#IceMaker August 28

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August 2026 several of us are going to take on the 30-Day Plugged in Coach4aday Challenge. Each day, we will feature an item from home or office that requires being plugged into a source of electricity to operate. We will reflect on how it makes life easier. For Day 28 it is on an ICE MAKER.

For generations, making ice meant harvesting it from nature or later filling an ice tray with water and waiting for it to freeze. Does anyone recall these contraptions in your home?

Electricity changed the process by allowing refrigerators and automatic ice makers to make and harvest ice with virtually no effort from us. Today, we can push a button and have a steady supply of ice without ever touching an ice tray.

August 28-Ice Makers

For most homes in America if you wanted to make ice you utilized one of those trays shown above in your freezer. Like many of the previous posts on items that got plugged in the evolution occurred over time.

1940s–1950s — Automatic ice makers emerge
The first practical automatic ice makers began appearing in refrigerators during the mid-20th century. These devices automatically filled a tray with water, froze it and harvested the cubes.

1960s–1970s — Automatic ice makers become popular
Automatic ice makers became increasingly common as an option in American refrigerators. By the 1970s, they were becoming a highly desirable feature, particularly in larger modern refrigerators.

1980s–Today — Ice on demand
Refrigerator manufacturers added through-the-door ice dispensers, crushed ice and larger-capacity ice makers. Today, standalone countertop ice makers can produce ice without being connected to a refrigerator.

Stand Alone Ice Makers

The affordability of countertop machines has really come down. In the south people are fanatical about a type of chewable ice you get at Sonic Drive-In. There is a countertop machine that makes that type of ice.

One of the features is these machines do not have to be connected directly to your water line. Many have a reservoir that you fill up manually to make your ice.

Here is a video on the GE Opal 2.0 Nugget Ice Maker that makes chewable ice.