With passing time, technology has advanced and we can see a number of solutions that help make our daily lives easier in multiple ways. Similarly, ice makers came into existence to help ease out the daily chores by providing us a solution to the daily troubles of getting ice at our disposal.
From hotels to restaurants to cafeterias and hospitals, ice makers have made their place in the market as soon as they were introduced. Hence today, we can see them being used widely and for a different number of applications. They are not only used commercially, but they are also used in homes for kitchens and help us to make heaps of ice feasibly and conveniently.
What Are Ice Makers
Just a century prior, ice was rare in many parts of the world. In places where the climate was hotter, people needed to purchase their ice from a service delivering it; the delivery service as well imported hefty and weighty square blocks of ice from a colder place or from a refrigeration plant that used to operate on an industrialized scale. The price of the ice was moderately steep, but to keep your food cold, they had to go with the only option since they did not have many choices. In the regions of the world that were the hottest, ice was an uncommon luxury.
All of this changed in the initial 20th century, when affordable compact, and conservative solutions – refrigerators – were introduced. During the 1960s, a new innovation that went by the name of ‘the ice maker’ made life considerably simpler.
An ice maker is a machine that solely makes ice in a large amount in the comfort of your own house or the place it is being used. This keeps you from loading up on ice for gatherings and other such events you have at home or if you run a business that requires the use of ice frequently or on a regular basis, an ice maker can help you in multiple ways.
Benefits of Having an Ice Maker
Ice maker machines are one of the most beneficial advancements that we have made. It has made the lives of thousands of people easier and simpler in a lot of ways. These ice makers are not only used in the homes but are a part of bigger markets and industries as well. That simply means, ice makers have made their space in the commercial sector and they are here to stay. Ice makers are providing benefits in, either way, be it in the solace of a home or utilizing it in the industrial premises. Some of the perks that the ice makers cater to are briefed below.
Benefits of Ice Makers – Commercial
As you get ready and prepare to resume your business for the mid-year that is the summer season, consider leasing a commercial ice maker for your workers and clients. Promptly accessible and available to frozen goodness gives your workforce ice-cold relief and additionally, gives them the motivation to get amped up for heading back to work without the worry of getting drained by the hot days. Commercial ice makers have a number of benefits and are safe to use in terms of health as well, in fact, it does help in maximizing the health benefits including:
- Encouraging Hydration
A study carried out in 2018 stated that 77% of the workers do not drink sufficient water throughout the work compared to the amount that they should intake. Therefore, if ensured that the employees can have the water of their suitable temperature can encourage them to drink water and stay hydrated:
- Cost-Effective
Getting a commercial ice maker is a cost-effective approach. You will have to invest one time in an ice-making machine and get it installed in your business. It will be more economically effective in the long run. Rather than purchasing ice from the plant or getting your hands on bagged ice, you can get a bulk amount of ice for daily use in-house
- Convenience
Be it a regular glass of water or a drink to present to a customer specifically, you will consistently require ice! Since the ice makers have the capacity to supply ice continually for 24 hours per day, it does the needful at the push of a button. Thus, you will consistently have ice in your machine, and you won't be bothered by running out of ice ever.
- Fixed Assets
Having an own ice maker means that you have a fixed asset in your inventory. It will be a tangible asset to your business that will be depreciated with time.
- No Waste
Having your own ice maker means fewer chances of wastage of ice produced from your ice maker. If you get more ice you can store it in a bag or later use. you can utilize it in the busier times.
- Value of Money
When it comes to the worth of the ice maker machine we cannot deny the fact that it is expensive. However, it is a one-time investment in a long-term period. It merits putting your money into getting the amount you need throughout each and every day. It helps in saving money over the long haul.
Benefits of Ice Makers – At Home
There are some things in life that we don’t know we needed until we get them. But once we do get them, we realize how useful they are and how they contribute to easing our life out in even minute ways. And if you ponder for a minute, you will realize that a number of things do fall in this category, just like an ice maker. Whether you agree with it or not, an ice maker surely is one of those kitchen appliances that you will never know you need until you have gotten one in your kitchen. And if you are denying that, it is just because you have not tried one yet. Hence, we have gathered some perks of ice makers at home that might help you understand (and most likely change your mind) why ice makers are a need even when you feel there is no need for one.
- Convenient
We live in a society where we are always in a rush of everything or stuck with this stigma of instant gratification. At the point when we need something, we want it instantly, then, and there. Think of standing in the kitchen with the glass of water in the summers and you are out of ice, and you want ice prompt! Do you wish to wait for the automatic ice machine of the freezer to drop another heap? Or you would want to wait for the tray of ice cube to freeze the water for you so you can pop the ice cube off the tray and have the water at a suitable temperature to quench your thirst? Well, not all of us have enough time or patience. Nor are most of us willing to pull over to the local neighborhood general store to buy a pack of ice, right?
That is where the ice maker comes in handy! With an ice maker at home, you will never run out of ice, nor you will have to wait for the ice again, neither will you have to drink warm beverages. In fact, the luxury of having ice whenever you need it or want it becomes so feasible t6hat it can be addicting. In homes, ice is one of the things that just need to be available every time because you do not know when you can feel the need for it. The ice maker is one of the solutions that you can count on.
- Easy to Use
We get that you have few alternatives to get ice at homes that can possibly include the options of using the automatic ice-making machines that are built-in to your refrigerators or freezers. Or you can use the ice trays (an out-of-date method) to get ice that takes time, filling the trays and waiting to get the water frozen so you can use it and if you forget sometimes, you are on a hunt of ice all over again. Another possibility can be getting a bag of ice from the local nearby shops and storing it in your freezer or refrigerators, but won’t it be costly in long run?
What if we tell you that there is something more feasible and easy to use? And yes, an ice maker is the one simple solution to satisfy all your needs for fresh cool ice. You do not need to worry about going out at the eleventh hour to buy the bag of ice or waiting for the ice to freeze. Nor do you have to worry about the aesthetics of your kitchen getting disturbed with those bulky and big ice-making machines. Ice makers are installed in your kitchens just like any other appliance range of a dishwasher or refrigerator would.
The best thing about the ice makers is that they are very easy to use, they do not ask you to take any further steps as extra. It works on its own and does the magic while you sit there and watch the process. Moreover, it is just not easy and automatic but as well quick. You get the supply of your ice heap readily.
- Clean and Ensuring the Hygiene
Pause for a minute to consider how stuffed your freezer and refrigerators are. How frequently do you access these appliances every day? Do you keep in there that you would not have any desire to simply open and eat? For example, do you buy and freeze raw meat or vegetable stock?
Agreeing that the automatic ice makers installed in your refrigerators or freezers are an alternate for your ice solution. These ice makers come with an open bin in order to store ice. It must be convenient for you but have you ever cared about opening up the bin and seeing underneath the ice bin? How many times have you looked inside of the ice bin? There are high chances of unwanted debris sitting in the bottom or nearby the ice bin, the majority of times due to unknown sources. Thus, other than the way that you could be getting ice that is helpfully put close to the raw meat and other staple things that have been managed by unknown individuals in the supermarket, you are likewise dropping things into your open ice bin if you understand it.
So, the difference is – by having an ice maker at home, you will not have to worry anymore about what is getting stored nearby your ice or what surprisingly, you will find frozen other than ice. Instead, you have access to a reliable, safe, and a clean bin full of ice only. You also get an ice scoop along to scoop out the ice whenever you need it.
- Be More Hospitable
In case that you are enthusiastic about get-togethers and hosting parties at your home you know the significance of having sufficient ice available till the end of the gathering. There is not anything really disappointing other than serving your guests’ a warm beverage, or because of a frustrating ice machine serving them with the semi-cold beverage in an attempt to proportion the ice you do have, or forgetting about your guest to run and buy ice so you could serve them the suitable temperature beverage.
With an ice maker at home, you won't ever need to stress over any issues like this again. You will consistently have ice promptly accessible for your guests. Their beverages will consistently be icy cold and they will be appreciative and in wonderment of your helpful ice maker machine. In this way, you can go on – be affable, hospitable, and do not stress over your ice!
Types of Ice Makers
- Portable ice makers
There are ice makers that can fit the top of the counter table, they are known as portable ice. They are the smallest and quickest ice makers available. The ice made by a portable ice maker is in the shape of a bullet and has an opaque, and cloudy appearance. The first heap of ice can be made within ten minutes of turning the ice maker on and adding water to it. The water is siphoned into a little cylinder with metal stakes drenched in the water. Since the unit is convenient, water should be filled physically. The water is pumped from the lower part of the supply to the tray of the freezer. The pegs utilize a cooling and warming system inside to freeze the water around them and afterward heat up so the ice slips away from the stake and into the ice bin. Ice starts to shape surprisingly fast, nonetheless, the size of ice relies upon the cycle of freezing – a more drawn-out cycle brings about thicker cubes. Portable ice makers won't hold the ice back from melting, yet the appliance will reuse the water to make more ice. When the plate is full, the system of the appliance will automatically get turned off.
- Flake Ice Maker
Flake ice is made of a combination of water and brine solution (max 500 g [18 oz.] salt per ton of water), sometimes it can be produced only by using the brine solution. Thickness varies somewhere in the range of 1 and 15 mm. Unpredictable shape with widths from 12 to 45 mm.
The evaporator of the flake ice maker is a vertically positioned hardened shape of drum steel compartment, outfitted with the turning cutting edge which twists and scratches the ice off the inward mass of the drum. While working, the fundamental blade and shaft do anti-clockwise movements pushed by the reducer. Water is showered down from the sprinkler; ice is framed from the water brine solution on the internal plate. The water plate at the base contracts the cold water while diverting Ice and circulating it back into the sump. The sump will ordinarily utilize a valve to fill as needed while the production of the ice. Flake ice makers tend to frame an ice ring inside the lower part of the drum. Electric warmers are in wells at the base to forestall this collection of ice where the smasher fails to reach. A few ice makers use scrubbers to help this. This system uses a low-temperature unit of condensing; like all ice maker machines. Most fabricates additionally use an Evaporator pressure regulating valve (E.P.R.V.).
- Tube Ice Maker
A Tube Ice maker is an ice-producing appliance wherein the water is frozen in tubes that are broadened vertically inside an encompassing packaging that is known as the freezing chamber. At the lower part of the freezing chamber, there is a plate having openings surrounding the tubes and joined to the different chamber into which a warm gas is passed to warm the tubes and influence the ice poles to slide down.
Tube ice can be utilized in cooling measures, for example, fresh fish freezing, temperature controlling, and freezing bottles. It can be used or consumed with food or refreshments or alone too.
- Freestanding or Built-In Ice Makers
Ice makers that are built-in are designed to fit under the bar counter or kitchen, however, they can be utilized as unsupported units. Some produce ice like the shape of a crescent for instance the ice from a freezer’s ice maker; the ice is shady and murky rather than clear, in light of the fact that the water is frozen quicker than in others which are clear cube ice makers. During the process, minuscule bubbles of air get caught, causing the opaque appearance of the ice. However, most ice makers that are under-counter are clear ice makers in which the ice is feeling fails to have air bubbles, and hence the ice is clear and melts gradually.
Things to Consider Avoiding While Buying an Ice Maker
With regards to purchasing an ice maker, the wide assortment of options and diverse range of models offered from a number of providers available in the market can appear to be both overwhelming and confusing. Prior to picking a model, make certain to check twice that you have selected the suitable commercial ice maker machine that can work with the extraordinary setup of your business. The decision at the end is yours, yet here are few faults you should be cautious about and stay away from when purchasing an ice maker machine.
- Buying an Ice Maker That Is Incompatible with Your System of Plumbing
As the ice maker machines need a constant supply of water, it is important for you to choose the item or unit that you can ensure is compatible with the plumbing setup of your business. If you fail to find a suitable ice maker it will produce undersized ice cubes, and affect the valves. You will likewise have to put your ice maker close to the floor drain, which will gather the water that would be in the excess amount.
- Buying The Wrong Type of Ice Maker
There are several types of ice makers available in the market especially if you are getting one for commercial use. Purchasing the suitable and right kind of commercial ice maker for your business or venture is significant for delivering sufficient ice during occupied shifts.
- Neglecting to Maintain and Clean Your Ice Maker
Remember to clean your ice maker frequently to reduce the risk of the development of the limescale. You will need to assess the air channels, check the water filtration, and clean its water system before disinfecting the inside of your ice bin.
Conclusion
The ice maker is a useful application if utilized in the right way. it is important to ensure that you get a suitable ice maker either for home or commercial use. Once you have the ice maker that fits your business system, you would enjoy the perks of the ice maker including the all-time available ice, without the worry of rushing to have some in the last hour be it for serving guests or clients. Or you want it for your own self to satisfy the want for the cold water or cold beverage. By maintaining the ice maker and taking care of it including the cleaning can make the ice maker one of the fruitful technologies installed in your home or business.
