Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This ice maker is just what I needed. Compact, low power consumption, makes plenty of ice for drinks. I had been buying a bag of ice every week or so for years, since my fridge doesn't have an ice maker, and I'm far to lazy to use ice trays. I had seen and used other peoples' portable ice makers before, but I never wanted to spend the money for one. This unit is made my Edgstar and is part of their Koldfront brand. On Edgestar's website it retails for over $200. So I think under $100 on Amazon is a great deal. It does exactly what it was described to do. There are a couple things you should know about these and other portable ice makers, though. The first couple of batches of ice will smaller, wetter, cubes. As the system continues to run, the refrigeration cycle gets to it's optimum pressures and temperatures, and it will make better, more solid, larger cubes of ice. I think the cold from the ice also chills the water in the basin allowing it to freeze better than room temp water. It does not keep the ice frozen forever once it's produced. The unit does not store the ice in a refrigerated chamber. It is well insulated, but don't turn the machine off and come back 2-3 hours later to have a glass of iced tea. Leave it on and as the ice melts, it will make a batch of ice about once an hour to keep the basket full. It makes one batch of ice every 6-7 minutes. So, in half an hour you have plenty for a couple 16oz tumblers of refreshing beverage. With a full basket (1.8 pounds) of ice, I can easily make drinks for me and my friends, and when it's time for round 2, it has topped up with fresh ice again. I turn it off at night, and turn it back on in the afternoon about a half hour before I want to use the ice. It uses such a small amount of power that I don't feel bad about leaving it on for several hours a day when I'm using ice. It draws 1.7 amps with the compressor and fan running and spikes to 2.1 amps for about 15-20 seconds while using the heating element to release the ice. I'll be doing a power usage test with my Kill A Watt, but in my estimation it uses about .7 kWh per day, using enough ice to keep it running periodically throughout the day. This company also makes a larger model which produces slightly more ice, but for my purposes, the smaller size, less weight (only 20 lbs) and 26 lbs per day production, this "cool" little guy does the trick! The small amount of power consumption is great for RV's running on solar or boondocking without a generator, or just anyone who's energy conscious. *Common sense tip! Clean it before using, especially if you get an "open box" unit like I did. It wasn't super dirty, just dusty and had a tiny spider in it.*