Commercial ice machines what’s best for your business?
Which ice machine should I get? You think oh this will be easy I will get one that will have just enough ice to cover my business’s needs.
But what’s enough ice? Now generally one of these are around 6kg of ice, from this how many times a day do you need to fill said bucket – if not buckets – and do the maths from there.
Maths question 1 –
Based on a theatre with 1 long bar and one shorter bar
Buckets – 5
Amount of times can be refilled on average of a busy day – (generally panto time of year when there is too much screaming “he’s behind you”)
{5 (start of the show) + 5 (ready for the interval)} x 2 (1 matinee +1evening performance) =20
6 (amount of ice in bucket) x 20 (amount of refills) =120 kg of ice needed on average for this hypothetical theatre.
*phew* Bet you didn’t realise that you would be hitch hiking back into a maths lesson just for buying an ice machine when you first thought about one did you.
From this you can now look at what size machine you need. On our website, our ice machines are sectioned into;
From here you can go on to find your perfect enough producing ice machine which is going to save the day. ….
Hold on…… what’s this? Types of ice??? Well that is another conundrum. What ice type is best for what I need? Here’s a run down on ice types and their uses;
Bullet Ice— Bullet ice is ideal for establishments where ice is essential, but the quality of the ice is not necessarily the most important factor. Due to the bullet-like shape and the holes in the base of the ice, this type of ice has a good ice to water ratio for rapid cooling. Cloudy in colour.
Thimble Shaped Ice—Thimble or “Top Hat” shaped ice is the ideal solution for “premium” ice cubes. Due to its shape, it is much less inclined to stick together in the machine, and floats freely in the glass providing maximum cooling.
Full Cube/Full Dice Ice—It’s classic rhomboid shaped gives both practical and aesthetic elements to the ice with nearly 100% ice to water ratio, and a smooth, neat appearance. Clear in colour.
Cubelet Ice— Cubelet ice cubes are ideal for a range of establishments including health care, restaurants, offices, bars, and pubs. Their smaller size means that they are chewable, soft and light so it is suitable for many purposes.
Crescent Ice—Crescent shaped ice, or “half-moon ice is perfect for establishments that need to make advantage of maximum storage capacity. With minimum splash back when being put into drinks, crescent shaped ice is ideal for fast paced environments.
½ Cube / ½ Dice Ice— ½ Cube / ½ Dice, or “slab ice” cubes are ideal for keeping beverages cooled to a maximum ability with nearly 100% ice to water ratio. The hard, clear, rhomboid shape produced by certain commercial ice machines is attractive and unique, making your chilled beverages more aesthetically pleasing.
Flaked ice– Flaked ice machines produce more of a natural style of ice. From food preservation to display this is the best form. Flaked ice is good for maintaining perishables or of use within laboratories, fisheries, or cocktail bars.
From this you can decipher which ice type will be suited to your commercial residence. Upon finding how much you need and what type of ice you need the next consideration is space. Make sure you measure the space available include ventilation so that your wonderful new machine will run at optimum with no overheating.
Next on the list of decisions – price and energy efficiency. These tend to go hand in hand many energy efficient units can be slightly higher in price. On the flip side to this what you spend initially you will reap benefits of with your electricity bill at the end of the quarter which will ultimately take some of the strain off your business. In time, you will save the difference and further so an energy efficient machine is a large consideration with the benefits that you can collect.
Now you have all the information, you have made your decision for which one you want or need help finding the right one to serve your business needs give us a call on 01229 480001 and let our fabulous sales team help you every step of the way. Once it arrives make yourself a cocktail and sit and survey your marvellous purchase aaannnddd relax.
