counter top ice maker
 

Does anyone have/use one? with the hot summer around the corner I'm thinking of getting one i normaly buy bag ice but so heavy to lug in the house and take up so much space in the freezer........thanks have a good day

DH had one in his shop and he said it didn't make much ice at all. Maybe someone with can give you a more detailed review.

We had one at one time and it made more of a mess than ice. We took it back to the store.

Refrigerators with ice in the door takes the place of a separate ice machine. We always have ice available even when we have all the family here.

I thought about getting one because I love ice! After reading tons of reviews I decided not to, very few good reviews and the ones that did are very expensive and big!

I know someone that has one and it really doesn't work that well. Sorry :(

if you are just talking about having some one hand for iced drinks what I use is the reusable ice cubes...sounds terrible doesn't it :) but they work well and take up next to no room, I just keep them in a box in the freezer. https://www.google.com/search?ei=IEr...71.MNp56PMtbkw
I run them through the dishwasher in the silverware bin after each use.

After fighting the ice maker in my fridge door for too many years, I went back to ice trays. After 6 months my then wife figured out that her ice wasn't shaped by the ice maker. She was upset at me. Reallly? It was the same filtered water and she wasn't the one who had spent hours/days over the years fighting that blasted machine. I mean. Who would deign a plastic tube that lives in freezing environment not to freeze when water is in it? I am still using ice cube trays at my house and my GF's house. I never want an ice maker in my home.

I looked into them because we never have ice makers in our refrigerator-our well water is not good at all. But they all had bad reviews so I'm just making ice, 2 trays at a time...

I freeze water in clean milk cartons. Slamm the baby on concrete a few times and you have crushed ice.

thanks for the comments everyone I will now take it off my want list and continue with bagged ice...........

I’m fear ice makers in the refrigerator after 2 friends had theirs go bad & got major damage in their homes. Ours lasted 2-3 years &we didn’t replace or repair it. We buy 5# ice & keep it in the tray. We don’t use that much ice anyway.

One other issue is the water line breaking and flooding floors.

I'm with you ,leon. I was soo excited to get a fridge with an icemaker and door dispenser. What a waste. The tube leaked into the basement twice, I had the motor replaced to the tune of over $300, and it still didn't work. Never again. I use ice cube trays in there now and use the built in ice bucket in the freezer to store blue reusable ice chest freezie things.

We're in the ice cube tray group also! Our ice maker went out days after the warranty expired, and we decided not to spend the money fixing it. We have room for 4 trays on the top shelf and keep the ice-bucket filled.

tesspug, you made me laugh out loud!

I have an Emerson and love it. I freeze the cubes and put them in bags in the freezer. It has been very useful. The cubes are elongated with a hole in the middle. The little ones love them

My friend in Phoenix has an ice maker and loves it. They make up a few batches of ice and keep it in the refrigerator's freezer. When they are having a large group of people they make up a lot of it. They use bottled water in it so that prevents any mineral build up. I was thinking of getting one when our ice maker in the refrigerator went out, but ice cube trays are cheaper and easier to deal with. I don't have the room in my kitchen to keep an ice machine and to carry it in and out would become an issue and not happen.

We bought one last year at Sam's Club to put downstairs on our bar. When we have friends over and know we will be making a lot of extra drinks, we start the ice maker up. I believe it only makes about 20 cubes at a time but it only takes about 20 minutes to make them. I just dump them in Ziploc freezer bags and accumulate until I have more than enough. I leave leftovers in the freezer for next time. The last time I had overnight company, I had to run downstairs and get a couple of my leftover bags to use in the kitchen. I guess you can do the same thing with your own ice maker in the kitchen or with ice cube trays. Make extra and store them for when you want them.

My DH finds both his ice machines indispensable.
The one he uses in his man cave when he has company, the other one we use in the caravan when we do long-term camping.
Both our sons like and use their ice machines extensively in summer.
We use bottled water in our machines, and empty and clean them out before storing in winter time.
It takes 12 minutes for the first 24 cubes to form, but all the batches after that, takes about 8 minutes. We also freeze the left-over cubes.
My grandson (2yo) loves an ice-cube in his coffee:D

We have an ice maker in the fridge, no problems with it. We buy ice for coolers and champagne bucket when we need it.

I have never had the line inside the fridge freeze up in any of my fridges ice makers or no leaks. The line should be empty after water is dispensed for ice making. Maybe it's the model of fridge that has the problem. I do know a metal line is much better then plastic tubing coming from the sink hook up. Most new fridges have a built in filter. We by passed that and put a filter in the metal line going to the ice/water. It does a better job and much cheaper to replace. $12 vs $49 per filter.

When the new refrigerator was delivered, the delivery men leveled it etc but told us they’re not allowed to attach the hook up for the ice maker. We had to do it so that tells me it’s just an accident waiting to happen. It worked about 2 years then died.

We had a refrigerator with an ice maker in the freezer in our old house for many years with not one problem. Before leaving for work in the morning, I would put a package of frozen meat in the sink and dump ice on top. When I came home, the meat was thawed but cold.

I have one and love it. It's great for every day use. However, if you need a lot of ice for a party you may want to start a few days earlier emptying the bin every few hours and save it in a large Tupperware bowl in your freezer, as the ice machine only stores a few cups at a time.The reason we bought one is because every time we bought a refrigerator with an ice maker in the freezer, the icemaker was always the first thing to go. We'd buy the replacement cartridges but they cost more than the tabletop icemaker. So now our icemaker in the freezer is taking up a lot of space but not working.

I see that most people don't like them.Well I Love mine. The one in the fridge kept going out and the parts/repairs were expensive . The last time it went out I said enough and bought a counter one. It will fill up the basket it comes with really fast. You can then dump it into the fridge dispenser or just use it from the machine. I usually fill it with water once a day. keep in mind it is not a freezer the ice will get melty if you don't use the ice. Like overnight. If I am having company I fill up the dispenser in the fridge and keep filling it it as it get used. I don't have a lot of counter space so it sits on a corner of my kitchen table.

I have no experience with standalone ice makers. Our ice maker is in the freezer of our fridge and it's great. 7 years and still problem free. We opted not to get the dispenser for water and ice on the fridge door, as we know nobody that has a working dispenser. Which tells me, they have a high failure rate and it's too costly to repair. On-line reviews indicated the dispensers were nothing but trouble.

I bought an ice machine as I hate lugging nags if ice home, especially in the summer. But I also used to hate filling up the stupid ice trays that came with our refrigerator. I’ve never had an in-door ice maker. So - I discover d silicon ice cube makers. I have them in a regular cube size, and also ones in the giant size which I really love. It’s easy to pushing he bit timid each cube and it eventually pops out - the big ones can be a little difficult but I call it my exercise😁😁😁😁. I also have the ones that make long skinny “cubes” that fit into three water bottles. Fun if I actually remember to use them. I truly hated the old time ones where you had to pull up a lever in the middle. It was really hard to do! But back to the ice machine, I used it a few times with bottled water, but the cubes were kind if small and it was a pain to use. I think I may donate mine and get another kitchen appliance I will actually use!!!

I have a 24' Kenmore side by side refrigerator/freezer with ice/water dispenser in the door that was purchased in 1995/96. Never had a problem and I always have as much ice as I need. I Hate ice trays. My daughter has had 2 (maybe 3) refrigerators in the last 20 years and not one of them made enough ice. She had a counter top ice maker - don't know where it is now.

We have two portable ice makers. We keep one in our trailer and one at our cabin. We love them. They immediately start making ice. You do have to empty the bin tray. The ice will melt if left in. These do not freeze ice, they just make the cubes. You still have to store them in your freezer. We put the ice in zip locks bags. Works great!

We’ve had an ice maker in our fridge for years. Never had a problem with out first fridge. Our second fridge is totally different. We have had the ice maker repaired twice. Our service guy said fixing ice makers is what he does all day every day. I would go to trays but DH likes the ice maker ice.

When I had the pizza parlor, our ice machine (commercial) would require cleaning about twice a year. The repairman said it was the yeast used in the pizza crusts. I have one in the fridge (household) and I rarely make bread with yeast. I've not had a problem with it. Occasionally the ice starts looking old and I just dump it all i the sink and start over.

I love ice, but hate the taste of icemaker ice. I buy a small bag of ice once every couple of weeks.
Someimes I drop the bag a the floor to break it up.

My Sister,has one and it is Awesome we all love it she has had her's for like 8yrs.it's still going strong

I live alone in a ver small apartment with a no-ice-maker refrigerator. It suits me because, though I love ice and all my drinks are iced, I have always hated the flavor and shape of refrigerator ice maker ice. Ewww!

Using bottled water,, I make my ice a cube at a time in these little round storage containers that hold about 3 oz. They are a good size for my glass, they pop out of the container easily, I only need one in a drink that's already chilled. I make up about 6-7 at night before I go to bed, setting them on the top door shelf in the freezer. Sometimes I refill during the day, but often there are a couple left at the end of the day anyway. The bottled water freezes clear -- I use reverse osmosis filtered water -- and I think that makes it taste better. Kroger Drinking Water, Aquafina, and Desani are all RO filtered. Check the labels.

Jan in VA