Portable Ice Maker

[NaterPotaiter]

Hi Guys, I'm trying to research if I can run an ice maker while camping to keep ice chest cold and for cold drinks. I only currently have 200w of solar so I can't run one all day long but maybe long enough to make enough ice. Anyone using a portable ice make like this? How much power are you really using? Or maybe how long do you need to run it a day to keep 1 ice chest cold?
Thanks guys.

 

[snoobler]

Welcome to the forum.

We have a small portable ice maker in our RV. It's powered by a 3kW PV, 12kWh battery and 4kW inverter...

It uses enough power that I don't care to use it very much. It tends to pull about 250W for the duration it's on, and it takes about 1.5 hours to fill its bin, which is nothing compared to what's needed for even a small ice chest.

 

[Hedges]

200W (STC) of PV might be 170W (PTC). In the summer if you get 5 hours effective sun, 850 Wh.
That should be enough to operate a 12V refrigerator (expensive) or to power a cube or dorm fridge with an inverter.
It has to be compressor type, not Peltier.
Don't bother running it at night, but while the sun is up it can keep food cool and make a little bit of ice.

 

[Forbisher]

Hi Guys, I'm trying to research if I can run an ice maker while camping to keep ice chest cold and for cold drinks. I only currently have 200w of solar so I can't run one all day long but maybe long enough to make enough ice. Anyone using a portable ice make like this? How much power are you really using? Or maybe how long do you need to run it a day to keep 1 ice chest cold?
Thanks guys.

Do you already have the ice maker? How much do they cost?
How big is your ice chest?

My $262 12V / 120V Iceco 42 litre fridge / freezer uses a compressor which can run at an angle.
Set at 32°F the fridge only uses 8 watts per hour at the current 60 to 70° temps.
My 1300 watt hour LFP battery ran the fridge for 6 and a half days so I don't need solar on a camping trip plus I can extend the time by plugging the fridge into the car when driving.
I expect it may use 10 watts per hour in the summer.

 

[NaterPotaiter]

Hey, thanks for all of the great answers. I haven't actually bought anything yet. I did just buy a new camper and I have 200Ah LFP batteries on order from China so I definitely want to use them to eliminate any need to drive to town to buy ice. I of course was considering a 12v cooler and I'm sure that will work fine. But someone commented on this video about a 12v cooler

that he is using an ice maker. And that is intriguing for several reasons. For one, it will work with any ice chest. It's ultimately doing about the same thing as a refrigerator where it uses refrigeration to cool down a chest. Just in a roundabout way. So it obviously wouldn't be as efficient. But who knows, maybe a $100 ice maker and a $150 ice chest would be more efficient than a $250 12 v cooler since it would probably be better insulated. Someone even commented on that video that his ice maker pulls about 100 watts so there may be big differences between models. And if a 100 watt ice maker can make 10 pounds of ice in 10 hours that should get you through 2-3 days with a good ice chest, right? That's not a bad way to go. Plus you have an ice maker for other occasions. Maybe Will can buy a few and test them out, at least for some affiliate links.

 

[alcook62]

Hey, thanks for all of the great answers. I haven't actually bought anything yet. I did just buy a new camper and I have 200Ah LFP batteries on order from China so I definitely want to use them to eliminate any need to drive to town to buy ice. I of course was considering a 12v cooler and I'm sure that will work fine. But someone commented on this video about a 12v cooler

that he is using an ice maker. And that is intriguing for several reasons. For one, it will work with any ice chest. It's ultimately doing about the same thing as a refrigerator where it uses refrigeration to cool down a chest. Just in a roundabout way. So it obviously wouldn't be as efficient. But who knows, maybe a $100 ice maker and a $150 ice chest would be more efficient than a $250 12 v cooler since it would probably be better insulated. Someone even commented on that video that his ice maker pulls about 100 watts so there may be big differences between models. And if a 100 watt ice maker can make 10 pounds of ice in 10 hours that should get you through 2-3 days with a good ice chest, right? That's not a bad way to go. Plus you have an ice maker for other occasions. Maybe Will can buy a few and test them out, at least for some affiliate links.

I'm all for the use of solar and alternative energy. I've been off grid for just shy of three years and am happy to say that my experience with powering my home with solar has been overwhelmingly positive. However in this case I'm going to suggest an alternative to your need for 2-3 days of ice. My wife and I, prior to our retirement, had been dry camping/boondocking for years. As long as ten days at a stretch. We had three-hundred watts of solar fed into a 30a PWM controller than into our 150ah house batteries. We never suffered for ice. What we did was spend a bit of money and purchased a higher end ice chest (Yeti) which we pre-cooled a day ahead of time with a sacrificial 10lb bag of ice. The day we left we would load it up with ice and had plenty of ice for easily four days. Just be judicious in opening the cooler and it lasts!

 

[Forbisher]

Hey, thanks for all of the great answers. I haven't actually bought anything yet. I did just buy a new camper and I have 200Ah LFP batteries on order from China so I definitely want to use them to eliminate any need to drive to town to buy ice. I of course was considering a 12v cooler and I'm sure that will work fine. But someone commented on this video about a 12v cooler

that he is using an ice maker. And that is intriguing for several reasons. For one, it will work with any ice chest. It's ultimately doing about the same thing as a refrigerator where it uses refrigeration to cool down a chest. Just in a roundabout way. So it obviously wouldn't be as efficient. But who knows, maybe a $100 ice maker and a $150 ice chest would be more efficient than a $250 12 v cooler since it would probably be better insulated. Someone even commented on that video that his ice maker pulls about 100 watts so there may be big differences between models. And if a 100 watt ice maker can make 10 pounds of ice in 10 hours that should get you through 2-3 days with a good ice chest, right? That's not a bad way to go. Plus you have an ice maker for other occasions. Maybe Will can buy a few and test them out, at least for some affiliate links.

My main joy in my 12V fridge is no water logged soggy food and No ice! so much more room in that fridge for food.
100 watts x 10 hours is 1000 watt hours that runs my fridge for about 5 days.
Yes you can either have an ice maker for other occasions or a 12V fridge for power outages and emergencies.
How much does a Yeti cost? Probably as much as a 12V fridge and you are still messing with ice.

 

[alcook62]

Oh no! We have a nice fridge in the trailer, it runs off of propane and AC. The cooler was just for the ice. I'll go back and read the post, but I "assumed" that the issue was keeping ice on hand for 2-3 days. You know for cold drinks, etc..

 

[diyernh]

Oh no! We have a nice fridge in the trailer, it runs off of propane and AC. The cooler was just for the ice. I'll go back and read the post, but I "assumed" that the issue was keeping ice on hand for 2-3 days. You know for cold drinks, etc..

Maybe some salt and a lot of insulation? I prepared for a 1 month festival with a 4 ft x 4ft x 2 Ft size box. I had it insulated in about 4" of styrofoam.

Every day, I would freeze some ice and carry it out to the box. Spread some salt on the old ice and smash the new ice down into the large block. The salt dropped the temperature and froze the new ice solid. After a few weeks, I had several hundred pounds of ice. It lasted for a month, Hand cranked ice cream, frozen drinks, etc. At the end of the festival, I was giving out ice for people to put in their coolers to travel home.

Years ago, there were ice cutters, cutting ice out of ponds, They stored it in ice houses with sawdust insulation. It lasted the entire summer.

Note: This only works if you are stationary, Make ice when it's cool, and use it when it's hot.

 

[fred333]

My main joy in my 12V fridge is no water logged soggy food and No ice! so much more room in that fridge for food.
100 watts x 10 hours is 1000 watt hours that runs my fridge for about 5 days.
Yes you can either have an ice maker for other occasions or a 12V fridge for power outages and emergencies.
How much does a Yeti cost? Probably as much as a 12V fridge and you are still messing with ice.

Adding to Forbisher's comments (which I agree with wholeheartedly)...

If you've got 200 watts incoming from PV (and sufficient battery storage to keep your kit running during the "off" hours), I'd skip the ice maker and opt for a 12V fridge. They can be had for ~$200~$250 and generally eliminate both the soggy food and regular trips for ice.

For the past few years, I'd been eyeing one of the Dometics, which're rather expensive (albeit built like tanks, so..), but (happily) ended up with a 26 quart (25 litre) Alpicool MK25 (these're available under various names like XtremePower, Ausranvik, etc.), which runs on both AC and DC (for your usage, opt for DC and select Eco). Mine averages 33~38 watts (Eco mode) when running (< 1 watt at idle!):

 

[BajaErin]

We got a great deal on Phalcon Overland 75L Dual Zone (now $750) for when we overland, but also provides freezer when fishing, and general backup etc. They have smaller units priced well, and the slider they came out with was cheaper than building one from scratch. Works well and has battery and 120v connectors.

 

[Ranch]

I just back from a 5 day stay at my off grid cabin. I use a small ice maker that cost $100 and draws around 100 watts AC. I have a 400 watt system but started with 200 watts and it ran the ice maker with 200 if there's good sun.

I don't have a problem with soggy food because I put the ice I make into ziplock bags. I take the melted ice in the bags and put it back into the ice maker. That way I don't have to use the well water which is very hard.

The weather was in the mid to upper 70's so my ice didn't melt really fast. I would only run the ice maker for around 6 hours a day. It worked great. It's a cheaper solution for people who are not ready to buy a $300 + DC fridge.

Here's one on Amazon for $101.99. Sometimes you can see them selling for under $100.

https://www.amazon.com/Crownful-Machine-Countertop-Minutes-Electric/dp/B082C9ML88/ref=sr_1_21?dchild=1&keywords=ice+marker&link_code=qs&qid=1618156647&sourceid=Mozilla-search&sr=8-21

 

[Ranch]

Hey, thanks for all of the great answers. I haven't actually bought anything yet. I did just buy a new camper and I have 200Ah LFP batteries on order from China so I definitely want to use them to eliminate any need to drive to town to buy ice. I of course was considering a 12v cooler and I'm sure that will work fine. But someone commented on this video about a 12v cooler

that he is using an ice maker. And that is intriguing for several reasons. For one, it will work with any ice chest. It's ultimately doing about the same thing as a refrigerator where it uses refrigeration to cool down a chest. Just in a roundabout way. So it obviously wouldn't be as efficient. But who knows, maybe a $100 ice maker and a $150 ice chest would be more efficient than a $250 12 v cooler since it would probably be better insulated. Someone even commented on that video that his ice maker pulls about 100 watts so there may be big differences between models. And if a 100 watt ice maker can make 10 pounds of ice in 10 hours that should get you through 2-3 days with a good ice chest, right? That's not a bad way to go. Plus you have an ice maker for other occasions. Maybe Will can buy a few and test them out, at least for some affiliate links.

I left the comment on the video you linked. Some commenters said that small ice makers use way more than a 100 watts. That's not the case for me. I had the Kill-A-Watt hooked up to mine on my last trip to the cabin and it was drawing between 120 and 95 watts depending on what part of the cycle it was on. The higher level was when the machine would heat up the metal tubes so the ice would drop. That only lasts for maybe 30 seconds.

The ice that these machines make is not super dense so the ice "bullets" don't last as long as store bought ice cubes. That's why I would make some everyday. Besides I had to use the power I was making on something so I made ice.

Thanks for this thread and good luck.

 

[mealticket]

Opal Nugget ICE all the way. You said you wanted ice for drinks and nugget ice is the absolute best. It also cools cans in a cooler faster than any other type of ice.
First Build is the company who developed it and still makes the Original. Looks as though GE bought the rights to it and they make the newer version.
I actually bought mine on the Kickstarter Campaign and waited 16months for it.
Had it about 5 years now, and while I've had to disassemble it twice to clean the inside lines she still pump out Ice at the full rating.(1lb an hour).
I've measured the power mine pulls while its running and I think is measures right around 180w.
This also has Bluetooth scheduling.
Set it to run @ 4am so you have a full bin of ice(3lb) when you wake up at 7

Opal Ice Maker: Soft, chewable ice at home | GE Appliances

Shop for the Profile Opal Nugget Ice Maker and have the ice you love to chew at home! Opal produces 24 lb per day of soft, nugget ice at a countertop price.

www.geappliances.com

 

[KITROBASKIN]

An esteemed member of diysolarforum recently acquired a portable Ecoflow Glacier. It has ice making capability for drinking pleasure.

If you are dealing with food items that could make someone sick or worse if spoiled, consider getting a refrigerator to maintain cold without the labor, fuss and questions of if the food is cool enough. This will offer more refrigeration capacity, which is always nice. It is what we have done, using the portable for travel, when we initially resupply, and summertime at home when we have more power available anyways.

Yes it is more expensive but the added complication of ice chest manipulation, condensation and the possibility of bodily internal distress is something to consider. We use our ice chests for less critical food items, sometimes using frozen drinking water bottles for the cool.

Keep us updated on your decisions, as you make your choices.

 

[Rednecktek]

Portable Ecoflow Glacier. It has ice making capability for drinking pleasure.

It didn't turn out too well though, made very thin ice slowly for a lot of power.

 

[wheelman55]

I realize that this is an old thread.

My wife and I used a 180 watt Zamp folding solar unit to power two battery banks. Bank one was 200 ah FLA. Bank two was one BB lithium.

This setup ran two ARB fridges, laptops, one fan, two cell phones, iPad, etc for several years, while we were building our off grid home.

The ARB fridges worked great.

Make sure to keep your fridges in the shade. The higher the ambient temp the longer the compressors need to run to maintain desired temp. For instance, keeping ice cream frozen with the fridge in the back of the pickup, in direct sun, with 90+ F ambient, and likely 120 F in the truck, resulted in softer ice cream

From ARB USA:

https://arbusa.com/site/wp-content/uploads/ARB_Elements_Fridge_Freezer.pdf