Commercial Ice Makers

Automatic commercial ice makers are used in restaurants, bars, hotels, hospitals and a variety of commercial and industrial facilities for both food and patient care applications. The equipment is selected based on a combination of features that best fit the application. Common attributes include ice type, ice production capacity, ice hardness and ice clarity, as well as form factor and size of footprint. Commercial ice makers can be classified into either of two general equipment types, batch-type (also called cube-type) and continuous-type. Batch-type ice makers harvest ice with alternating freezing and harvesting periods and can be used in a variety of applications, but are generally used to generate ice for use in beverages. Continuous-type ice makers produce ice through a continuous freeze and harvest process and include flake and nugget ice makers. Flake ice is used primarily in food displays, such as seafood grocery store displays or salad bars, whereas nugget ice (also known as chewable ice) is primarily used in beverage applications.

Savings figures:

• ENERGY STAR certified batch-type ice makers are about 10 percent more energy efficient and 20 percent more water efficient when compared with standard models
• ENERGY STAR certified batch-type ice makers save businesses 700 kWh and $75 annually and $660 over the product’s lifetime on utility bills
• ENERGY STAR certified continuous-type ice makers are about 16 percent more energy efficient
• ENERGY STAR certified continuous-type ice makers save businesses 1,350 kWh and $145 annually and $1,260 over the product’s lifetime on utility bills

Eligible products:

• Air-cooled batch-type and continuous-type (i.e., flake and nugget) ice makers
• Designs include ice-making head (IMH), self-contained (SCU), and remote condensing (RCU) units
• Air-cooled RCU units designed for connection to remote rack compressors that are alternately sold with a dedicated remote condensing unit are also eligible

Ineligible products:

• Water-cooled ice makers; ice and water dispensing systems; air-cooled RCU units that are designed only for connection to remote rack compressors

Additional resources:

• ENERGY STAR CFS Tools, Materials, and Resources
• ENERGY STAR CFS Homepage