NEED INPUT: ICE MAKER OR 2nd FRIDGE? What is better?

SeeYa Ray

SeeYa Ray

New Member
Mar 15, 2023
26
Boat Info
340 Sundancer
Engines
7.4 Mercruiser
Hello Everyone: My wife and I are restoring a 2000 340 Sundancer. It originally came with an icemaker built in the cockpit area which was gone when purchased and we are trying to decide whether it makes sense to replace it or put a 2nd fridge there. We live in Tampa FL so the climate is hot.

Would a fridge be better use of the space where people could get cold drinks out of without having to constantly go down into the cabin or would the ice maker be better to have and throw drinks in a cooler with ice for people to access their beverages? Please help us to decide, thank you!
 
I'd say the decision would be based on your personal preference for drinks. If you're a mixed drink person - you would probably appreciate always having c-c-c-cold ice on hand. Beer, cooler and white wine drinkers would appreciate more fridge space.

My 34 Amberjack had an icemaker topside and fridge in the cabin. It had a self draining ice bucket up top too. I'd fill it with beer/coolers and add ice from the icemaker with lots left over for mixed drinks.

Good luck with your decision!
 
A lot of people have those countertop ice makers and seem pretty happy with them. If you find your boat is short on refrigeration space then that maybe an option to replace the OEM ice maker with a refer. However, the ice makers are pretty narrow, like 16 inches; you may not find a refer that fits that narrow space.
 
I have a 97 330DA and have the ice maker. I love it, but I use the boat for salmon fishing a lot and we leave the dock before our marina store opens, so it’s great to have ice for the cooler from the ice maker. Mine died two years ago so I had to make a decision and decided to repair the ice maker rather than replace with a fridge. If I didn’t fish —- hmmm, I would probably go with another fridge. I would get an AC/DC model, probably from Nova Kool.
 
I find that having a few ice trays in the freezer is more than enough ice for our use on weekends. When I need to fill a cooler, I swing down to the gas dock.

When my ice maker gave up the ghost I replaced it with a fridge. I like having my own fridge up top. My wife maintains full control over the larger fridge in the cabin...
 
The decision mostly depends on your drinking habits? If you make a lot of cocktails, the ice maker is the way to go.

I've never been impressed with the countertop ice makers. The ice isn't very cold and a large portion of it will melt by time you are done making your cocktail.
 
My 310 we had a refrigerator or freezer the unit could be either one. Most the time we ran it as a freezer. Having a freezer came in handy on longer trip to store ice and meat.
 
IT might depend on what kind of ice maker would fit, and how much ice production you expect.

There are two kinds of ice makers: white ice and clear ice.

White ice makers produce the typical crescent kind from home. Water fills a tray and the ice freezes from inside out. It then is dumped into a bin that's cooled, and it stays there until you use it - no drain required. These typically produce up to 24 lbs of ice per day, but the bin often holds half that. You will always have some ice at the ready because it's not melting, but the production is slower if you use it up. White ice makers can be more compact than clear ice makers. White ice makers are quiter, making noise only when filling the trays and dumping ice. They often come as AC/DC powered models

Clear ice makers produce ice by spraying water onto a cold plate The water freezes and the ice builds up. The elements then heat and the ice slides off into an un-cooled bin where it slowly melts. Therefore a drain is required. Clear ice cubes are typically barrel or bullet shaped and are generally viewed as superior to white ice. Clear ice makers can have a much bigger production capacity - often at 40+ pounds per day - but the production is continuously melting. Clear ice makers are also quite noisy. Until the bin is full, the compressor is on and it's constantly spraying water on the freeze plates. You can turn it of but there goes your ice. Clear ice makers work best when left on. If turned off for more than a day, they often need to be primed and it takes time to build up a supply. The first batch dumps pretty fast but it also melts fast in the now-warm ice bin. In order to have the ice always ready you must have AC power (normally runs ONLY on AC power) and the water system supplying power/water. If away from the boat for a while its possible to run out of water.

With all that said I think a white ice maker is probably the better fit in terms of use case and physical fitment (smaller format). I had a clear ice maker and while it was wonderful the sucker was noisy. The delay from turning it off during the week was a bit annoying, and the generator had to be on to produce ice when on the hook. My wife does miss the luxury of having an icemaker aboard.

The best fit for you? If your main objective is to stop going down to the cabin for drinks I think a fridge would be a better fit. If you want ice for drinks, pick up a bag for the day and put it in something like a smallish soft sided Yeti cooler. That way you get cold drinks in the cockpit AND have some ice too.

I can tell you having two fridges is nice. My current setup is a two drawer Vitrifrigo reefer with the bottom drawer dedicated to beverages. I'm lucky enough to also have a dedicated separate drawer freezer where I store a bag of ice, plus ice cream. Just last weekend I dumped the last of the season's ice overboard.
 
I have a fridge in the cockpit area full of beers and such and I like that, but I do have a freezer in the cabin that we put a fresh bag of ice in from Chick Fil A.......
 
We used our ice maker in the cockpit constantly. Saved us from buying overpriced ice from an inconvenient vendor. Used it for cocktails, ice water and cooling beverages and food in the ice chest.
 
You anti cockpit ice maker people. I swear you guys promote the fridge because you don’t want to admit the mistake you made by replacing your ice maker with a fridge…... you can’t fool us…… in all my years in boating I have never seen a boater leave the store with a smile on his face while he carries two bags of ice and a lighter wallet back to his boat
 
Blueone said:
You anti cockpit ice maker people. I swear you guys promote the fridge because you don’t want to admit the mistake you made by replacing your ice maker with a fridge…... you can’t fool us…… in all my years in boating I have never seen a boater leave the store with a smile on his face while he carries two bags of ice and a lighter wallet back to his boat
Click to expand...

I must be a rookie drinker, if I needed 40lbs of ice per day I'd be dead! :)

53125149353_72dbd48738_h.jpg
 
Blueone said:
You anti cockpit ice maker people. I swear you guys promote the fridge because you don’t want to admit the mistake you made by replacing your ice maker with a fridge…... you can’t fool us…… in all my years in boating I have never seen a boater leave the store with a smile on his face while he carries two bags of ice and a lighter wallet back to his boat
Click to expand...
Well lets look at it from a payoff perspective. If the ice maker costs $1500, ice costs $3/5lb bag, you can buy 2500 lbs of ice for the same cost. If you buy 2 bags per boat visit and visit the boat 25 times, that's 10 years worth of ice. Maybe not a great ROI?
 
b_arrington said:
Well lets look at it from a payoff perspective. If the ice maker costs $1500, ice costs $3/5lb bag, you can buy 2500 lbs of ice for the same cost. If you buy 2 bags per boat visit and visit the boat 25 times, that's 10 years worth of ice. Maybe not a great ROI?
Click to expand...
Ok slow down accountant man…. OP has to buy a fridge or an icemaker….. my guess is they are pretty close in price

Everyone boats different. In my case I have a small freezer and it usually has quite a few things in there. If you throw a bag of ice in there it’s kinda a pain in the ass. Our fridge doesn’t have a lot of food in it mostly condiments. So it holds all the beer I need and fits my wife’s goofy drinks.
If visitors come which is often we break out the Yeti….. just got a new M30….$350….Very slick…. All visitor drinks go in there and topped up with my icemaker ice and it stays in the cockpit under the table.

83BC00A0-FFC5-4C14-9817-E847D4184628.jpeg


Now long weekends and vacation blows the thing up so we have a couple other Yeti’s we bring but need ice or frozen packs….. So I am hard core icemaker….. just for the convenience factor and I’m cheap …buying frozen water just isn’t right
 
Blueone said:
Ok slow down accountant man…. OP has to buy a fridge or an icemaker….. my guess is they are pretty close in price

Everyone boats different. In my case I have a small freezer and it usually has quite a few things in there. If you throw a bag of ice in there it’s kinda a pain in the ass. Our fridge doesn’t have a lot of food in it mostly condiments. So it holds all the beer I need and fits my wife’s goofy drinks.
If visitors come which is often we break out the Yeti….. just got a new M30….$350….Very slick…. All visitor drinks go in there and topped up with my icemaker ice and it stays in the cockpit under the table.

View attachment 153792

Now long weekends and vacation blows the thing up so we have a couple other Yeti’s we bring but need ice or frozen packs….. So I am hard core icemaker….. just for the convenience factor and I’m cheap …buying frozen water just isn’t right
Click to expand...
7 bucks a gallon for fuel, but Ice is the one that breaks you. :)
 
Blueone said:
You anti cockpit ice maker people. I swear you guys promote the fridge because you don’t want to admit the mistake you made by replacing your ice maker with a fridge…... you can’t fool us…… in all my years in boating I have never seen a boater leave the store with a smile on his face while he carries two bags of ice and a lighter wallet back to his boat
Click to expand...
He does if he's going back to a fridge full of Bud Light. :)
 
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