Ice Machine in Garage

[McCredie A]

Hey RDP,

So I am thinking of getting a commercial ice machine for the garage in Havasu. We are weekenders so the garage ac will NOT be on full time. My concerns are it will struggle to keep the ice from melting in the summertime. And possibly create a larger increase in the electricity bill than it is worth. What are you experiences with an ice machine at your river place? Any things in particular that are must haves or stay aways?

Thanks!

 

[Racey]

Most ice makers are not freezers, they make ice and it falls into an insulated hopper and continually melts.

If you put it in a hot garage it's gonna work like shit. Especially when it's near 100f in the garage

 

[Bobby V]

Hey RDP,

So I am thinking of getting a commercial ice machine for the garage in Havasu. We are weekenders so the garage ac will NOT be on full time. My concerns are it will struggle to keep the ice from melting in the summertime. And possibly create a larger increase in the electricity bill than it is worth. What are you experiences with an ice machine at your river place? Any things in particular that are must haves or stay aways?

Thanks!

I had a commercial ice machine in my Havasu garage. I would make the ice, bag it and put it in a coffin type freezer. Would make enough for a couple trips. Cut down on the electric bill and the ice was frozen.

 

[sintax]

Most ice makers are not freezers, they make ice and it falls into an insulated hopper and continually melts.

If you put it in a hot garage it's gonna work like shit. Especially when it's near 100f in the garage

this is correct, I have some buds who have this setup, and they end up buying bags on amazon and bagging and storing in a chest freezer.

edit:: haha yea, exactly what @Bobby V said

 

[Racey]

this is correct, I have some buds who have this setup, and they end up buying bags on amazon and bagging and storing in a chest freezer.

edit:: haha yea, exactly what @Bobby V said

This is the way

 

[Mandelon]

You can buy a lot of bags of ice for the $2000 a nice machine will cost. Plus the chest freezer. It would be dang convenient though....

 

[sintax]

You can buy a lot of bags of ice for the $2000 a nice machine will cost. Plus the chest freezer. It would be dang convenient though....

yup, I went back and forth on it as well. Decided to just save the headache and space and just buy it.

I figure at a MINIMUM i need gas, beer, or food before getting out there on the water anyway. I might as well just grab a couple of bags.

 

[Bobby V]

You can buy a lot of bags of ice for the $2000 a nice machine will cost. Plus the chest freezer. It would be dang convenient though....

We bought a used ice machine. It was about $500. They sell them at 2nd hand restaurant stores / auctions.

 

[Racey]

You can buy a lot of bags of ice for the $2000 a nice machine will cost. Plus the chest freezer. It would be dang convenient though....

When you factor in the continual water and electrical costs, you are better off buying a $180 chest freezer and stocking it with 20lbs bags from the store so you always have ice.

 

[Bigbore500r]

We bought a used ice machine. It was about $500. They sell them at 2nd hand restaurant stores / auctions.

Not the big boys . . . Those are $1500-$2000 used.

 

[dezrtracer]

Have one in my Havasu garage and it works great . Turn it on when we arrive and shut it off when we leave . Being the house has a tuck under garage might help a bit with heat . I love having ice when ever we want . We see no change on our electric bill .

Edit : Just checked what model we have , Ice O Matic ICEU300 . In 24hrs says it makes 309lbs in cool temps , 200lbs in warm temps and stores 97lbs .

 

[Bobby V]

Not the big boys . . . Those are $1500-$2000 used.

Mine was one of the big boys. Got it from the local car wash that had to get rid of it when the got rid of their fountain drinks. Im sure they are more expensive now.

 

[Bigbore500r]

Hey RDP,

So I am thinking of getting a commercial ice machine for the garage in Havasu. We are weekenders so the garage ac will NOT be on full time. My concerns are it will struggle to keep the ice from melting in the summertime. And possibly create a larger increase in the electricity bill than it is worth. What are you experiences with an ice machine at your river place? Any things in particular that are must haves or stay aways?

Thanks!

We have a 500lb per day Hoshizaki, sitting on a 550lb bin. It will fill the bin from empty in 24 hours.

We have it on a 20 amp 120V smart plug (not your typical plug, actually more of an electrical disconnect that runs off Z-wave like Alarm.com).
We can turn it on when headed up to the river, and there will be 100lb+ of ice when we get there. By the next morning the bin is full, and it just keeps up as needed till we leave.

If you leave it on 24/7 in a hot garage, it's gonna heat the garage up and use quite a bit of power and water. The ice doesn't melt as fast as you'd think, but you can get issues witih mold also if it's not being used frequently and left on all the time.

Putting it on a smart switch seems to work well.

Make sure you get a unit that is much bigger than your actual needs - they advertise capacity under "best case" scenarios, if its rated for 500lb but the garage is 90 degrees, its not gonna make 500lb. If it's comforrtably oversized, it won't have to work as hard / as often to keep up and you get ice much faster.

2 ice chests for a boat ride might be 50lb, plus your buddies ice chest another 20lb, then ice for later....another 20lb..Before you know it 100lb of ice is gone!
Mo ice = Mo betta

My 2 cents

 

[Flying_Lavey]

You can find decent ones for less than $1k. Its amazing how fast the $ for ice adds up. Not too sure what it runs over there in Havasu but at Naci we were looking at about $8/20lb bag a few years ago. For a while we were going through 5 bags a day. That adds up REAL quick.

 

[Bigbore500r]

Mine was one of the big boys. Got it from the local car wash that had to get rid of it when the got rid of their fountain drinks. Im sure they are more expensive now.

Hook it up, i'll take 10 of them at that price!

 

[Done-it-again]

Love having an ice machine. Mine is in our shop in the IE, still hot, but not havi garage hot.
If your garage has ac it would help. in your case turn it on when you get there and by the morning it has ice. Factors do play with how fast it makes ice, ambient temp and inline water temp. Its wet ice as the been is not cooled, so it melts (need a drain) so ice is being made all the time and how often depends how fast it melts. So bag it like others said and turn it off till you need it again. Ours runs constantly and is a 400 lb a day unit, its bigger than i needed and could have gone with 1/2 production, but only wanted to buy once.

I went 2 years before maintenance , and should have done it sooner, the amount of hard calcium was surprising even with filters... so now its yearly.

What does a 20 lb bag of ice cost in havi now?

 

[Mandelon]

Maybe you can sell ice to your neighbors for easy side cash! LOL I assume you need a filter in line to catch hard water deposits?

 

[Sawtooth]

One of my clients I just finished a rebuild for, he had a commercial ice machine and an up right freezer to store the ice he would bag. Freezer was in their carport, compressor overheated (possible leaves/debris) and away she went !
Moral here is keep your equipment in tip top shape.

 

[Tooms22]

I had a commercial ice machine in my Havasu garage. I would make the ice, bag it and put it in a coffin type freezer. Would make enough for a couple trips. Cut down on the electric bill and the ice was frozen.

This.

I turn it on when I get there. Fill as many bags as I use. Put them in the 7 cu ft freezer. Turn the ice maker off when we leave.

Also, make sure the Havasu water is being purified/filtered or you'll have some nasty ass cloudy ice.

Amazon.com

Amazon.com

 

[Ziggy]

Saw a video some time ago where the guy bought a coffin freezer and an ice maker kit for a fridge. Mounted the icemaker inside, drilled a hole or two for a water line and power and a big plastic bin that fit inside freezer. Wah-Lah.

 

[DWC]

We have a 500lb per day Hoshizaki, sitting on a 550lb bin. It will fill the bin from empty in 24 hours.

We have it on a 20 amp 120V smart plug (not your typical plug, actually more of an electrical disconnect that runs off Z-wave like Alarm.com).
We can turn it on when headed up to the river, and there will be 100lb+ of ice when we get there. By the next morning the bin is full, and it just keeps up as needed till we leave.

If you leave it on 24/7 in a hot garage, it's gonna heat the garage up and use quite a bit of power and water. The ice doesn't melt as fast as you'd think, but you can get issues witih mold also if it's not being used frequently and left on all the time.

Putting it on a smart switch seems to work well.

Make sure you get a unit that is much bigger than your actual needs - they advertise capacity under "best case" scenarios, if its rated for 500lb but the garage is 90 degrees, its not gonna make 500lb. If it's comforrtably oversized, it won't have to work as hard / as often to keep up and you get ice much faster.

2 ice chests for a boat ride might be 50lb, plus your buddies ice chest another 20lb, then ice for later....another 20lb..Before you know it 100lb of ice is gone!
Mo ice = Mo betta

My 2 cents

Your ice machine is ridiculous..

 

[DB / HAV]

I bought this a few years ago and I love it. I keep it in the garage, it holds about 25 20# bags. Not much energy that I can tell and isn’t a problem with the heat since they are generally outside.

 

[Outdrive1]

Yup Make the ice overnight and bag it.

 

[D19]

I bought this a few years ago and I love it. I keep it in the garage, it holds about 25 20# bags. Not much energy that I can tell and isn’t a problem with the heat since they are generally outside.
View attachment 1393069

Where did you get that? I've been wanting to get one of these and just get a truck delivery of bagged ice a couple times a year to fill it. The whole ice maker at the river program is a PITA.

 

[McCredie A]

I like the smart plug idea. I could turn it on when I am heading there on Friday and should be good by the morning. How often are you guys servicing these for residential use? What is a ball park cost on the service.

Thanks for the information and opinions.

 

[FENDERFAB]

I have this one. Its legit. It sits outside at my shop and it runs 24/7 for my workers.

https://www.amazon.com/Coolski-Commercial-Stainless-Restaurant-Business/dp/B0BZKWKBCB?pd_rd_w=tSVhc&content-id=amzn1.sym.d5ef238f-cc6b-4540-aa3d-ad191f99daba&pf_rd_p=d5ef238f-cc6b-4540-aa3d-ad191f99daba&pf_rd_r=GTFQQKFZPXV76099J09W&pd_rd_wg=CwwJK&pd_rd_r=9c3e0c8b-bc09-44b3-94a0-a11bcaeda960&pd_rd_i=B0BZKWKBCB&psc=1&ref_=pd_bap_d_grid_rp_0_1_ec_cp_nb_sb_ss_w_as-ontype-md_k0_11_11_t

 

[Bobby V]

I like the smart plug idea. I could turn it on when I am heading there on Friday and should be good by the morning. How often are you guys servicing these for residential use? What is a ball park cost on the service.

Thanks for the information and opinions.

FYI...If you use the smart plug you will need to leave the water on that feeds the ice maker. I always turned mine off.

 

[boatpi]

I have had two machines for 20 years, newest one is an under counter Ice O Matic half cube. Half cubers are great for ice chests. Garage is no issue, but as noted a bin will not hold ice in a garage for longer than 48 hours. Just fire it up when u arrive, it should fill the bin overnight and use the ice the following days. Most machines Have a pobe that shuts off production when the ice fills the bin.

 

[SHEP]

We put a split unit in our garage, single car size, and run ours when we get there for a day. Before we had the split unit that thing would run for days and never get full. The garage was very hot also, even with fans, so we would only run it at night when it was hot outside. Split unit is the way go! The ice will last several days, maybe 3-4, depending on how many chest you fill and if your neighbors don't come to fill theirs up also. Drinks are usually traded in return so it works out.

 

[DarkHorseRacing]

Just be aware if the power goes off as much as it does at the Springs you’re bagged ice in your cooler will probably melt too.

But if you want to do it, a smart plug and even a smart water valve and you can turn the power and water on from anywhere.

 

[thetub]

You can buy a lot of bags of ice for the $2000 a nice machine will cost. Plus the chest freezer. It would be dang convenient though....

but is it diesel or gas ?

 

[Hermosa]

Saw a video some time ago where the guy bought a coffin freezer and an ice maker kit for a fridge. Mounted the icemaker inside, drilled a hole or two for a water line and power and a big plastic bin that fit inside freezer. Wah-Lah.

I did this, in fact, I've made over 30 of them. They work great, they are slow, but not a problem for a weekender. They make the big thick cubes that don't melt, fucking love it, have one at each of our houses, end up selling them to anyone who sees it. Total costs are about $300.00

 

[LuauLounge]

FYI...If you use the smart plug you will need to leave the water on that feeds the ice maker. I always turned mine off.

tie in a water solenoid valve and you are good to go

 

[Flying_Lavey]

tie in a water solenoid valve and you are good to go

If you want to really get tricky you could tie it into the fill solenoid inside the machine. All machines have a fill solenoid.

 

[BingerFang]

this is correct, I have some buds who have this setup, and they end up buying bags on amazon and bagging and storing in a chest freezer.

edit:: haha yea, exactly what @Bobby V said

We will fill up the freezer with ice in trashbags prior to leaving that way when we get to the river garage we fill up the ice maker storage. It seems to help the ice maker out quite well.

 

[Cobalt232]

FYI...If you use the smart plug you will need to leave the water on that feeds the ice maker. I always turned mine off.

If you are using a smart plug, you can also get one of these. I use one on the Havasu house that is a Z-Wave controlled by an Alarm.com rule that opens the valve when the alarm is off. You could program it so it opens when that plug is energized.

A nice thing with that setup is that it runs over cellular, so I can also reboot my router via the cellular connection with a smart plug.

 

[rrrr]

An ice machine in a closed garage is going to run close to a high head pressure cutoff or even trip offline, because there's no way to remove the heat from the condenser output. That 120° air needs to be exhausted for the machine to run properly and live.

 

[n2otoofast4u]

Thanks for the reminder, I need to make a few bags. Our is just a cheapo, but it’s worth it! I have 4-6 bags on hand typically, then we’ll use a couple and I’ll make a few more. I typically turn it on at bed, and there’s 2+ in the bin.

 

[boatpi]

Don’t forget to reduce the estimated output every 24 hours of ice machine by 25% in the summer for Havasu or anywhere else because of the ambient temperature and the temperature of the incoming cold water supply. Ice generation just takes that much longer due to those increased temperatures.

In addition, if you have an ice machine outside, come winter time do not expect any production. It’s too cold. The ice will build up and in the heat and release cycle. It will never eject. But if it’s in the garage, it will probably work if you need ice in the winter.

 

[thedan]

View attachment 1393108 View attachment 1393109 View attachment 1393110 Thanks for the reminder, I need to make a few bags. Our is just a cheapo, but it’s worth it! I have 4-6 bags on hand typically, then we’ll use a couple and I’ll make a few more. I typically turn it on at bed, and there’s 2+ in the bin.

I have a $400 vevor smaller machine in my uninsulated building and I love it. I bought the one with the 5 gallon water bottle option which I use. I burned through 2 ice makers in my fridge at my place in Mohave Valley even though I had a filter. The gross yellow water ate shit up. I have a garage fridge that I make yellow ice in about 40 trays, and that along with this machine sustains us well. I do bring out a couple of coolers of ice from work to help too.

 

[Slick]

Love having an ice machine. Mine is in our shop in the IE, still hot, but not havi garage hot.
If your garage has ac it would help. in your case turn it on when you get there and by the morning it has ice. Factors do play with how fast it makes ice, ambient temp and inline water temp. Its wet ice as the been is not cooled, so it melts (need a drain) so ice is being made all the time and how often depends how fast it melts. So bag it like others said and turn it off till you need it again. Ours runs constantly and is a 400 lb a day unit, its bigger than i needed and could have gone with 1/2 production, but only wanted to buy once.

I went 2 years before maintenance , and should have done it sooner, the amount of hard calcium was surprising even with filters... so now its yearly.

What does a 20 lb bag of ice cost in havi now?

$3.50 for a 20lb bag at Heather’s Water and Ice.

 

[JB in so cal]

Or just buy a couple huge bags and drop them in a freezer when you drive into town....

 

[Hardly Satisfied]

I buy bags from Amazon and I have a refrigerator with a ice maker at my house in Riverside and have a chest freezer also and I bag the ice and store it till I go to havasu and fill 2 soft sided ice chests and I have more than a enough for my trip

 

[Outdrive1]

 

[Socalx09]

We have one at our house in chino and one in the havasu garage. Before the mini split, it would make ice, but it would melt in a day in July/August in havasu. Now it holds ice for a few days with the mini split set at 78-80. We only have it on while we are there. Almost went the freezer route, but we are running out of room in the garage already. Go as big as you can like others mentioned. Everyone loads their coolers at my dad’s havasu place.

We usually have the ice machine in chino running every weekend. We didn’t notice the electricity change really. We do not have a mini split unit in Chino and it definitely gets hot in there. We usually have a fan running with the window open or man door for ventilation.

Chino

Havasu

 

[n2otoofast4u]

I have a $400 vevor smaller machine in my uninsulated building and I love it. I bought the one with the 5 gallon water bottle option which I use. I burned through 2 ice makers in my fridge at my place in Mohave Valley even though I had a filter. The gross yellow water ate shit up. I have a garage fridge that I make yellow ice in about 40 trays, and that along with this machine sustains us well. I do bring out a couple of coolers of ice from work to help too.

I don’t remember what I paid for this one, under a grand, but we’re fortunate to have great water (but shit weather) and to this point after only a year and almost 100 bags, it’s been rock solid.

For us, who boat nearly every night during summer, it’s not the ice saving money, it’s the no going to gas station everyday that take time away from lake. And not only buying ice, those stops inevitably turn into snacks and shit even though we don’t need them! It save $20 a trip and easily 15 mins for us.

 

[Done-it-again]

$3.50 for a 20lb bag at Heather’s Water and Ice.

That’s not bad. It’s almost $7 in ca at the store/711.

Costco is around $3 but too crowded to go for ice.

 

[hallett21]

In havasu we get ice pretty cheap at the ICE store next to smiths. Load the truck up with 200lbs and throw it in the chest freezer.

That lasts us 3-4 trips. Some of you are using an insane amount of ice! lol you need more cold beer in the cooler!

 

[DLC]

My set up…

drinking fountain is a Pre Chiller for the summer hot water

I bag my ice in 10 lb bags, I have 80-100 lbs in my upright freezer at any time
already on my 2nd box of ice bags, each box has 275 bags in them and I use twisty ties

filling the boat cooler you can burn up 30-40 lbs pretty easy!

costco business center $1800 - 275 lbs in a day, hopper holds 80 / 100lbs

Priceless !

cocktails
veti cups
coolers filled
bag ice

once the ice machine has a harvest it starts to melt in the hopper, so bagged ice in a freezer is frozen and actually colder

make sure to have good filters on your water supply line and to actually change them once a year or as needed…..

going to need -

drain line
water supply
120 outlet

 

[DLC]

Even at $3 bag 275 bags - (1box of bags ) is over $825 in bagged ice

not to say anything about drink ice
or
just filling the cooler from the hopper

Wife thinks it’s a big PLUS having the ice machine….