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26 pounds a day is about one pound an hour
Countertop ice makers are sold by pounds of ice per 24 hours. Divide by 24 and a "26 lb" machine makes about 1.08 lb an hour. It drops that ice into a basket that holds 1.25 to 3 lb on the six models here, which is 3.7 to 7.9 percent of the big number. When the basket is full the machine stops, and the basket is not a freezer, so the ice starts to melt. Size by the hour and by the basket.
Ice maker size calculator (pounds per hour)
An estimate. Ounces of ice per drink are our assumption, so pick the line closest to your glass. Each machine's hourly rate is its 24 hour listing number divided by 24, which is a best case with no melting. The hot room cut is the drop GE publishes for the Opal between its two ratings (38 and 32 lb per day). We apply it to every pick as a guess, since the other makers print only one number.
Work out the pounds per hour you need See the 6 picks
Pounds per 24 hours on the listingPounds the basket holds
- GE Profile Opal 2.0 Ultra38 lb3 lb
- Frigidaire EFIC452-SS clear40 lb2.4 lb
- Euhomy IM013 nugget35 lb1.3 lb
- Frigidaire EFIC117-SS26 lb1.5 lb
- Euhomy IM001 with handle26 lb1.3 lb
- Igloo IGLICEB26HNBK26 lb1.25 lb
Guides
Start here
- The 6 best countertop ice makers, by the hour and by the basket
Six countertop ice makers from GE Profile, Frigidaire, Euhomy and Igloo, compared by pounds per hour, basket size, ice type, tank and listed watts.
- How much ice per hour do you need?
Enter people, drinks per hour and ice per drink to get the pounds of ice per hour you need, and see which countertop ice makers keep up.
What the listing hides
- What pounds per 24 hours means, and what the basket holds
A 26 lb per day ice maker holds 1.25 to 1.5 lb at a time and stops when full. See how many times you would have to empty the basket to get the daily number.
- The basket is not a freezer
Countertop ice maker baskets are not refrigerated. Makers say the ice slowly melts and the water is reused. Here is what that means for how you use one.
- Bullet, nugget or clear cube: three different machines
Bullet ice is fast and simple, nugget ice is soft and chewable, clear cubes melt slower in a cocktail. How the three countertop machine types differ.
Living with one
- Cleaning, descaling and mold: what the makers ask for
GE recommends cleaning the Opal weekly and descaling by water hardness. Euhomy says drain daily. What makers ask for, and why wet machines grow mold.
- How loud are they, and how much power do they use?
Only two of six ice maker listings give a noise figure. See the dB claims, the listed watts, and the most each machine could use in 24 hours.
- Water: what to pour in, and how often
Countertop ice makers are filled by hand. See how many pounds of ice each tank makes, how often you refill, and what GE says about tap and distilled water.