Ice Machine in your Garage??

[vettebrett]

Just wanted to see if anyone else has put a full size ice machine(like in hotel hallways) in their garage. I know during the sumer that between the boat trips, basbeall games 9 months during the year that I end up buying alot of ice for my coolers and I am thinking that it would be easier if I had my own ice machine at home.

 

[kbs2244]

I don't know why it wouldn't work. They are just a larger and heavy duty version of what is in you kitchen.
It would take a eletric and water hookup. They can pull a lot of current. When you comercial grade, conservation suffers. They can be pricey, too. I remember around $2500 to $3000 when I was buying for a plumbing contractor. You might want to check for a used one.

 

[Steve in Mi]

Seems to me that you could buy a whole bunch of ice for what it will cost to run one of these machines not to mention the machine cost. If your convenience overshadows cost, go for it!

 

[RockMonkey]

I've got a Scottsman pellet ice machine in the garage! It produces the crunchy chewable ice you get in hospitals and some restaurants. I actually got it for free. It had a small water leak for many years, and rusted out the middle plate that supports all the machinery. I took it all apart a fabricated a new plate. I also replaced all the hoses. It works great, and my wife goes crazy for the crunchy ice.

 

[vettebrett]

I like the crunchy ice too. I have been looking at some and I keep seeing the Scottsman name keep popping up. I am goin to talk to a local restaurant supply house and see what one would run.

 

[RockMonkey]

I like the crunchy ice too. I have been looking at some and I keep seeing the Scottsman name keep popping up. I am goin to talk to a local restaurant supply house and see what one would run.

Scottsman is awesome. They are quite expensive though. So many places use them you should be able to find a used one for cheap or free that needs work. Mine works great, the cabinet just needed to be rebuilt.

 

[sjsfire]

I don't know anyone who has a ice machine in their garage, but a buddy of mine has a soft serve ice cream machine in his. He got one for free, buys his soft serve mix from Sam's club. What ever is left over they put in the freezer. Talk about being popular nieghbors

 

[rick2752]

I had the same thought, but my idea was to take a standard top and bottom door frig/freezer, take all the shelves out of freezer and fabricate some type of tub(rubbermaid or something). If your not dumping it everyday a standard ice maker will run until the ice hits the shutoff lever. If there isnt a small container it will just keep running. I didnt like the commercial because I think it just keeps making the ice fresh and letting the other melt. The bottom isnt refrigerated. Granted the ice machine makes much better tasting ice but are we eating it or keeping beer cold??

 

[vettebrett]

I was talking with my B-I-Law tonight and he says his work has one that needs repair. I might have just found me one for free hopefully

 

[thefairlaneman]

Depending on just how often you need several coolers full of ice I would consider a refrig with an ice maker and remove the little ice catcher tray and replace it with a very large one so it would fill the entire freezer section with ice, It would make the ice and give you some room to store a few briskies,sodas, or fish bait and cost little

 

[tallone]

Got a small Scottsman ice machine, commerical in mine...works great and I don't see much different in my electric bill...

 

[RockMonkey]

Granted the ice machine makes much better tasting ice but are we eating it or keeping beer cold??

Eating it!

And filling the occasional cooler...

 

[RockMonkey]

I was talking with my B-I-Law tonight and he says his work has one that needs repair. I might have just found me one for free hopefully

Awesome! Let me know what happens with it. It would be interesting to me to see what you have to do to refurbish yours. I can probably help you out a bit with the learning curve too. BTDT.

 

[The Hot Rod Grille]

I've got one of the small, undercounter ice machines in The Hot Rod Grille Garage. It looks like a 4 cubic foot "dorm" refrigerator and has a large ice bucket that catches the ice from the same type of ice maker that is found in a regular refrigerator. It works great and supplies all the ice that we need at the soda fountain.

Jim Winter
The Hot Rod Grille Garage

www.wvpinball.com

 

[Steve in Mi]

Another hot day today so why not talk ice. I saw this little ice maker on the Bay (he has more than one) maybe a good size for the garage that has ALMOST everything.
http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-AUTOMATIC-P...0QQihZ015QQcategoryZ25378QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[JOYO]

I think those things blow out a lot of heat....so if you spend a lot of time in your garage, might be worth looking into. You ever had a refrigerator in a small room? Same kinda thing. I spend a lot of time in my garage these days and in the Texas climate. I couldn't stand any more heat in there.
Sure would be convenient though.

 

[mike93lx]

Reviving a 15 year old post is not great form, but none the less, you can build your own

 

[PCustoms]

I am looking to put a freezer in my garage and want to be able to make ice for offshore trips. I am thinking a chest freezer would be the best option to hold a couple of hundred pounds of ice but I do not see chest-style freezers with an ice maker. Any ideas out there about how to find something like this?

I do not think I want to go with a traditional style ice maker because I live in Central Florida and the heat would be brutal on it in the summer. I am sure my electric bill would probably suffer and void any savings I might get from making my own.

Fill 2 liter bottles or similar with water.

Pack the freezer.

 

[Stuart in MN]

I find that those reusable gel filled freezer packs work better than ice. They seem to stay cold longer, and you don't have a bunch of water to deal with like you do when ice melts.

 

[ToddG]

Commercial ice machines make lots of ice but don't actually keep it frozen. It melts constantly and uses a lot of water. You need a drain nearby to get rid of the melt water. At work we had to put a pump in to get rid of the water and get it to a sink.

 

[nadogail]

Adding a Soft Serve Ice Cream machine or a Ice Maker to my garage would cost me both space and detract from the ability to get constructive work done. My workshop is a WORKSHOP. not a place for Social Gatherings.

Occasionally I pull a bottle of water from the tiny, free to me, refrigerator or make a cup of instant coffee in a Hot Pot, but my workshop is , and always will be, a Workshop.

 

[yeldogt]

Commercial ice machines make lots of ice but don't actually keep it frozen. It melts constantly and uses a lot of water. You need a drain nearby to get rid of the melt water. At work we had to put a pump in to get rid of the water and get it to a sink.

Most people don't understand how the small clear cube systems work .... They think it's just a freezer and a big Ice bin like at home.

They actually have a freeze plate that slowly freezes water that is being pumped over it -- when the slab of ice is thick enough it triggers the unit to go into heatpump mode and now the plate warms ... the plate is at an angle and heating it sends the slab of ice off and onto a cutter grid of wires that cuts the ice into cubes. They then fall into the bin that you can scoop it from. The water that is being pumped over the plate is dumped each cycle.

The only thing in the bin that is cold is the plate. They use a lot of water and energy. The ice is always melting so even if you don't touch it -- it needs to keep making ice.

I have two of them and I don't keep them running all year long

 

[vrinner]

Most people don't understand how the small clear cube systems work .... They think it's just a freezer and a big Ice bin like at home.

They actually have a freeze plate that slowly freezes water that is being pumped over it -- when the slab of ice is thick enough it triggers the unit to go into heatpump mode and now the plate warms ... the plate is at an angle and heating it sends the slab of ice off and onto a cutter grid of wires that cuts the ice into cubes. They then fall into the bin that you can scoop it from. The water that is being pumped over the plate is dumped each cycle.

The only thing in the bin that is cold is the plate. They use a lot of water and energy. The ice is always melting so even if you don't touch it -- it needs to keep making ice.

I have two of them and I don't keep them running all year long

I have one of these units and it was explained to me a bit further that the ice is clear because the minerals in the water don't freeze. As that little thin layer of ice forms it is more pure/less minerals in it. Then after the cycle of freeze/cutting, the pumped water is very mineral rich so it gets dumped and fresh water is pulled in for the next batch.

But I do notice that although they are cool looking and you can barely see them when in your drink, they don't seem to last as long so maybe it's just at the freezing point?

 

[firebirdparts]

Apparently. ice in a freezer is at about zero F. 30 degrees of sensible heat there.

 

[Leaflessshadetree]

Most often I freeze bottled water. Works good in the cooler and the bottles I drink stay cold.
For larger coolers I fill cake pans with water. The large chunk of ice melts slower than the same amount of small cubes.

 

[Finally]

I looked at the pros and cons of this a few years back. I decided to buy a large floor freezer and fill with bags of ice from Walmart of whoever may be closer or cheaper. It has Worked great for me, and now you have an extra freezer if needed, but I keep stocked with the ice only.

 

[ltusler]

I find that those reusable gel filled freezer packs work better than ice. They seem to stay cold longer, and you don't have a bunch of water to deal with like you do when ice melts.

I use these also. They would leak a bit so I put them in zip lock bags then replaced those with Foodsaver bags, much better. Keeps beer cold at the track in the back of the truck all weekend.

 

[Stuart in MN]

I use these also. They would leak a bit so I put them in zip lock bags then replaced those with Foodsaver bags, much better. Keeps beer cold at the track in the back of the truck all weekend.

I keep mine in ziplock bags too. Mine have lasted for years but they can eventually start to leak, just from getting beat up from handling over time.

 

[driftpin]

Something to consider is that fumes from running engines can contaminate the ice. Miami-Dade County Fire/Rescue (FL) has a longitudinal study of the incidence of cancer among firefighters. One of the things they discovered is that ice-makers in the engine bays produced contaminated ice. As a result of that, ice-makers were removed from engine bays and precautions are taken in the design of new stations to not make that mistake, placing ice-makers in the engine bays.

 

[mike93lx]

Something to consider is that fumes from running engines can contaminate the ice. Miami-Dade County Fire/Rescue has a longitudinal study of the incidence of cancer among firefighters. One of the things they discovered is that ice-makers in the engine bays produced contaminated ice. As a result of that, ice-makers were removed from engine bays and precautions are taken in the design of new stations to not make that mistake, placing ice-makers in the engine bays.

I think a firehouse isn't a great comparison to most home garages

 

[captain14]

Something to consider is that fumes from running engines can contaminate the ice. Miami-Dade County Fire/Rescue has a longitudinal study of the incidence of cancer among firefighters. One of the things they discovered is that ice-makers in the engine bays produced contaminated ice. As a result of that, ice-makers were removed from engine bays and precautions are taken in the design of new stations to not make that mistake, placing ice-makers in the engine bays.

I have to second this. Ice machines are now placed in an ancillary room in the fire house.

 

[yeldogt]

One more item about the clear ice makers -- you hear them. Louder vs one of the small wine fridges. Most of the wine refrigerators are 24" and only run a couple times a day. The ice makers are only 18" wide -- lot of stuff going on in a tight package. Not only the compressor and condenser fan in there --- they have the internal recirculation pump going while it's in ice making mode. Both of mine use a pump for the drain as well.

 

[niget2002]

The previous owner of my house had one in the shop. The shop is still plumbed for the water and drain for one.

I'm using a counter top ice maker during the summer to have ice and water in the shop while I work.

 

[Walkers]

I was talking with my B-I-Law tonight and he says his work has one that needs repair. I might have just found me one for free hopefully

My favorite flavor, free.