New Efficiency Standard Equals Cool Savings on Ice Makers

Commercial ice makers — the kind you see in hotel hallways, restaurants, and hospitals — can churn out anywhere from 50 pounds to 4,000 pounds of ice every day. They can produce regular cubes, ice nuggets for drink machines, or soft flakes used in supermarket displays, and they use a lot of water and energy to do it. As of this week, thanks to updated efficiency standards, almost every new ice maker sold in the United States will use 10 to 25 percent less energy.

Sunday, Jan, 28 was the day that the Department of Energy’s (DOE) efficiency standard for automatic commercial ice makers went into effect. Thanks to this updated and now more widely applied standard — which some manufacturers have bested by as much as 18 percent —  U.S. business will save $942 million in energy costs over the next 30 years. The owner of a new, more energy efficient ice maker might not notice any difference, except for the energy savings of $200 to $800 over the life of the machine. The…