This commercial ice machine buying guide will walk you trough every aspect that you need to know before shopping for ice making equipment.
Commercial ice machines can be an integral part for many restaurants, hotels, bars, schools, fish markets, nursing homes and hospitals. Many food service institution owners and managers doesn’t know what they need to know before purchasing an ice making equipment. IceMachineMaker.com offers a quick information for consideration before making a decision on buying commercial ice maker.
How much ice do you need in a day?
Keep in mind how many people your foodservice institution can fit and the amount of ice you will need during busy hours . The last thing you want is to have a busy day with shortage of ice at the bar. Also don’t forget to take a look at the ice production listed in the commercial ice machines specs. Keep in mind that your consumption might increase in the future, plus calculate the amount of ice that you need for displays, food packaging, salad bar… If you need ice for a sea food display or a salad bar, count around 25-30 lbs per cubic foot. If you are is the restaurant business, your daily ice consumption is between 1 and 2 lbs per person.
Fast food institutions need about 1/2 the size of the serving cup times the number of cups sold per working day. That is approximately 8 oz of ice for each 16 oz size soda cup you distribute a day.
Hospitals & Nursing Homes will use about 8-10 lbs per person and around 1.5-2 lbs per employee.
A Bar or Lounge will use about 2-3 lbs of ice per seat.
The Shape of Ice
Think about shape of the ice. It could be full dice ice cube, half dice ice cube, crushed ice, flakes or nuggets. The shapes differs from one ice machine to the next. You can choose ice cubes in a variety of shapes and sizes.You can also choose the texture of the ice crushed ice, flakes or nuggets. It’s up to your preference and consumer needs. For example sea food stores must go with soft textured ice like flakes or nuggets, and bars and restaurants should consider different dice sizes of ice for the drinks.
How much space do you have for the commercial ice machine?
Measure the width, length, and height of the space you have for your commercial ice maker. Don’t forge to include for ADA aisle space requirements. Also account that if the ice maker you choose is smaller than the bin, you will need a bin top and ice bins require a separate vented drain connection.
What kind of ice maker is right for your business?
A self contained unit – (integrated unit), is the simplest to install. Remember that the capacity for ice storage is fixed, and you are not gonna be able to upgrade ice storage bin if you find you need one. If you need to increase your ice production capacity, get a modular unit (non-integrated unit). With modular unit if needed, place a second ice machine next to the first on top of a larger ice bin, and your problem will be solved.
Ice makers come in 2 types: continuous operation models & batch models. Continuous units run non stop. Batch ice machine models, after harvesting a batch of ice, starts a thawing cycle.
Commercial ice machines could be: Air cooled, remote air cooled, and water cooled.
The least expensive in a long run are air cooled ice machines, they use more energy to make ice and are noisier than water cooled ice machines.
Water cooled ice machines are usually more quiet, but are more water hungry than the air cooled type. The ice making process can use from 20 to 50 gallons of water per 100 lbs of ice, and self cleaning ice machines use even more water, but the self cleaning feature saves on labor needed to clean the unit.
Remote condensing ice machines generate the heat outside the building. This saves the air conditioning cost, because your AC unit doesn’t have to work that hard. Remote Condensing type is also the most quiet, since the it works outside.
Finally, think about the ice bin. Ice making head units don’t have ice storage bins, but can hold a variety of ice bin capacities.
How large of a ice storage bin does your business require?
Choose an ice bin that can hold a 1/2 day of ice making. Try to take into account your daily usage, your peak usage, and ice production time of the ice maker.
Another factor is cleaning of the ice making unit. Every ice maker needs periodic cleaning, because of the slime mold build up inside of the ice maker. (“Slime mold is a broad term describing fungi-like organisms that use spores to reproduce.”) The last thing you want is to scare a customer with the slime in their drink. Ice makers, depending on manufacturer’s guidelines, usually need to be cleaned and sanitized every 1.5 to 5 weeks, some ice makers have self cleaning feature, another have anti slime solutions. Sealed, sanitary ice bins are available to provide ice that will come into direct contact with food and those models are more expensive than regular ice bins.
How to keep your ice machine energy consumption as low as possible?
Don’t get an ice maker which produces more ice than you require. Don’t risk wasting energy on big standby losses. Remember that the ice capacity rates vary with ambient temperature and water temperature. Try to select equipment based on the capacity listed at the test conditions used by the AC and Refrigeration Institute (ARI). This info is listed in the tech specs of your ice maker and may help you choose a more energy efficient model.
Think about water heat recuperation. Some commercial ice machines circulate incoming water over the ice. The warmth of the incoming water helps harvest the ice and cools it, helping to save energy.
Consider water costs. Water usage among ice makers can vary greatly, so take a look at how much water each unit consumes to produce 100 lbs of ice. If your water is costly, forget about water cooled ice machines, because water cooled ice machines use a lot of water.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
i need 50 ice per day
Great article, I would never imagined, that to buy an ice maker you need to consider everything
Thank you