Introduction
When you’re throwing a wild party or just looking forward to having a good time with friends and family over the hot summer, you need an ice machine to keep all the drinks cool. The ice maker in the refrigerator may not be enough. If your refrigerator breaks down, you can search for “refrigerator repair near me” and hire professionals to fix it for you. Let’s check out how you can get the most out of your ice machine during parties and holidays.
The Details
- Keep it cool – Ice machines are fickle units that always break down and are a pain to own and maintain. Moreover, you don’t even need them for the most part of the year. So, it’s always better to lease an ice machine when you’re throwing a party instead of buying an expensive one and spending huge sums of money repairing and maintaining it. Either way, the ice machine needs to stay in a controlled environment within a certain temperature range to function properly. Usually, that range is around 45 to 90 degrees.
As the mercury starts to climb up with the heatwave and ambient temperatures soar over 100 degrees, the ice machine may stop working completely. That’s not all. When the ice machine is in a room with high temperatures, ice created inside the bin of the machine will melt faster and further bring down the constant supply of ice.
Before you throw a party, make sure you are prepared for the summer season and get the air conditioning unit checked and serviced. Make sure that your air conditioning unit can maintain an ambient temperature well below the rated ambient temperature for your ice machine. Since the ice machine is constantly making ice, it keeps pushing hot air from the back and its immediate surrounding is always hotter than the rest of the room.
- Allow it some breathing room – Homeowners often make the mistake of installing ice machines in the wrong spaces. While the ice machine supplier knows everything about the ice machine, he or she may not be aware of the ideal installation conditions. Since ice machines work similarly to refrigerators and push out a lot of hot air from the back, they need some breathing room. That means there should be a gap of at least a foot on all sides of the unit.
Unfortunately, most units are installed in small spaces like cubbies with no room for ventilation. This creates a severe microclimate where hot air coming out of the ice machine makes its surroundings much hotter. As mentioned above, ice machines require a certain ambient temperature to work properly. When the temperature soars there are high chances for the machine to malfunction or simply stop working and ruin the party. No one enjoys warm cocktails.
While you get the ice machine set up or installed make sure that you also keep it far away from a hot appliance. While placing the ice machine near the stove or the oven is convenient since it allows for easy access to food and drinks in the same place, it’s not ideal for the ice unit. If you’ve been a long-time owner of an ice machine, then you may have made it into a storage rack over the less busy season. Clear all that away to prepare for the hot summer parties.
- Check water hygiene and temperature – When someone arrives at your party and is helping themselves to some ice cubes for their beverage, the last thing they want to see is cloudy or dirty-looking ice. This happens when the water is dirty. You won’t suffer from this problem if you own or lease a fancy portable self-cleaning ice machine. However, if you don’t want to pay that premium, make sure to clean out the water in your portable ice maker.
On the other hand, if you have an under-counter or permanently installed ice maker, make sure to check its water filter. Water filters have activated carbon cores with a composite shell surrounding them. When they have filtered several thousand gallons of water, they need to be replaced to keep the water clean. If you can’t remember the last time, you changed the water filter, it’s time to replace it.
Water temperature is also extremely relevant for an ice machine. When the water temperature isn’t at the right level, it can hit ice production quite hard and bring the party to a halt. Ice machines require the water to be at around 50 degrees or lower to make ice quickly. If the ice is too warm, the ice maker would have a harder time cooling it down and that will extend the ice production time.
This can happen if your water supply lines are above ground. When water supply lines are above ground, they are affected by the summer heat and can get quite hot. While this reduces the bill when you take a hot shower, it’s not great for making ice. Look into this issue if ice production is particularly slow.
- Ice management pool – Ice production capacity also takes a hit when the bin under the machine fills up. It signals the machine to slow down ice production or stop it completely. If the party has too many guests and high traffic you wouldn’t face this problem. However, if it’s a small gathering, then make sure to free up the bin and collect the ice in a storage box every few hours. You can also tell your guests to use an ice shovel to pull up the ice forward and keep the back of the bin clear so that it doesn’t signal the ice machine to stop production.
Conclusion
Ice machines are crucial during any party or gathering. Make sure that you keep it in optimal condition, clean and maintain it regularly and get it serviced before throwing a big party. On the other hand, if the ice machine or your refrigerator breaks down, you can always search for “refrigerator repair near me” and hire technicians to fix them for you.
