you freeze and use in drinks.
People are known to buy expensive heels with less deliberation.

[fzxdoc]

Buying high heels is easy--just get the cute ones. But purchasing appliances nowadays is a PITAnkle, because of their general unreliability and lack of customer support. Hence this topic.

Most likely I'll need the whiskey stones for the bourbon I'd need to sip while waiting interminably for customer service to pick up the phone if I don't make a wise choice.

K.

[acorgihouse]

yakima I actually like having the past experience and mind meld of numerous members here. I have known Kathryn fzxdoc a long time, and remember that ice maker disaster. I also purchased bagged ice for a while, after a local friend had similar experience. In her case, fridge door decided to dispense ice while they were out of town, and necessitated replacing the parquet flooring of the entire main level of their house. You don't have to read the whole thread if uninterested.

[yakima]

These tales of rogue refrigerators are making me paranoid.

[fzxdoc]

As well they should! Water damage is the worst. Such a huge expensive mess can be created in a matter of minutes.

[yakima]

This past winter, mice chewed thru the condensation drain line for our gas furnace. Ruined ceiling and flooring in a downstairs bath we rarely use. I found when I went to change furnace filter. Water had developed a big bubble in the ceiling paint. Got a bucket, poked paint bubble, 1 to 2 gallons drained into bucket, which promptly drained onto floor due to split in plastic bucket bottom. Floor already wrecked due to no drain line.

[fzxdoc]

Ugh. Then you know all about water damage and how little it takes to cause a costly cleanup and repair.

[yakima]

Ice is more a measure of luxury than most appreciate. Several years ago, daughter was in Rwanda on a govt fellowship for almost a year. We went to check up on her. I thought it would be fun to have lunch with our US Ambassador in Kilgali. Lizzie had a "keeper" (my term; she thought he was just a friend) at the embassy, who arranged it. We were going to meet at the embassy, but due to security issues, Amb called her himself and rescheduled for an afternoon session at his official residence. The 3 of us got dropped off by taxi at the gate to a walled hilltop compound. The guy with the machine gun was very polite, expected us, and directed us in.

Amb and wife met us in a covered patio. A native, in white jacket, meeting every stereotype you have ever had, hovered. Amb asked what we would like. I said iced tea, and had my eye on Amb. He suddenly had a strained expression. Quickly, for me, I recovered and asked for coffee. Expression relaxed. The butler bustled about, and we had a very pleasant 75 minutes.

I was stunned that a US owned extremely high end residential property apparently had ice limitations.

[yakima]

If you were wealthy, when contacted, you could ask to be killed by bullet vs club.

[fzxdoc]

Your daughter sounds like an amazing woman, to have gotten so involved in researching one of the greatest crimes of the century. My hat's off to her.

Ice in Africa does sound almost oxymoronish. Heck, you can hardly get ice in your drinks in England!

K.

[yakima]

fzxdoc. Dtr went courtesy of a Boren Award. A very interesting, little known program. Read up on it, share with your contacts.

[MBMorgan]

This just popped up: https://www.foodandwine.com/frigidai...amazon-8653267

[fzxdoc]

I looked very closely at that exact model, but decided to go with a model that has a built in self cleaning function. In all other respects, the two models, this Frigidaire and the Silonn that I purchased earlier are identical in features and specifications. Thanks for the heads up, though.

The price difference between the two was 65 cents(!). Of course I went with the more expensive one.

K.

[MBMorgan]

Showboat!!! 😄

[fzxdoc]

The Ice Machine Cometh!

I ended up buying this Silonn countertop icemaker because, besides having all the features of the Frigidaire that I was originally intent on buying, it has a self-cleaning feature, a handle on the ice bucket, and a carrying handle. Plus it was relatively cheap at $89.99. I purchased a 4 year warranty for it for $15.99 which will refund my original purchase price should the thing go belly up within 4 years.



By next weekend, I should be virtually awash with as much ice as we need, since the thing puts out 26 lbs of ice in 24 hours. I figure I'll run it once or twice a week as needed to fill up the ice reservoir in the kitchen's side-by-side refrigerator/freezer. No more schlepping to the grocery for ice runs. Yippee. Another first world problem kicked to the curb, (to use two out-of-date phrases).

Thanks, everyone, for your advice and insights. They were a great help.

Kathryn

[fzxdoc]

I think I'll call it The Cylon (a respelling of the brand name) as an homage to Battlestar Galactica. It even looks Cylon-ish.

Kathryn

[STEbbq]

Love the name (and show too) and the choice!

[radshop]

I have this model - I was without an ice make for a couple years. I've been really happy with it. I can't compare it to any other model as this is the only one I've ever had. I rarely use it now because I have an ice maker in my freezer. But I keep it around for parties. It's faster than the one in my freezer and make cool little round ice cylinders.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000N6302Q/

[radshop]

Posted before I saw your last message - hope yours works great.

[fzxdoc]

It's nice to know that it comes in handy even if you have an ice dispenser hooked up in your refrigerator-freezer. I think I'll get a lot of use from it--I just hope it's reliable like yours has proven to be.

K.

[BKYDBBQ]

I need to save this thread since I might be going this route...I have a fridge that I bought new last September and it hasn't made ice since around Thanksgiving...

The service company is scheduled to come out Monday for their 10th or 11th apt, so far they only actually showed up three times...

[fzxdoc]

The Ice Machine Cometh!

I ended up buying this Silonn countertop icemaker because, besides having all the features of the Frigidaire that I was originally intent on buying, it has a self-cleaning feature, a handle on the ice bucket, and a carrying handle. Plus it was relatively cheap at $89.99. I purchased a 4 year warranty for it for $15.99 which will refund my original purchase price should the thing go belly up within 4 years.




Kathryn

I thought I'd give a followup to my countertop icemaker purchase.

In a nutshell, I love it! I end up making about 3 batches of ice every other day.

Saves on making trips into town for a bag of ice a couple of times a week. Plus that ice bag eats up freezer space if it contains more ice than the freezer's ice reservoir can hold.

So far it's been reliable, easy to clean out, and mess-free, as long as I remember to put the stopper at the bottom of the water tank back into place after draining.

I like the overall design and lurve the self-cleaning function.

All in all, a good purchase. I paid $90 for it. Now it's listed for $62.48 (used).

Mine was new. If you get the 4year warranty like I did, you'll still end up saving money.

I seem to be following in hoovarmin 's legendary "paying full retail price" footsteps.

Kathryn

[Mosca]

You know what? We don’t use ice. Not that I don’t think it is good, it’s great. But I don’t mix cocktails, and I drink whatever is cold from the fridge, or water from the tap. I bought a bag of ice two weeks ago and it’s unopened.

[fzxdoc]

I don't use ice myself, either, unless doing a Flash Chill for something I've SV'd. Husband is the Ice Man around the house.

K.

[yakima]

Ice Man/Neat Woman.

[hoovarmin]

Kathryn 😂

[jfmorris]

Well, I had followed this thread when Kathryn was looking for ice makers. Thought I would share MY recent foray into the world of counter-top ice making appliances.

Yvonne *LOVES* Sonic ice - you know, that crunchy, small, nugget ice that you can get at Sonic, and a few other fast food places (I think Chik-Fil-A for example). She liked to have a bag in the freezer during the summer, and for parties that is all she wants for her ice bucket she puts out on the counter with the sodas and ice tea.

Well.... the Sonic around the corner from the house (1/2 mile) went out of business after 25+ years. It had gone way downhill in service and quality, but I could still count on them to sell me a bag of ice without screwing it up, but Yvonne was sad.

So.... I ended up diving into the world of EXPENSIVE countertop ice makers, with a GE Opal 2.0...



So far we, and more importantly SHE, are very pleased with it. Funny thing is, I started the setup on the kitchen counter. This thing is a BEAST. 35 pounds I think, and very industrial and bulky. And.... with the thick countertops we have, and the height of the wall cabinets in our kitchen, it was literally 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch TOO TALL to slide back under the cabinets. And you for sure are not going to put it on an island in the middle of the room. We thought about putting it on little table we had that fit perfectly at one end of the kitchen counters, but I just moved it to the laundry room, where we have 10 to 12 feet of counter space as well. It slid in underneath some shelves, right by the door, and the plus is Yvonne really HATES leaving appliances on the counters in the kitchen, so this is better anyway. She won't leave a toaster, blender or mixer out - they all get stored in a cabinet or pantry when not in use.

The side tank water reservoir is removable, and fills easily with the filtered water at our kitchen sink. So having it around the corner and down the hall a little ways is not an issue. And if summer comes and we want it closer to the back door, I'll set it up somewhere in the kitchen then.

Now I just gotta keep up with the MAINTENANCE this thing requires. Sanitizing with bleach/water solution every 25 hours of "ice making" time, and descaling with vinegar every 100 hours of ice making time. Note I say ice making time. This thing fills up the pretty well insulated bin in a couple hours, shuts off, and then only turns back on if you take ice, or if the ice melts down some from the top of the bin. Ice melt water goes back into the resevoir and is used to make more ice. If I had to guess, it runs a few hours a day.

The bin holds 3 pounds of ice, and it makes ice at 1.6 pounds per hour. If she wants ice for a party, she can stock up by dumping it into a bigger bin or bucket in the freezer.

Anyway, it will all be worth it to keep Yvonne happy with her favorite kind of ice, and no chasing to the remaining Sonic 15 minutes away across a mountain, to get bags of ice that will melt before I get back with them (meaning they will clump in the freezer).

[jfmorris]

Michael_in_TX yes you can schedule the ice making in the app, and turn the ice bin light on/off/dim, and see what the status is (making ice, bin full, off, etc).

I will say that I bought this at Best Buy on sale for $100 off - putting their price near the Amazon and Walmart.com pricing. But I got it instantly. I also sprung $59 for a 2 year extended Geek squad warranty, meaning they swap it for a new one if it dies on me in 2 years. I normally do not buy extended warranties.

[jfmorris]

Michael_in_TX unless you are an ice chewer, I imagine the attraction of this type ice will elude you. I chew any kind of ice, but this stuff is less likely to break my teeth, haha. And its probably quieter for me to crunch on little soft pellets of ice. Of course, I would not have bought this for myself, but can justify it for my wife. Plus I had $250 in VISA gift cards that paid for half of it...

[yakima]

Years ago I was chewing ice like mad. Went to donate blood, was rejected due to anemia. The prior weekend had climbed Mt. Rainier. Went to my doctor. Yep, anemic. He was surprised I could walk, let alone climb big hills. Chewing ice can be a symptom of anemia.

[fzxdoc]

Congrats on your new ice maker, Jim. I'm sure Yvonne is loving having her fave kind of ice at her fingertips.

I didn't find cleaning my ice make a problem at all. Having a self-clean cycle was important to me. I'll be firing it back up again when we get home in April, I'm sure.

In the meanwhile, my ice-loving husband is going cold turkey since there's no room for ice in our small freezer compartment in the apartment we're renting. He seems to be surviving. I have a couple of those small containers that makes a large ball of ice (I use them when I drink scotch that I don't drink neat. He contents himself with one of those giant ice balls when he wants ice in his drink.

I'm learning that living a less-festooned life, gizmo-wise, is actually not all that bad. Maybe it's because I know it's only for the short term before we can return to our home.

Anyway, enjoy that ice maker, and keep us posted on how it works out for you and Yvonne.

Kathryn