Is this a can't live without type of appliance?

We are currently building and we went through the appliance bid and found ourselves asking if it's something we really want/need.

We've never had one before, but we hate digging through the ice drawer in the fridge. We will have another panel ready fridge, so no ice dispenser on the fridge door.

Use ours multiple times every day, the only other thing that fits that category would be the toilet. We actually didn't put in a freezer in the kitchen and have an upright freezer in the laundry room. I know we will have to replace it at some point (is 5+ years on a nugget ice machine), but totally worth it.

We are putting one in our new build. We went with A "sonic ice" maker. It's going in our bar with the kegerator and the wine fridge. We go through so much ice. A fridge with 2 ice makers can't keep up especially when we have company. For us, it was something we really wanted in this house.

Following this thread. I think I'm about ready to put one in our kitchen. There have been threads every once in a while, always with mixed opinions - cost, reliability, noise.

For nugget ice, looks like primarily Scotsman and Hoshizaki. Which brand did you put in, bmfvet? jtp01?

I am ice addicted and bought a display model marvell over twenty years ago. Its actually a relabeled Japanese brand (hoskawa?) And is still running today. I will be very sad when it dies. I do repairs myself. It has a magnetic coupled pump that stuck when nearly new, leaked and replaced by me at 12yr and changed water valve at 15 and deep cleaning several times. All pretty straight forward.
My inlaws have a couple that i believe are relabeled ge that have grid ice cutting. The cutters fail quickly on their well water and i have a spare i swap in when i rewire the broken one. But they are not nearly as good as my marvell.
Quality ice is essential to my gallon of tea daily habit.

my in-laws have one. its great. We thought about putting one in when we re-did our kitchen, but we didn't want to lose the cabinet space since we were already adding a wine fridge. If I was doing a new build and and more space, I'd definitely put one in.

We've had an Opal countertop maker for almost 3 years. First one failed after 6 months but was replaced under warranty. Makes great sonic ice. (about 3 lbs/hr) We use distilled water to minimize scale buildup. It does require regular cleanings cuz ice is food but it's worth the effort.

We put a Scotsman in our new build 7 years ago. No problems and still running strong. I clean it about once a year although the clean light comes on after 6 months.

I think guests like it more than we do though. Several of my wife's friends and some of her family always get some while they're at our house and refill before they leave. It's the Sonic style ice. My wife and I drink water without ice 99% of the time.

my customer highly recommends hoshizaki or manitowac
https://www.hoshizakiamerica.com/
https://www.manitowocice.com/

TxAg20 said:

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We put a Scotsman in our new build 7 years ago. No problems and still running strong. I clean it about once a year although the clean light comes on after 6 months.

I think guests like it more than we do though. Several of my wife's friends and some of her family always get some while they're at our house and refill before they leave. It's the Sonic style ice. My wife and I drink water without ice 99% of the time.

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Glad to hear. We just ordered a Scotsman Brilliance Cuber. This will be my first ice machine ever and looking forward to it.

Do you have a leak detector installed with it by chance? I am planning on having the installer add one similar to a water heater. The house we bought had a large portion of floors damaged from the previous ice machine leaking....

Anyone have one that makes larger ice better for proper dranks? I think it's generally called "top hat" ice. Our current one makes regular small ice (not nugget) which is great for every day ice but I'd like one that's better for etoh drinks.

That is the kind we bought...don't have it yet so cannot comment:

https://www.scotsmanhomeice.com/product/brilliance-cuber-model-scc30/

My FIL has the nugget and he likes it but my wife and I are not a "chew on ice" family and prefer to not have my drinks get watered down.

Thanks! Please report back once you get it!

MAS444 said:

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Thanks! Please report back once you get it!

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Unfortunately....it will be a LONG time...part of a bulk order which some will not be here, as currently scheduled, until May 2022....dishwasher could be July 2022...

Holy crap - thanks for the info. Maybe we need to go ahead and order then!

We are doing fridge, oven, cooktop etc.

I am not sure that the icemaker is the problem but they will hold it until everything arrives (minus the dishwasher).

However, if you are doing several appliances, I would definitely recommend ordering sooner vs later.

About 4 weeks ago we thought it would be late March time frame, we were slow to order, then when placed we were told first week of May. Ugh.

We put in a Scotsman and it has worked well for 5 years with the regular cleaning. It is having some issues draining that I think have to do with our drain line set up and not the machine itself.

Nugget ice with a yeti lowball works great with not much ice melting FYI.

We just ordered from True for our wet bar remodel. Should be here mid November from what I've been told.

https://true-residential.com/products/clear-ice-machine/

03_Aggie said:

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We just ordered from True for our wet bar remodel. Should be here mid November from what I've been told.

https://true-residential.com/products/clear-ice-machine/

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I think you will be very happy with that. I looked at that and the sub zero one....but we just kept upgrading everything so put foot down on ice maker and dishwasher lol....

Passed on the under counter model. These are stupid expensive and not worth potential for future problems on our wood floors I'll put a small commercial stand up Scotsman or Manitowoc in the garage for about the same money.

How loud are these things?

I'd recommend an RO system for it. Helps prolong the life of the ice machine and improves the water taste and clarity. Easy enough to install for 200 bucks - don't rent a system.

If you haven't poured foundation already, plumb for a gravity drain.

I am a novice on this but I heard gravity drains are great but…unless I didn't understand…they still recommend a pump system to push the water out better and avoid mildew etc.

Has a service guy at house yesterday and he said he recommends Scotsman and Subzero for icemakers. He said Subzero has a 10 year warranty, which is nice. Subzero is normally too rich for my blood but it doesn't look like their icemakers are any more expensive than others (Scotsman, e.g.) Anyone have a Sub Zero?

So depends on which Scotsman / Sub but the Scotsman, from my research, is a bit less than Sub:

(All these are with pump and panel ready....does not include any panel)

Sub Zero Top Hat ice maker = $3,819

Scotsman High End Top Hat ice maker = $2,925

Scotsman Middle Top Hat ice maker = $2,405

I went with the "Scotsman Middle" (there is an even cheaper Scotsman but it is not clear ice).

Here is what I see as the differences:

1) Sub Zero has the handle in the door vs in the bin which is nice/cleaner and it has a light in the bin which is definitely a nicer overall look. The cube itself is a little more detailed but i imagine after 2 minutes of being in a drink you don't see that...

2) Scotsman High End does not have the detailed cube as sub zero. It does have a light in the bin and a few more buttons on the "control panel" vs the middle scotsman. Also produces ice faster than middle.

3) Scotsman Middle has same cube as the "high end" but has slower output (still a lot but not quite as much), no light in bin and a more simple "control panel).


I couldn't justify the $500 for the light and faster output on Scotman and definitely did not want the, in my mind, significant increase for Sub.

Very, very helpful - thanks!

No problem. Been living in the appliance analysis world for a few months now....we made our purchase so glad that is over....happy to share what I have learned....

I have a Hoshi

It's loud when it runs, and in a hallway bar so you can hear it everywhere.

You need to clean at least every 6 months. It's a couple hour process. If you miss the cleaning it just keeps making ice….which is a problem when you come downstairs and there is ice all over the floor. Paint on my toe molding is destroyed from a this. It's a really stupid failure mode.

The ice is great though.
I have it on a standard carbon filter. Want to put in RO but will need to give up a bottom cabinet. Still considering.

I don't know the levels of Scotsman but I have this one and it's fantastic. I plumbed it to my RO system and put out crystal clear ice. Been going strong for year so no long term history yet.

https://www.ajmadison.com/cgi-bin/ajmadison/SCCG50MB1SS.html

That's the highest end cuber. Glad you like it. How is the noise?

Quiet. Ice dropping when the level is low makes noise but when full/topping off it's quiet. The compressor is very quiet too.