Ice Maker Decisions – Just Ask AL

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- February 3, 2023 at 8:30 am #6087
  
  mjbushnell
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  I Ama about to embark on the finishing my basement, which will include a wet bar, as the rough-in was installed when the house was built.
  
  I am looking at the options for appliances to include in the wet bar, one of which I am considering is an Ice Maker. I am pondering which way to go as far as what type of Ice Maker to go with. As I understand it, there are ones that require a drain & a drain pump and those that don’t require a drain. I have read comments that those that require a drain pump have noisy pumps. The location of the bar would be right next to the AV viewing area so excessive noise would be a problem. On the other hand, I’ve read on the forums / review sites that clear ice is a better for drinks, which from what I understand would require an ice maker with a drain. There is a floor drain (which the water heater over pressure valve and humidifier drain to) not too far away from the location where the ice maker will be installed. How far away from a drain can an ice maker be from a drain and not require a drain pump (i.e. gravity drain)? At this point, every thing is open and it would be no problem to install a drain to the bar’s sink drain or to the floor drain.
- February 4, 2023 at 12:47 pm #6088
  
  AL
  Keymaster
  
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  So yes a clear icemaker is the way to go as it continually makes fresh clear ice always melting the bottom ice away and draining out the impurities to make the ice clear. The unit has to drain , if you can gravity drain it then it must be under the unit or near it on a slope so the water (hence gravity) will flow away from the unit. My experience in basement set ups is the pump is necessary as it will pump it longer distances and up to things like a small sink trap nearby. All clear icemakers are noisy so know that in advance however many brands have a mode that will pause the harvesting of the ice so it will run less. Say your about to watch a movie you put it in this mode and it will pause ice production allowing for up to 24 hours of no noise. Pump will run if needed to drain away excess melted ice. I had a sub zero in my old house and used this feature a lot as a TV room was nearby..
  
  From subs website
  
  UC-15I Undercounter Ice Makers have an auto delay feature to delay ice production for 24 hours.
  The ice maker does not make ice when the unit is in Delay or Repeat Delay mode.
  Ice melts inside the bin during the delay. How much ice is dependent on the ambient temperature and the amount of ice in the bin.
  Setting a repeat delay allows for targeted ice production during the times when ice is most used every day. The Repeat Delay stays set until the Repeat Delay is disabled, or a power failure occurs.
  After power failure, Repeat Delay turns off so it must be reactivated.
  If the ice maker is in the middle of a cycle, it may be possible to hear one batch of ice drop after repeat delay is turned on.
  Repeat Delay is only available starting with the following serial numbers:
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