Bekins Bite: Why Is My Refrigerator Not Making Enough Ice
One of our Appliance Repair Technicians visited a home where a customer asked, “Why is my refrigerator not making enough ice?”
The answer to this question varies and your best option is to click here and schedule a technician to diagnose the issue in your home.
In this case, the refrigerator worked properly. This customer had a French Door Refrigerator with the ice and water dispenser outside the door which was just not designed to meet certain demands.
It is important to understand ice production is dictated by speed and storage.
- Colder air freezes water quicker.
- A bigger bin stores more ice.
The Style of Refrigerator Matters
Many people are attracted to French Door Refrigerators, but not many people think about how a French Door Refrigerator produces ice in the door. In this case your refrigerator freezes ice in front of the fresh food section. Remember, colder air freezes water quicker. The air in your door needs to freeze enough to turn water into ice, but not freeze the fresh food in your refrigerator because only a thin container separates the two spaces. For that reason, it takes longer to make ice in the door of a French Door refrigerator, and therefore it makes less ice each day.
In addition, French Door Refrigerators allocate less space for ice in the door than a bin in your freezer. When water takes longer to freeze and you store less of it, you run out of ice quicker.
What Is the Solution?
It’s best to consider how much ice you need in a day when choosing your refrigerator. Here are a few options.
Option #1 – Choose a French Door Refrigerator with Ice and Water In The Door and An Ice Maker In The Freezer
Pros: Keep the convenience of getting ice from the door, and when it runs out you can still scoop some ice out of the freezer. Keeping your doors closed traps in the cold air which means less work for the motor and less chance for clumped ice or freezer burn inside.
The added freezer bin produces ice quicker and increases your ice storage space.
Cons: The more space you use to store ice, the less space you have to store food.
Option #2 – Ice and Water in The Door of a Side by Side Refrigerator
Pros: Keep the convenience of pouring ice and water into your cup without opening doors. Side by Side Refrigerators produce ice quicker on the freezer side where manufacturers no longer worry about freezing fresh food.
Side by Side Refrigerators often use a bigger bin for storage than French Door models so you can store more ice in the door.
Cons: A Side by Side bin stores less ice than using an ice maker inside the freezer of a French Door, Top Mount or Bottom Mount model.
Option #3 - An Undercounter Ice Machine
Bekins also offers undercounter models designed exclusively to make and store ice.
Pros: It produces and stores far more ice than any refrigerator. Skipping the ice in the refrigerator door saves that space for food storage. In addition, you can turn off the ice maker in your freezer, take out the ice bin and store more food in your freezer.
Finally, many models of ice machines can produce clear ice. Clear ice removes air and impurities from getting trapped in your ice, then thawing into your drink. Clear ice also takes longer to melt than ice produced in your refrigerator or freezer.
Cons: An extra product in your home produces an extra cost. However, you may save some money by getting a smaller refrigerator since you don’t need the space for ice.
Plus, you need to plan for an undercounter ice machine because they need a water source and a drain.
Want to learn more?
Click here to shop refrigerators, ice machines and more appliances on our website.
Our Appliance Sales Professionals are happy to answer any more questions. Call us at 616-288-1020 or click here to ask us a question online.
Why does my refrigerator not produce enough ice.mp4 from Bekins on Vimeo.