Portable Ice Maker

[DonCon]

Looking for recommendations for a portable countertop ice maker? How noisy are they? Could it be kept outside the trailer? When I looked at the reviews, it seems that people either love them of hate them? Thanks so much for your advice.

[JEBar]

we are on our third portable ice maker .... the first two lasted 2 - 3 years .... our current one has been in use for over 2 years, do hope that isn't a sign that we'll have to replace it any time soon .... noise : yep, some as noted when the cubes drop but the fuller the tray, the less the noise .... we have it on the floor at the end of our kitchen counter, when it comes to normal living we have never noticed a noise problem .... for us having one has proven to be such an asset that if/when this one goes, we will replace it as quickly as is possible

Jim

[ktmrfs]

we bought the smallest physical sized unit we could find. use it all the time, sure save time and $$ keeping ice in the ice chest for drinks. All the icemakers are made by only a few (2 or 3) companies and then sold under probably a hundred different brand names. Usually you can find them for $100 or so, unless you buy one from CW and pay 3x the price for the same basic unit at discount stores.

[Bill___Kate]

We got ours a couple years ago on Woot.com for $99. Definitely worth that, but at the prices I see now probably not ...

Makes ice pretty fast, but not really that great for drinks - Ok to dump in the cooler, but it is soft, cloudy ice, and since the unit does not have a freezer - just dumps the ice into a basket - it is not that cold.

We set it up outside, and as the ice is made, dump it into the beer cooler, and while it defintely cuts down the amount of bag ice we have to buy, it is not a total solution.

Like I said - $100 worth the price - $250 is a lot of bags of ice!

Noise? - while the machine doesn't make much noise, you can hear the cubes dump when we are inside and the ice maker is outside. Not goint to wake you up, but would not want it in the trailer ...

[Lantley]

I have one that I purchased at Target on clearance for $69.00 I think the price was some sort of mistake but I did not ask a lot of questions. I have had the unit for 4 seasons now works great.
They are sold under different names at different prices but all appear to be the same unit.
You can keep it outside however it only makes ice, it does not chill the ice once it has been made. When it's hot out I keep the ice maker indoors where there is A/C. Otherwise the ice maker works harder and the ice melts faster.

[donn0128]

Check out compact appliances.com We bought an ice maker last spring, used it steady for two months. Loved it. Checked the reviews and bout one of the highest rated units. Wile they do not make hard ice, they do make enough to keep a large chest cold for weeks at a time. Ours sat outside on a small table. This spring we bought a compact refer from the same place. This will also sit outside for extra storage. This year the ice will go in that freezer to harden up before being used for drinks. The one we bought was much cheaper than the Dometic version sold at RV parts stores.

[Okie1]

Got ours on sale at Target for just over $100.00, well worth the money.

[et2]

We have one as well. Love it.In just a few hours it makes enough ice for 3-4 days. We just shut if off when not in use. After setting up camp I run the ice maker for a few hours. It is a little noisy but not unbearable for the short run time. We just fill small bags of ice and put in the freezer.

[Trlrboy]

We're on our second one. The first one lasted about 3 1/2 years. This one is about 3 years and still going well. Made by Magic Chef...at least that what it says on the front. I think they are all about the same. Paid $129 for it at Target. We keep ours in the basement storage area and just dump the ice into the freezer inside when the basket gets full. Make more than we can actually use in a day. Get one, it will pay for itself the first year you have it.