As of May 23rd 2023, this thing is dead. Just won't even power on anymore.
Leaving the rest of the review as it was when I wrote it. But I would now simply pass on this one and move on. With the minor issues I had, I was ok with it, but now that it is completely dead after less than two years, no way I could recommend to anyone to get this particular unit.
We have this installed and in use for about 6 months now. We use ice all day, every day. In addition to many beverages, both of our dogs have been trained using ice cubes as treats, so ice gets used up pretty fast. (to the dog thing our giant mastiff can handle the cubes from this machine, but the smaller dog gets ice from the built in one in our fridge, much smaller... just in case you are worried about them).
Almost everything about this machine is good. Super easy to install, no drain needed, makes a ton of ice. Not loud or anything.
The negatives are, as at least a few others mentioned, this thing ends up more or less freezing everything in it to a giant block except the most recent top layers. Once every few weeks I get too annoyed and dump the whole thing and defrost it. It's not a big deal, but it's annoying. The whole unit does frost up a bit from time to time around the ice maker too, but so far has not yet caused a problem. Sometimes you get a block of 2 to 8 "cubes" stuck together too. Can usually just bust those up with the scoop though.
Now, going back to to the whole thing freezing into a block - it's absolutely true that when it gets too frozen up you WILL hurt yourself trying to get a few pieces out of the giant block of ice. That's usually the point I defrost it. We also replaced the plastic ice scoop that is shipped with it with a metal restaurant grade scoop. That helps, a little, with breaking up the ice, but not enough - and note, you obviously can't store that inside the machine.
Would I buy it again? Probably not, but I'm also not going to replace it anytime soon unless it dies on me.
I gave it a 3 out of 5. It's probably a 3.5, but it's few problems are enough of a problem at this price point to have me rounding down, not up on my star rating. At half the cost I would have given it a solid 4, but at this price point, no way.
Contains at least 50% recycled material.
As certified by
Recycled Claim Standard Blended
Recycled Claim Standard (RCS Blended) certified products contain recycled content (>50%) that has been independently verified at each stage of the supply chain, from the source to the final product. The purchase of Recycled Claim Standard (RCS) certified products demonstrates demand for recycled materials. Climate Pledge Friendly requires the product contain at least 50% certified RCS Blended material by weight.
Certification Body
Intertek
Certification Number
TE-00323316
