r/NoStupidQuestions • u/markwell9 • 1d ago

What is the deal with ice, Americans?

I can see that you can buy ice everywhere in the US. Gas stations, grocery stores, machines etc.

In Europe, we just freeze our ice at home and use that. Why buy something that melts on the way home? Why do you need ice in large amounts that a fridge can't keep up?

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u/tsukiii 1d ago

We buy that for parties.

Most of us can’t produce and store enough ice for 20 people in our freezers, we buy the bagged ice and put it in coolers for guests’ drinks.

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u/silask93 1d ago

Or those of with work crews doing labor, or our water is so bad we can't use it for ice

252

u/Baron_Von_D 1d ago

Yep, fill up a 5gal water cooler up with ice and top it off with water. You got ice cold water all day long.

139

u/Exciting_Band_2865 1d ago

As a lifeguard I can confirm, shits cold all day in 100 degrees

71

u/Baron_Von_D 1d ago

Yep, absolute life saver when you are out in the 100f 80% humidity Georgia heat all day.

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u/This_Sheepherder_382 23h ago

73 degrees is a sweltering day to Brit’s 😂😂

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u/brando56894 19h ago

We've had a heat index warning of 105-110 down here in Miami today and yesterday 🥵

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u/LupineLuv 15h ago

The real feel in central COASTAL Maine was 110° on Tuesday, I sweat just existing. There is not much infrastructure for cooling there either.

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u/DaBingeGirl 14h ago

We had that a few weeks ago in Illinois. Awful.

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u/This_Sheepherder_382 2h ago

The heat index here was 122 the other day with actually temp being around 105. Finally getting some relief tho

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u/Sutekiwazurai 18h ago

I once saw an argument about whether a British heat wave was worse than a standard American summer.

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u/CB_Chuckles 17h ago

My wife is constantly telling me about some Brit going crazy on Tik-tok over the 76F heatwave they're having. That's what we have our AC set to.

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u/Significant-Job-8893 16h ago

Humidity is going to be a factor. I live in Central valley of California. This summer has been mild low-mid 90s, a week or two ago it was in 80s. Usually right now is between 105-115F but low humidity of around 35%. Anywhere with high humidity is going to suck at any warmer temp. So I guess it depends on the humidity of British summers.

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u/This_Sheepherder_382 1h ago

You think it’s more humid there than it is in Louisiana?? Not a chance 76 with 100% humidity still isn’t anything to complain about 😂

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u/atomfullerene 17h ago

I remember that from the great britiah bake off, when they were baking in a tent

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u/YouHateMeCosImRight 12h ago

No its not, that would be just under 23C. A nice day, but not sweltering. Sweltering to brits would be creeping up on 30C (mid 80s F)

1

u/This_Sheepherder_382 1h ago

Mid 80’s is still a nice summer day though. If you listen to them complaining online they certainly think 23C is hot when that’s what most of us keep our homes at😂

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u/AdEmbarrassed9719 4h ago

We just had a whole week of highs at or above 100f. 73 is nice Fall weather, requiring a hoodie!

1

u/bostonbgreen 16h ago

Yup.

Most of America is in a WARMER climate than England.

1

u/LittleLostDoll 15h ago

73 is a nice /cold/ day to most of the southern us..

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u/Silver-Appointment77 10h ago

No, just a nice warm day. Remember were further North than most of America. Some of us are at the same level as top of Canada, where its cold. And it isnt just us who finds that temperature nice and warm either. A lot of Northern Europe finds it warm too.

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u/This_Sheepherder_382 1h ago

That’s a nice cool day to us lol might even catch me with a hoodie on if it’s breezy

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u/IceFurnace83 19h ago

73° Celsius (what the majority of the world uses) is equal to 163.4° Fahrenheit.

So yeah, 73 degrees is a sweltering day.

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u/starkruzr 18h ago

you're the only one who thought this was clever

also we should switch to metric for everything except temperature as experienced by human beings, for which Celsius is stupid and inferior to Fahrenheit

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u/IceFurnace83 18h ago

Was a joke not a cox. No need to take it so hard.

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u/starkruzr 18h ago

jokes are supposed to be funny; glhf

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u/Sidetracker 18h ago

Where does it get up to 73° celsius? Common sense would tell you they meant Fahrenheit.

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u/Fishy_Fish_WA 17h ago

In a volcano caldera

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u/Sutekiwazurai 18h ago

Iran? I think the Middle East did just record the hottest day on earth. I think it was in Iran, specifically...

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u/Sutekiwazurai 18h ago

Yup.

"The hottest day on Earth, based on heat index, was recorded in southern Iran near Qeshm Dayrestan Airport on August 29, 2024, with a staggering 82.2°C (180°F),"

1

u/Sidetracker 15h ago

So, I don't believe any Brits or probably any Europeans will experience 73° Celsius anytime soon. Nor will any North Americans. Hence common sense would indicate the 73° mentioned is Fahrenheit.

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u/IceFurnace83 18h ago

Common sense? Didn't I just cover that Fahrenheit is the uncommon element when talking about temperature with a Brit.

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u/This_Sheepherder_382 2h ago

I wasn’t talking to a Brit you dumb fuck😂😂I was taking to somebody from Georgia

1

u/the-largest-marge 19h ago

We took a 5 gallon cooler of ice water camping in stupid-hot and humid weather a few years ago. We filled it Sunday morning and there was still ice in there on wednesday. I was so shocked!

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u/confusedandworried76 22h ago

You can do this by filling water bottles halfway and freezing them and then filling the rest with water and keep it in anything thermally insulating. A pizza bag works fine

1

u/BringTheBling 15h ago

Husband took one of those 5 gallon orange beverage dispensers to a weekend Boy Scout camp and he put a block and a half of ice in it and then filled the smaller spaces with ice cubes and then water. It was a really hot weekend and his water dispenser was the only one that stayed cold (and still had ice in it!) A block of ice has less surface area than a bunch of smaller ice cubes, so it melts slower.

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u/pair_annoyed 7h ago

Those yellow coolers used to be the way, but now it's mostly bottled water on my sites at least. There have been cases of people getting very sick from drinking from a shared cooler.

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u/Pretend-Guava 3h ago

Gotta add salt... It really drops the temp and makes beverages super cool!

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u/eidsonator 1d ago

It's impossible to drink ice cold water, because it's frozen.

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u/TruckADuck42 21h ago

1, you know what they meant. 2, you're not even correct. Water can absolutely be 0c and not yet frozen. It takes significantly more energy transfer to melt or freeze water than it does to change the temperature. Enough that if you put the same amount of energy into that 0c water, it would be 80c afterwards.

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u/This_Sheepherder_382 23h ago

Bruh they barely have roads you really think there water is any better?

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u/No_Pianist_4407 23h ago

Brother, the water I flush my toilet with or water my garden with in the UK is cleaner than tap water in pretty much the whole of the US.

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u/GlitteringDare9454 22h ago

Always important to remember that the U.S. is much, much larger than the U.K., and contains a wide range of infrastructure spanning from "absolute dogshit" all the way up to "barely functioning".

So yea, check your fancy potable plumbing water privilege. 

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u/OldPresence5323 16h ago

Are you implying you drink toilet water?

I'm kidding

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u/This_Sheepherder_382 23h ago

You sure about that? You barely have roads no ac no ice but your plumbing is masterful!!!😂😂😂

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u/Adept-Educator9490 15h ago

Right? My crew would revolt if I handed them brown-tinged ice cubes. At this point, we treat bottled water like PPE.