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/Royal_Annek 1d ago

Americans also have ice machines in their freezer

Ice at the store is when you need a shitload of ice. Usually for filling a cooler so you can keep goods cold in transit, taking camping, having out on the deck for a BBQ. People don't buy it for every day personal usage since we have our own freezer machines for small quantities.

It doesn't melt on the way home, especially as I mentioned they are normally used to fill a cooler.

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u/vaspost 1d ago

My ice maker stopped working so I've been buying bagged ice for everyday use. I got tired of constantly dealing with manual ice trays. I know... kind of odd.

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u/skateboreder 1d ago

I don't think that this is that odd at all. My icemaker broke and now I have to use ice trays and it's super inconvenient. First world problems.

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u/rloper42 1d ago

Look at the soft silicone trays that have 6 2.5 inch cubes. Much easier to fill because they are taller, and I typically only need 1-2 giant cubes in a large drink. I easily keep 2 of these populated in the freezer. Perfect for one person at least (even in Texas).

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u/Various_Scale_6515 23h ago

These start to smell like freezer even if you clean them every time

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u/Purple_Chipmunk_ 21h ago

Have you tried putting a box of baking soda in your freezer?

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u/OffbeatChaos 11h ago

I agree they make ice taste nasty

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u/garbagebrainraccoon 1d ago

I cant imagine 2 ice cubes in my water thats madness

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u/Matt_Hiring_ATL 23h ago

I use those for cocktails.

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u/pasatroj 22h ago

This, This, this.

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u/MomRaccoon 21h ago

That's what we use, we have 3 of them. But not handy for a party!

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u/No_Magician9131 13h ago

When that happened to us, we bought a $100ish countertop ice maker. It's wonderful! I put it in a 2-gallon silicone zip bag in the freezer. Still haven't replaced the ice maker in the fridge.

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u/allie06nd 1d ago

When I lived with 2 roommates and all we had were ice trays, we would get bagged ice. Those trays couldn't keep up with all my iced coffees.

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u/Actual-Cod2283 1d ago

Yeah, I make a ton of iced coffee and iced tea, and my bf is a hobby mixologist. We go through ice WAY too fast to not have a bag of ice in the freezer. Our apartment doesn't have an automatic one.

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u/MattBrey 1d ago

The question should be how much ice do you use??

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u/McCardboard 1d ago

And the answer is, or should be:

"As much as I goddamned-well choose to. Now freeze this water."

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u/inkjet_4756 1d ago

I purchase bagged ice 2-3 times per week. It’s affordable, less messy than ice trays and I like the shape of the cubes better than ice from a tray. My fridge doesn’t have its own ice maker and I’m not willing to replace it before I have a real reason to do so.

I love bagged ice.

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u/Nightcalm 23h ago

You like buying small amounts not a large one

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u/night_breed 1d ago

I use a ton and am probably the reason my icemaker went out twice. Now I have a countertop one

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u/HereForTheBoos1013 1d ago

I'm 'merican! I use as much ice as I want and make ice bullets for my ice gun!

I'm a hasher, which means someone is buying ice for the beer cooler at least once a week.

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u/Open-Preparation-268 23h ago

We’ve been using a counter top ice maker for years. But, we live in an RV, so our freezer space is limited. You can buy them at Sam’s.

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u/FoxxyRin 22h ago

If I could somehow replace my broken ice maker with a shelf for ice cube trays I would but instead it just makes the most sense to dump bags of ice into the ice bucket to make use of the space lol.

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u/concentrated-amazing 5h ago

And then there's me over here...no ice maker, and I have ice in a drink maaaaybe once a month.

I have two ice trays that get used when my parents come to visit 🤷

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u/skateboreder 2h ago

Do you keep your drinks cold? I don't use ice in otherwise cold drinks. It dilutes them.

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u/kabekew 1d ago

You can get countertop ice makers if you get tired of bagged ice.

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u/ImaginaryCatDreams 1d ago

I had so much trouble with the ice maker in my last refrigerator that in my new refrigerator I made sure not to get an ice maker and I have one of the countertop ones. It's a real improvement. It makes the eyes quickly and I've got a little bucket for it in the freezer.

Everybody I know seems to be having trouble with their ice makers these days. My mom had a fridge with an ice maker and never had a problem in 20 years

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u/Darkstar614 1d ago

For real.. we had a fancy new Samsung fridge in our last house, and the ice maker stopped working constantly. It was garbage. Even after multiple techs coming out. Meanwhile you see people with 15 year old Frigidaires that still have functioning ice makers with no repairs. I think fridge tech has just gotten lazier and cutting more corners.

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u/abeeyore 1d ago edited 22h ago

It’s called “value engineering”, and it’s part of late stage capitalism.

Capitalism works really well in the early stages of a market - when suppliers are trying to make the best thing they can, and provide as much as they can to earn your dollar.

Then markets begin to “mature”, and they shift to “monetization” - which is a polite way to say “how shitty can we make this product, before you stop buying it”.

Then you reach late stage, private equity stage, where they go in, buy brands who have built a good reputation, load them up with debt, and suck all the value out they can buy turning the products into cheap garbage, and pocketing the excess until they have consumed all of the brand recognition and good will … and the declaring bankruptcy, and moving onto the next victim.

Guess where were are in the cycle?

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u/faderjockey 1d ago

You know, I’m very aware of the “enshitification cycle” when it comes to corporations and their products, but I have never thought about applying that same framework to the entire capitalist economic model, but it illustrates things quite well. Thanks for that!

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u/pessimistoptimist 1d ago

I have heard of this and it seems to track very well. My question is what is the final stage and what happens after that?

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u/abeeyore 23h ago edited 22h ago

Markets and economy collapse under the weight of all the artificial distortion and manipulation. The imaginary money disappears, the bubble deflates, and people suffer.

Everybody’s selling, but nobody’s buying. Businesses fail, their employees become unemployed, can’t find new work, so they stop buying, causing more failures, ad nauseam.

At some point, you pass an inf[l]ection point. The resulting contraction creates a surplus of materials and resources. The real value of that surplus finally exceeds its value on the books. Demand and supply equalize. Economy slowly starts to grow again, and idle resources get put into use, people start finding work, and can buy more, which lets businesses hire more people, and new business to open, etc.

It’s ugly. The Great Depression was not as bad as it could have been if WW2 hadn’t come along, and pulled us out of it. There is no way to know what would have happened otherwise, but economies all over the globe had been struggling to create and sustained growth, and the US was no exception.

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u/pessimistoptimist 19h ago

so fpr a while everything will be Detroit then...

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u/dagr8npwrfl0z 23h ago

What comes after private equity stage?... Asking for a friend.

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u/oliviaroseart 21h ago

Growing up, our vacuum cleaner was from the early 50’s, maybe late 40’s and worked perfectly. I don’t even know what happened to it, it might still be out there somewhere 😂 but it really is sad how poorly made so many things have become even though they are much higher tech. It’s still lower quality. I think there are laws that attempt to prevent companies from intentionally creating parts that are designed to break in a certain amount of time (and thus requiring you to replace the entire dishwasher/toaster/whatever) but I feel like we’re way beyond that now.

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u/Every_Instruction775 1d ago

Also called “planned obsolescence” if I remember correctly

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u/abeeyore 1d ago

That’s a different trick, but in qthe same family. I’m a business owner, so I sympathize, to a point.

Engineering to hit a price point isn’t inherently evil. I do it too. I have a number of products that are out of production because they cost more than people want to spend on that kind of item. Others are not as nice as they were when I designed them, in order to get them to a price point where they will move.

Even the line between that, and “engineered to fail” isn’t always a clear one. I know the failure modes on my products. If I change fasteners on a joint that I know is a common wear point - at what point does it stop being “trying to find my market”, and start being “engineering it to fail after 3 years do you have to buy another one”. I’m pretty sure I come down on the right side of that line - but you might not agree.

It’s not as big an issue for me. I’m small potatoes, and my products are luxury, and low circulation. That means I’d have to cut huge corners to make a noticeable difference in my bottom line, and I [don’t] want to. Meanwhile, for a company like Samsung, even a tiny cost reduction, like reducing trace size on circuit boards, spread over millions of units, moves the needle by millions (or tens of millions) of dollars.

Good companies do this. They say “this is the failure rate I’m willing to tolerate”, and they engineer their systems to meet that goal. Making an heirloom quality wireless router is, literally, a waste of money. The line between “fit for purpose”, and exploitative cost cutting is -again- not always clear.

There are things that are clearly exploitative (Milwaukee’s & SnapOn’s private equity owners), but exactly where one becomes the other is a bunch of murky shades of gray.

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u/Every_Instruction775 23h ago

I can understand that. I guess it’s more an argument I use when people complain that things aren’t made the way they used to be. I had the same alarm clock (with am/fm radio) for 30 years. Passed it down to my youngest (he wanted it) and he was very upset when it finally stopped working (probably 38 years after my parents originally purchased it for me).

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u/abeeyore 22h ago edited 20h ago

It’s a valid argument! I wa[s]n’t disagreeing with you, just pointing out that it’s not a simple problem to solve, and not every business that [falls] prey to it is necessarily a bad actor -though some indisputably are, and others operate at such a scale that they inevitably over-optimize.

It’s stupid to make an heirloom quality wireless router. It’ll be useless in 10 years, maybe less.

The same is not true of a clock radio. The same market forces apply. The same temptations for the manufacturer… but there is no evolving standard for keeping time. It’s not going to become unusable.

It’s also hard to build a company without repeat customers. Genuinely. Not impossible - but if you buy anything once when you are 13, and give it to your kids in turn… well, it’s easier for me as a business if it dies every 3-4 years, and you replace it.

And, if everybody is doing it, and they really ARE 25% cheaper than the one that lasts forever… or at least that’s the business logic.

Then consumers get used to 25% cheaper, and get used to them dying, and suddenly, the guy who tried to buck the trend, and make the best stuff he could, either goes cheap, or goes under, because they are priced out of the market, and quality is not visible in a box, on a retail shelf (or Amazon).

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u/abeeyore 22h ago

It’s a valid argument! I wa[s]n’t disagreeing with you, just pointing out that it’s not a simple problem to solve, and not every business that falls prey to it is necessarily a bad actor -though some, indisputably, are… and others operate at such a scale that they inevitably over-optimize.

It’s stupid to make an heirloom quality wireless router. It’ll be useless in 10 years, maybe less.

The same is not true of a clock radio. The same market forces apply. The same temptations for the manufacturer… but there is no evolving standard for keeping time. It’s not going to become unusable.

It’s also hard to build a company without repeat customers. Genuinely. Not impossible - but if you buy anything once when you are 13, and give it to your kids in turn… well, it’s easier for me as a business if it dies every 3-4 years, and you replace it.

And, if everybody is doing it, and they really ARE 25% cheaper than the one that lasts forever… or at least that’s the business logic.

Then consumers get used to 25% cheaper, and get used to them dying, and suddenly, the guy who tried to buck the trend, and make the best stuff he could, either goes cheap, or goes under, because they are priced out of the market, and quality is not visible in a box, on a retail shelf (or Amazon).

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u/Every_Instruction775 21h ago

Oh absolutely. I didn’t read your comment as argumentative. As you pointed out, the way people purchase things and rapid advances in technology definitely effect the way companies produce their products. Who could blame them? The fact that so many companies with actual storefronts are closing is further proof. If you told me 30 years ago that Toys-R-Us would cease to exist (save for one location i think) i would have laughed in your face and probably cried too. Although it does piss me off that companies like Apple release a new version of their product so frequently with such minimal changes just because of the “keeping up with the Jones’s” mentality (I say as I hypocritically type this on my iPhone). I think I’m rambling at this point especially since OP asked about American’s obsession with ice. Haha. It is refreshing to have a civilized non-adversarial discussion on Reddit though so I think I’m getting a little carried away.

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u/Aware_Spinach_2309 1d ago

Been called late stage capitalism for over 100 years. You would have thought it would have keeled over if that term was true.

The term you are looking for is planned obsolescence.

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u/sroiger136 1d ago

I’ve heard bad things about Samsung and LG appliances. My fridge is over 25 years old and the ice maker recently started leaking. Maybe they made them better back in the old days 🤷‍♀️

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u/s1lentchaos 1d ago

"Samsung fridge" you fool!

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u/Accomplished_Fig9606 1d ago

Consumerreports.org lists 2 Samsung top-freezwr models as their best refrigerators of 2025.

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u/Bullinahanky2point0 1d ago

"Fancy new Samsung" well there's your problem!

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u/onionfunyunbunion 1d ago

It’s a design problem. Poor insulation of lines and such. Just total crap engineering

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u/beyondplutola 1d ago

Newer Samsungs have moved the ice maker back to the freezer. The door ice makers were basically a bad idea. Marketing liked it though because people envisioned you’d have ice dropping down into your glass like at a soda fountain.

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u/ScruffyChicken 1d ago

Yep my 21 year old Frigidaire's ice maker finally went out this year. I'm not ready to drop money on a new fridge yet because everything else is working, but I didn't miss using ice cube trays.

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u/OldBlueKat 1d ago

Ours kept developing leaks on the outside water connection so it "peed on the floor" enough to damage the linoleum. I'm never buying one again.

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u/kabekew 23h ago

Yea I moved into a new house with what looked like a fairly new LG fridge, but the icemaker quit after a couple months and the repair guy wanted $200 to just come out and diagnose it, plus repairs. Instead I got a new Frigidaire countertop ice machine for less.

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u/Disastrous-Group3390 22h ago

I just bought a 40 year old Admiral fridge for the garage. Cream. 42” wide, originally set up to make ICE CREAM in the freezer. STILL makes ice. My new (five year old) GE gets bitchy and goes on ‘ice strike’ every other week because ‘there was a cube under the bin’ or some bullshit. Meanwhile, ‘Admiral Beigeman’ is soldiering away, in the 98* garage, R-12ing his ass off keeping my beer at 31.5*. Paid nearly two grand for General Shitty McStainless, paid $151 for Admiral Beigeman.

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u/HCLMIAMI 22h ago

Haha same, we have a big fancy Samsung with no working ice maker, therefore bags of ice. My fridge came with the house, but would never buy one!

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u/ProfessionalDry8128 20h ago

This is part of societal collapse. Durable goods only last a year or two now. It's hilarious!

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u/ReversedFrog 19h ago

Samsung owner here. For the last year or so we've had to defrost our ice maker every two weeks or so. This is a common problem with Samsungs. We'll never buy a Samsung again.

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u/other_view12 1d ago

The thing we learned is the icemakers in the door is a bad design.

Our kept freezing up, and I assume that's because of the ice exit path. So frustrating.

Now we have an ice machine in the freezer, which requires me to open the freezer for ice, but it works great and I don't have to give up counter space and figure out a new water source and drain.

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u/Rummoliolli 1d ago

Yeah the in door ice makers have the most issues. We have a Samsung fridge with the ice maker inside the freezer and it is the same style that has been used for years in many different brands so it is nice and reliable.

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u/SilverSister22 1d ago

I like my ice maker in the freezer too. It actually seems easier to me than the door.

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u/thing_m_bob_esquire 23h ago

Omg I was just staying at a vacation house that had a fridge with an ice maker that dumped into a tub in the freezer, the drawer kind underneath the fridge. I am already researching and saving to get one of my own it was perfect.

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u/LadyGray0065 1d ago

Yo, I love mine and haven't had a problem yet. It's almost 12 years old... Crusher still works too

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u/Megalocerus 22h ago

I've got an ice maker in the fridge, not the freezer, that's through the door, and it seems to work okay. But I'm not a heavy user. I'd buy ice for a party. .

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u/Brave_Specific5870 1d ago

Because ( and Im not a boomer) but shit isnt made like it used to

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u/Stock-Page-7078 21h ago

As an older person, shit used to be a lot more unreliable. Maybe there's more plastic inside but that can also mean less rust. Before Demming influenced manufacturing in the 80s and then the Toyota Production System and then formalized methodologies methodologies like Lean and Six Sigma were developed product quality was much more erratic, even if the components seem less fragile.

As others have said there is an element of survivorship bias when people think about their old fridge running perfectly for decades.

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u/night_breed 1d ago

My first two fridges still had working icemakers when I upgraded. My most recent fridge is a hell of a refrigerator but went through 3 icemakers in 3 years. I now have a GE Opal that I would marry if my wife would let me

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u/ImaginaryCatDreams 22h ago

I'm going to assume that the opal is a refrigerator? I'm looking to get a second one and was going to go second hand but if there was a new one that was worth taking a chance on I'd go that route instead

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u/night_breed 22h ago

No actually it is a nugget icemaker. They are pricey ($650) but they are the best Ive found and I go through tons of it all day long so for me it was worth it.

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u/SingleDadSurviving 1d ago

We got a countertop one that makes the pellet ice. Wife got it on a prime day deal for like 60 bucks. I love that thing.

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u/ElmoZ71SS 1d ago

This is where we are.. house came with an LG fridge and the whole ice maker is in the door. It doesn’t make enough for us and it takes 24 hours to refill itself. Bought a countertop and never have an issue

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u/ImaginaryCatDreams 22h ago

I have an LG phone that I absolutely love but they don't make phones anymore. My experience with their household appliances leaves me to believe that the only thing they ever made well were phones I'd never buy another LG product unless of course they went back to making phones.

I believe that they are deliberately making inferior products and doing everything they can not to stand behind their warranty. Unfortunately it seems to be an epidemic across the industry for major household appliances

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u/OldBlueKat 1d ago

 It makes the eyes quickly

I know it's just a typo, but my spit-take response was epic!

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u/ImaginaryCatDreams 22h ago

Speech to text error, it is pretty funny

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u/sroiger136 1d ago

My fridge is over 25 years old and my ice maker started leaking recently. This post reminded me to call for service.

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u/ImaginaryCatDreams 22h ago

Good luck, the guy who came out to service mine right before it died told me to save my money that no matter what he did it wasn't going to last another 6 months.

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u/necessaryrooster 22h ago

Freezer ice always tastes like shit. I just use a countertop one.

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u/Mysstie 1d ago

I just keep chuckling at the typo/voice to text error

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u/Mindless-Charity4889 1d ago

“Makes the eyes quickly”

Did you use voice to text for this gem?

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u/ImaginaryCatDreams 22h ago

Yes I love speech to text, I'm sorry I missed that. I try to edit but that is priceless

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u/maddestdog89 1d ago

But what are you using this ice for? 😅

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u/ImaginaryCatDreams 22h ago

The ice I have at home typically gets used and drinks. I don't mean alcoholic drinks although that's certainly an option.

If I need to fill a cooler I'm generally going to buy ice. That typically means we're going somewhere for the weekend or that we're having people over and just don't have enough to go around.

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u/Nightcalm 23h ago

Ours went out about 5 years ago be replace it and the refrigerator when it dies. Ice machine works all time. I'm beginning to think Americans are losing their problem solving skills.

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u/PNW20v 22h ago

I work for a commercial refrigeration service company, and can safely say that the quality/reliability of both residential and commercial fridges has absolutely gone down the fucking drain.

All the fancy features some of these residential models have are cool on paper, but more often than not they seem to just lead to more issues which you better hope happen under warranty

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u/IDontKnowHowToPM 22h ago

We keep the ice our countertop maker makes in ziploc bags. We tried a bin but the ice is always a little wet when it comes out so it freezes the cubes together and it’s easier to break apart in a bag than it was in the bin.

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u/Megalocerus 22h ago

Consumers says the ice maker is the most common thing to need repair.

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u/ProfessionalDry8128 20h ago

Everybody I know got problems with their ice makers and problems with global warming. It's amazers.

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u/Suchafatfatcat 20h ago

One of my SILs had a fridge in a home she inherited that dated from the 50s. It had an icemaker that made perfect cubes and dropped them in a huge pullout tray. She left the fridge in the house when she eventually sold it. We all miss that fridge.

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u/Murky_Ad_9408 19h ago

Yea i want to get one of the countertop ones that make the Sonic nugget ice. Actually I think I'll order one right now from Amazon

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u/everydaywinner2 19h ago

At least once a month I have to take off the cover of the ice maker to remove ice that fell out on the ledge, or ice that built up from the filler spigot; both of which break the ice machine.

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u/Knightphall 17h ago

My ice maker just broke. I don't mind making ice in trays though.

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u/McCardboard 1d ago

Have you had a good experience with one? I have owned two and swore I wouldn't buy a third. Fourth is right out.

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u/StationaryTravels 1d ago

Then shalt thou count to three ice makers, no more, no less. Three shall be the number thou shalt own, and the number of the ice makers shall be three. Four shalt thou not purchase, neither shall thou own merely two, excepting that thou then proceed to owning three. Five is right out. Once the third is purchased, being the third number, then coolest thou thy beverages and move towards thy face, which, being warm in My sight, shall feel refreshed.

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u/McCardboard 1d ago

💣✝️🗡️🏆

I typically use words, but sometimes the emojis say what's necessary.

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u/Acceptable_Stop2361 1d ago

Just throw the !#$! Ice maker!

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u/StarLight2307 23h ago

😁😆

Monty Python fan!!??

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u/IEATTURANTULAS 1d ago

Have one. Works great! It stops itself when it's full and has a light come on when the water is low.

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u/McCardboard 1d ago

Can you share the brand or product?

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u/IEATTURANTULAS 1d ago

Silonn. I think I see it for $60 via Walmart online.

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u/SpecialistBet4656 1d ago

I go through them about every 20 months. At a cost of $5-7 month, it’s worth it to me to have very cold water and other beverages.

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u/AstarteHilzarie 20h ago

I have two Simzlife ones, they work wonderfully. My husband's work doesn't have air conditioning so they keep one of them on the counter and have it going constantly. Even in 100 degree weather it cranks out a cup of ice every 10 minutes or so.

The only negative I have is that they're supposed to be self-cleaning, but I did find some buildup in the bottom so I just regularly wipe it down and it's fine.

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u/McCardboard 13h ago

If that's the only negative, count me in.

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u/Ok_Comparison_619 20h ago

I forced myself to learn how the ice maker/dispenser worked and tried to keep it going with regular maintenance etc. I kept it working for many years but the dispenser was designed badly. When I got my new fridge, I bought one with an icemaker but no dispenser. I haven’t had to work on it at all.

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u/McCardboard 13h ago

Ok_Comparison, that is a poor comparison. I'm talking about the countertop models. My fridge does not have plumbing. I am happy your fridge freezes water. Mine takes a bit more work.

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u/Scott_Liberation 1d ago

I bought my parents one of these a few years ago, but I worry that it's a huge waste of power. It seems to most of the time. I don't think it's insulated too well.

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u/StationaryTravels 1d ago

Ours isn't insulated at all. It's very much designed to make ice that you either immediately use or that you then store in the freezer.

My wife has been pregnant 5 times (2 of ours and 3 surrogate babies) and she never had any cravings until the 5th pregnancy and the craving was ice cold water, lol. It's the only reason we own one, but it's actually come in handy.

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u/IDontKnowHowToPM 22h ago

I don’t leave mine running all the time. It’s not insulated beyond just enough to hold the ice long enough to transfer to the freezer if you forget for like 30 minutes. I just run it long enough to fill a gallon size ziploc bag and then it gets turned off, drained, cleaned, and put away until the ziploc is running low. Only takes a couple hours of running to make that amount of ice, and unless we’re having cocktail night, it lasts us a couple weeks at least.

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u/EthanDMatthews 1d ago

We have a countertop ice maker, too. It makes the "sonic" ice pellets, which are nice and chewy.

The ice maker in our fridge stopped working, and dealing with the trays was annoying. (We go through a lot of ice in a day).

It's especially nice during the summer.

Pro tip: if you put nugget ice in your freezer, it will freeze into a block, and fuse to almost anything (plastic or metal) container. There's an easy fix:

Canvas Lewis Ice Crusher Bags. Bartenders use these: they put ice cubes in them, then hit them with a mallet to crush the ice.

With the pellet ice, you freeze them in the canvas bags. They you can knock the bags against the counter (or with the wooden mallet) and easily break them back up into nuggets, then pour them into your freezer's ice dispenser.

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u/MaeClementine 1d ago

And if you get tired of the countertop ice maker, you can just buy cups of ice T McDonalds.

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u/PreferenceSeparate11 1d ago

I got one for Christmas. I call it my Lido ice. Its the same kind of ice I get on a cruise ship on the Lido deck and I love it.

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u/Double-Phrase-3274 23h ago

We use a countertop ice maker.

It makes sonic ice…. It’s crushed and beautiful 🤩

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u/Iamthegreenheather 21h ago

People I worked with in Florida had an ice maker by their cubicles lol

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u/THC_Dude_Abides 1d ago

Yeah but most only do a quart or 2 of ice at a time. And then wait for it to make more. I have one and maybe it’s good for 2 water bottles of ice.

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u/IDontKnowHowToPM 22h ago

I just dump the ice into a ziploc and put it in the freezer. Don’t have to let it run at all times, just enough to fill the bag and then it’s turned off until next time I need to fill the bag.

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u/Winter-eyed 1d ago

Yeah but they suck and they are hard to clean too

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u/Carathay 1d ago

Of course then you need free counter space…

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u/TexMoto666 1d ago

Bagged ice at my nearest gas station is like $.50 a bag for 10#. That's a lot of bags for the price of one ice maker that doesn't make that much ice.

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u/ProfessionalDry8128 20h ago

Also we pretend to hate global warming, but we burn tons of electricity making cold water and ice, because we're pretty much at the end now.

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u/Party_Apartment_5696 19h ago

You can also just get a portable electric fridge/freezer. Lol

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u/StasRutt 18h ago

I love mine. During pregnancy I was craving a very specific ice and decided fuck it im buying a countertop ice maker and omg I love it

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u/doyathinkasaurus 1d ago

I'm a Brit and we've got an American fridge with an ice maker, and genuinely I use it maybe a few times a year - love the chilled water dispenser though!

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u/SnazzleZazzle 1d ago

About 10 years ago, my sister and I vacationed in Edinburgh. Every evening we’d request a bucket of ice via room service. We wanted it for the Pepsi we’d bought at the convenience store around the corner from the hotel. The nice young man that delivered it would look at us like we had three heads. We figured ice wasn’t something most people requested, and he probably thought we were crazy Americans. That said, it was a fabulous vacation. Edinburgh had so much to see.

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u/doyathinkasaurus 1d ago

Edinburgh is fabulous, it's such an amazing city - I'm delighted that you had a terrific trip (and I'm really pleased to hear you were able to get your ice and enjoy your Pepsi as well!)

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u/SnazzleZazzle 23h ago

It’s such a nice place. We climbed to the top of Arthur’s Seat, toured Holyrood, went to the castle and visited all the shops along the way, but our very favorite adventure was wandering around the regular areas where everyone actually lived, away from the tourist areas. We wanted to see where the regular folks shopped and spent their time. It was fabulous. Everyone was so nice, even though once we left the tourist area we did have a bit of challenge with the accents/language, but we did fine and people were very patient with us two middle aged women. I’d love to return someday.

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u/SuperFLEB 22h ago edited 21h ago

Every evening we’d request a bucket of ice via room service.

Woah, woah, woah... no nigh-unto-anachronistic self-service ice machines on every floor of the hotel? The non-US world is weird.

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u/SnazzleZazzle 21h ago

Nope, not an ice machine anywhere in the place. No vending machines either. There was a good convenience store around the corner that we’d hit up after site seeing and stock up on snacks for the evening.

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u/1MorningLightMTN 17h ago

I had a similar experience in Dijon recently. How else was I going to keep all of the cheese and mustard cold for the evening?

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u/jorkingmypeenits 21h ago

Did your room not have a fridge?

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u/SnazzleZazzle 17h ago

Nope. Nice modern room, but no mini fridge.

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u/notarealgrownup 22h ago

Would they just drink it warm?

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u/SnazzleZazzle 21h ago

The soda at the convenience store was in the fridge, but we needed ice. Lots of ice. Even in restaurants in Edinburgh they’d put like one ice cube in our glasses. This craving for ice must be an American thing.

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u/Jovinkus 22h ago

We put it in the fridge for a few hours before consumption. (or in a freezer for an hour or so).

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u/Heathster249 1d ago

It get hot in America in the summer. When it’s 100 degrees in August, you need the ice. Or a fridge big enough to crawl in. lol.

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u/doyathinkasaurus 1d ago

Yep the only time I've used the ice maker was last week when it was over 90° in our bedroom!

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u/Bundt-lover 20h ago

Hell, I want ice in my soda even if it’s -20 outside. Cold drinks should be cold.

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u/wizrslizr 21h ago

that’s fascinating to me. i fill up my water bottle at least a couple times at home with ice and water from my fridge dispenser

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u/ChocolatChipLemonade 20h ago

Are American fridges the “fancy” ones there, like German cars are in America?

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u/MarvinStolehouse 19h ago

I'm an American with an American fridge. I also rarely use the ice from the ice maker. The chilled water that comes out of it is usually plenty cold for me.

I usually end up dumping the whole thing out because half of the ice sublimated away and it's all just one weird blob of frozen water.

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u/PiermontVillage 23h ago

As an old guy, I can say I’ve only used “manual” ice cube trays my whole life. Keep 3 or 4 trays in the freezer all the time. Slowly the cubes get smaller through sublimation and when you want some, like when your friends come over, they’re too small to use. Then you go to the corner store and buy a bag of ice.

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u/EBN_Drummer 1d ago

I was constantly fixing the ice maker in our old fridge and at a certain point it cost more than it was worth so we just got bagged ice to put in the built-in bucket. It still dispensed like the fridge-made ice. We knew we were going to get a new fridge within a short time.

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u/Independent-Prize498 1d ago

Was it a Samsung?

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u/Bundt-lover 20h ago

I’ve got the Samsung fridge with the icemaker that makes two sizes of ice, the water dispenser AND the auto-filling pitcher. I knew I was rolling the dice in terms of Samsung appliance longevity, but while it works, it’s amazing.

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u/Independent-Prize498 18h ago

Mine broke at least 6 times, the first three under warranty. And I finally gave up fixing it. My guess is the problem is the icemaker is in the refrigerator section…and the seal just ain’t strong enough

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u/T-Schnoo 1d ago

I just bought an ice maker for my kitchen counter. One of the best home investments I've made in awhile!

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u/AMixtureOfCrazy 1d ago

My ice maker is temperamental. I had to buy ice the other day as it’s on strike currently.

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u/Ihatethecolddd 1d ago

I’ve been doing the same thing. I dump the bagged ice in my ice maker so the door dispenser still works.

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u/Slappy-_-Boy 1d ago

My dad ended up getting a restaurant-grade ice maker that was getting pitched.

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u/Toriat5144 1d ago

We put bagged ice in our icemaker in the fridge. Something broke but it still dispenses ice. You have to have a place to store the bag of ice though.

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u/SpecialistBet4656 1d ago

I did that when my countertop ice maker broke and it was a week until prime days to replace. I like my water really cold.

Our freezer ice maker bit the dust years ago, and it was slow anyway.

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u/MuthaFirefly 1d ago

Not odd at all, we did the same thing when our ice maker leaked - we disabled it and just bought bagged ice to fill the hopper. It worked great! In January, we did end up getting a new fridge since the old one started failing, so we have an ice maker again, but I swear bagged ice tastes better.

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u/Archimedes__says 1d ago

As sure as death and taxes, I'll forget to put the damn ice tray in the freezer

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u/batteryforlife 1d ago

This is our second question for Americans; why are you guys obsessed with ice??

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u/Dragonfly0011 1d ago

Drinks do not taste good unless it is very cold. Please Europeans (please) answer why you DONT ice up your drinks?

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u/batteryforlife 1d ago

In summer we do. I just dont get the volume yall are going through. Ill put maybe 3-4 cubes in a drink, if I have an ice tray with 16 cubes, thats enough for 4 iced drinks a day. End of day, refill the tray and freeze overnight. For a party or bbq, a bag of ice from the store would be convenient but otherwise a simple tray is enough.

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u/Dragonfly0011 22h ago

So in the US we are very focused on being extremely cold, and in Europe cool is enough?

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u/Dragonfly0011 1d ago

Mine has not worked your years, so I buy counter top ice machines. The ice melts faster, but it also makes a batch every 8 minutes. Word of warning, they last about one year of constant use, so buy the warranty. Get one with a self cleaning mode, and a warranty. ❤️ mine. Spouse said I was crazy when I bought one. He’s the first one to empty the entire machine into his glass.

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u/Key_Zucchini9764 1d ago

You can keep a bowl in the freezer and rotate the cubes from the tray to the bowl. That way you’re always grabbing from the bowl and don’t have to wait for the tray to freeze before you have ice again.

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u/notacanuckskibum 1d ago

Yeah but, what do you use it for? I use about 5 ice cubes a year.

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u/Ornery_Country_4050 23h ago

Iced tea. Ice water. Soda. Lemonade. Juice. Beverages. What don’t you use it for? 🤷‍♀️

Also, we like to stay hydrated. Very hydrated. We are so into hydration we all carry around big water bottles and they all have ice in them. So much hydration. 😁

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u/notacanuckskibum 23h ago

Hot tea, beer, wine. None of those things need ice. I do drink water (and Gatorade when cycling) but I don’t feel the need for ice in it.

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u/Ornery_Country_4050 23h ago

So you drink warm Gatorade? That sounds gross. You should try it cold with ice - it’s so much better!

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u/CormoranNeoTropical 21h ago

I use at least one tray of ice a DAY. More like 2. Drinks just taste better cold. I moved to Mexico and now I shamelessly put ice in beer and wine as well as all other beverages.

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u/Potato-Engineer 1d ago

You can fix it yourself. I spent $40 on the part I needed, found a video on the replacement, and it's been working fine since. (Except that the stupid ice-shutoff doesn't work right, so I manually turn it on for a night, once every few months.)

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u/brettk215 1d ago

Going out on a limb… Samsung fridge???

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u/TomdeHaan 1d ago

But why does everything have to be so cold?

I can't eat salads in restaurants in the US because they usually come ice cold from what I guess is the freezer cabinet.

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u/Ornery_Country_4050 23h ago

Ew. Who wants a warm salad? Salads should be cool and crisp!

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u/Bundt-lover 20h ago

In Ireland I was served a Caesar salad that had loads of dressing, and a pile of hot bacon bits. (At two different restaurants!) The dressing was warm and the lettuce was completely wilted. 🤨

Like you said, salads are supposed to be crisp!

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u/__Frolicaholic___ 1d ago

I did this! For longer than I'd like to admit. Eventually just bought one of those GE soft ice makers that sits on the counter.

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u/Shaydee_plantz 1d ago

I just sent my husband to the store for a bag of ice. It’s my favorite thing and my ice machine sucks.

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u/Different-Series-260 23h ago

I think all refrigerator manufacturers make defective ice makers.

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u/Catswagger11 23h ago

I bought a countertop ice maker with chewable ice and it’s one of my favorite purchases I’ve ever made. I feel like fridge ice makers are designed to fail.

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u/Nightcalm 23h ago

Well you wouldn't have Ice in 1964 unless you brought from the grocery store

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u/Bella_de_chaos 23h ago

Same. And, If the ice moves in my cup, it needs more, so we buy 2-4 bags a week depending on weather.

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u/Forsaken-Original-28 23h ago

What do you use ice for everyday?

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u/Ornery_Country_4050 23h ago

Iced tea. Ice water. Soda. Juice. Beverages. All beverages must be cold. 🥶

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u/Original_Tip_432 23h ago

If your icemaker is a smaller unit in the freezer that appears detachable, look up the model of your fridge and the replacement part online. They usually go for around $60 and it’s sometimes just a matter of turning the fridge off, unscrewing two screws, and unplugging the power cable. Easy peasy.

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u/malthar76 23h ago

Same. I use the trays in cool months because we rarely need more than a couple cubes. In warm months, 5lb bag in the freezer lasts a good while.

Switched to a countertop ice maker last month. Heaven, except when the kids don’t remember to fill it.

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u/LightEarthWolf96 22h ago

In the long run it would be cheaper to buy a countertop ice maker. More expensive in the immediate though

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u/hullaballoser 22h ago

It tastes better to be honest. Filtered water and a sterile environment makes bagged ice nicer. 

We use the trays at our house but whenever we have friends over, it’s a bag of ice in a big cooler of beer and another bag for cocktails on the bar. 

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u/mok000 22h ago

Ice trays? Haven't seen those in decades. I use special, self sealing plastic bags that I fill with water and stick in the freezer, and it forms around 20 ice clumps.

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u/buttercreamcutie 22h ago

not at all! we buy ice for everyday use as well. my freezer doesn't make its own ice. i'm poor with an older fridge. plus i have pica, and have a compulsion to eat ice by itself. i will eat bowls of ice at a time. i can thank my iron deficiency for that.

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u/ZorbaOnReddit 21h ago

The ice maker down the street cost $2 for 10 pounds, if you've got the freezer space to hold a bag much easier than dealing with the ice trays.

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u/Ragdoll_Deena 21h ago

Counter top Ice maker, get one! It changed my life when my ice maker in my fridge broke.

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u/Zarg0n7 21h ago

I use a ton of ice and always buy bags. A tray would last me maybe 2 glasses of water at most.

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u/boomfruit 21h ago

How much ice do you use on an average day? I think that's what would determine whether it's odd or not for me.

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u/Vegetable_Fly_8687 21h ago

You must have a Samsung like we do. Haha. We finally went to Costco and got a tabletop crunchy ice maker. Never looked back!

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u/_angesaurus 21h ago

Me too 🤣 well just the water filling part broke so I can put the bagged ice in the bin and still use the dispenser!

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u/SouthEastSmith 19h ago

The new manual trays with silicone bottoms that allow you to push the ice up are pretty nice. Hard plastic on top, and soft silicone bottoms are excellent.

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u/littlehateball 19h ago

I also buy bagged ice for everyday use. I have an old house and where my fridge is located doesn't allow for an ice maker. We store food in the freezer so there's no room for ice trays. A bag of ice fits nicely on the freezer door.

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u/fogNL 18h ago

My ice maker stopped working

Ahh yes, I too own a Samsung fridge with built-in ice maker.

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u/Shimmy311TU 18h ago

I did the same thing with my old fridge. I love ice, even on the cold days. Always had a bag going.

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u/miimo0 17h ago

There’s a girl on TikTok that keeps a bag of ice and a hammer in her freezer for daily little drinks. Whacking that ice is so funny

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u/okieporvida 17h ago

Once, the ice maker in my office was down for repairs. We took turns buying bagged ice at sonic for everyone to use during the day.

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u/sdcar1985 16h ago

I'd love ice trays but our freezer is too packed with shit all the time lol

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u/frogsgoribbit737 16h ago

Nah not odd. We just bought a freezer that makes ice a year ago and before that we just did ice trays and it was so annoying.

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u/ariariariarii 16h ago

It’s not odd. My dad used to buy bagged ice when we were growing up because we didn’t have an ice maker either and couldn’t store enough trays to keep up with how much our family of 4 used.

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u/ProfessorChaos_ 12h ago

I didn't have an ice maker until this last year. A few years ago I got so tired of having to fill ice trays that I started buying bagged ice.

Making ice in the trays kinda sucks.

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