I’ve always wanted to have a “Sonic” ice maker! I looked into full-size ice makers but the cost is high. They take up the space of an entire kitchen cabinet. I would not be able to use the high volume produced so would waste time throwing away old ice and cleaning the ice maker. In the past, I would purchase a bag of ice at Sonic and store in the freezer. The local Sonic closed so this ecozy ice maker was the solution.
WHEN USING THIS ICE MAKER, KEEP IN MIND HOW LONG IT TAKES TO FREEZE NORMAL ICE CUBES IN AN OLD-FASHIONED ICE TRAY OR HOW LONG IT TAKES FOR A BRAND NEW REFRIGERATOR TO PRODUCE ITS FIRST BATCH OF ICE.
The manual says to use drinking water, not distilled water. This may be due to the same reason a Keurig coffee maker cannot use distilled water if brewing a carafe cup of coffee. The maker uses the conductivity of the water to determine if there is enough water to do its job. Distilled water has minerals removed so is relatively not conductive.
The manual also says ice is produced faster if cold water is used. I purchased “Drinking Water” from the grocer and refrigerated it. We don’t use tap water for our appliances because the local tap water is really hard and damages appliances with scale buildup that is extra work to clean.
Doing the above, the first ice was produced at 5 ½ minutes.
About 15 ½ minutes later, there was enough ice for what I prefer in a drink (SEE PICTURE).
At 1 hour and 30 minutes, the liter of water added to the ice maker was turned into ice and the red colored “Add Water” light came on and the ice maker automatically stops. There are also sensors that detect a full ice basket and automatically stop ice production.
The inside of the ice maker is not a refrigerator or a freezer so it’s best to remove the ice periodically as it is made and put it in a freezer. If the ice is not removed, it slowly melts and returns to the water reservoir to be made into ice again. The ice maker does contain refrigerant and the ice making process does require a fan so do not expect the ice maker to be silent during operation.
The ice is maybe a little harder and has less air than Sonic ice but is a PERFECT SUBSTITUTE for me!
The water reservoir holds a maximum of 1 liter of water and you can see the 1 liter Pyrex measuring cup PICTURE of a full basket of ice. The Pyrex measuring cup actually overflowed when I poured the ice into it.
The machine is nice looking and the carrying handle, ice basket, ice scoop function nicely. There is a drain plug in the bottom that helps remove water in-between uses. It’s easy to reach all areas to manually dry the ice maker.
At the see-through lids highest position when opened, 18 1/2 inches of clearance is needed underneath cabinets. The ice basket can still be removed if the lid is not completely open. If much less clearance is available, the ice maker depth is shallow enough that it can be pulled forward on the counter in front of cabinets during use.
The manual is complete, with pictures and written in grammatically correct English. A support email address, hotline and hours of operation are included.
I’m really happy with this ecozy ice maker and HIGHLY RECOMMEND it.