We had a hoshizaki ice maker for approx 9 years before it had a major (slow) leak that caused several $1000s in damage to hardwood flooring and cabinets. I will be the first to admit we did not maintain it as we should which I have heard since requires a fair amount of maintenance to keep it running. It made the top hat ice and had a (very noisy) drain pump that you purchased separately. When it leaked it was covered by a "home warranty". The issue in a fairly large metropolitan area (Orlando Florida) is NO ONE would service it We contacted Hoshizaki and they gave us names who gave us names and never received calls back. Since we were selling the house and replaced it with cabinetry we kicked it to the curb. We had a Scotsman in a previous house also with a very noise drain pump. At least when it failed we could get service. I think Subzero and Manitowoc would be the direction I would head but I would also make sure service is available. I think an inline filter similar to what I have on my Miele Moisture Plus oven would be something to consider if your water is on the hard side.

Scotsmans are the best!

When we bought our current house it came with an undercounter 15" ice maker. The wood floor in front of the ice maker was slightly cupped and the previous owners said that it had leaked in the past and required a mini remodel of the island area. I guess they really liked ice since they still owned an ice maker.

We had it removed when we moved in and replaced it with a 15" beverage fridge, which has freed up lots of space in the main fridge. Keep your drinks cold and you won't need as much ice!!

Well, we entertain a lot and it's helpful to have that ice maker, and we really like the "clear" ice they make. We're planning a remodel that we will put that ice maker in our laundry room where there is a second refrigerator that we bought on Craigslist, brand-new, still in the packaging for $900 (this is a KA 22CF Counter-Depth, Panel Ready, French Door R/F). In this day and Costco age, you need a 2nd refrigerator so that's where all of our sodas, beers, and chilled wines are. Laundry room has tile floors, so hopefully will avoid the leak problem. Our kitchen has hardwood, but opens to the family room and those 15" ice makers are not the quietest machines. We can close the door to our laundry room so it's not bad. I'm picking up a used 15" Scotsman tomorrow that's 3 years old for $450 - about 1/4 of the price of a brand-new one.

Info for icemakers online is so confusing... I finally figured out that the scotsman model I am looking at is a commercial model... the similar residential model is about $1600 more. I am not understanding the difference in them.. reading through both model's specifications they seem pretty identical... in my area there are actually more service people for commercial than residential scotsman products, but in tiny print some websites say the warrenty is void on commercial models if used in residential installs.

Also just figured out that the nice stainless steel door pictured on the icemaker about half of the time is actually an add on you have to purchase for about 300. ugh.. driving me crazy.. wondering if the commercial one is going to be a lot more noisy.. reviews don't seem clear.. I think people have very different perceptions of what noise is acceptable vs. really annoying. I can get a residential model that has less daily production (30lbs. vs. 65lbs. per day) for only about $500 more than the commercial one... which should be plenty of ice for us..

thanks for all your advice so far. still shopping.

Megan, the reason they have "residential" and "commercial" ice makers is that from a code standpoint, they are a bit different. For the residential units, I recommend putting them in a laundry room or outside on a patio in an enclosure due to the noise of the machine. If your kitchen is for example, adjacent to your family room, I don't recommend putting one of these units in your kitchen. In my case, I'm putting it in the adjacent laundry room where I can close the door so noise will not be a problem. The other thing is that Scotsman makes 2 different kinds of ice makers - one that does "cubed" ice, and the other that does "nugget" or chewable ice (think Sonic Drive-In). The latter machines a 2X as expensive as the cube machines because there are far more moving parts inside the machine. Also in my case, I found one on Craigslist, about 4 years old (checked with the factory on the serial number to confirm) that i'm buying today for $450 - it works perfectly fine and is coming out of a house in Beverly Hills, CA that is being remodeled. I find with high-end appliances like this, I go to the resale market first rather than buying new (kind of like waiting 1-2 years for the "New-Car Depreciation"to wear off. Good luck!

Thanks Vonzie

are you saying the residential model is noisier? I am thinking you meant not to put the commercial one in a kitchen.. or that no matter what they are noisy? This will be going into my kitchen, but off to the side in a coffee bar/ bar set up area.. I am ok with the noise from ice dropping... more worried about a constant loud motor noise. My house is pretty noisy usually.. one kid plays drums and guitar, another plays sax, the third kid is just plain loud and a dog that loves to bark at the deer who are no longer scared of her... I think I may be immune to back ground noise.

I wish I could find a second hand one, unfortunately around here (upstate NY) they don't even carry them in the stores. I looked as far as NYC (4 hours away) and even there I couldn't find any

I am starting to wish I never had the idea to put one in.... but now I have my cabinets planned out and it fits perfectly... and I want fancy ice (by the way the residential scotsman was the model that makes tophat ice.. the residential one that makes sonic ice was mid 4000!

Yeah, the TopHat ice ones are cubed. No, the commercial units tend to be noisier.

I am now an "expert" on the different Scotsman models

customer service was very helpful, but you have to know what questions to ask

they sure don't make it easy to figure out what features each model has or doesn't have online. I ended up ordering an sccp50ma-1ss with a 5 year extended warranty.... Hoping for the best

we don't start gutting our kitchen for a few weeks yet so I won't have it installed for a while, but I'll update how it goes

Megan - Can you do the readers a favor and recap the different features for the different Scotsman models? Thanks!

Jane, generally it depends on wherher you're using it indoors or outdoors, how much ice it produces, and whether it produces "cube" ice or "nugget" ice (think chewable ice like at SONIC). The nugget machines are 2X as expensive as the cube machines because they have many more moving parts in them. The outdoor machines are also more expensive due to UL ratings. Good luck!

Here is my Scotsman model summary:

Cu50Pa is a commercial model with drain pump produces top hat ice 65 lbs. per day , no door options... You get a very basic stainless steel door ( I'm not sure what it looks like but you can not add a custom panel or replace it with the door available for other models) for residential use you get only a one year warranty ( some websites say you get no warranty using a commercial model in a residential setting, but the guy at Scotsman told me you get the one year)

all the residential models you get 1 year parts and 5 year compressor warranty, the company I bought mine from offered an extended warranty for not too much for everything for 5 years... I usually don't do them but thought it was a good bet as ice makers seem to be troublesome

so for the residential models: a P in the model # means it has a pump, a G means gravity drain

- SU at the end means it has no finished door you can do a custom panel or order their door and handle for DCE model the door is KSS

For SCC models the door is KDFS

-1SS has the stainless steel door and handle

Legacy cuber = DCE33 this is an older model they still sell.. Very similar to the SCC30 model with less options on control panel. It makes 30 lbs of top hat ice per day

Brilliance cuber= SCC models SCC 30 makes 30 lbs per day of top hat

. SCC50 makes 65 lbs of top hat ice per day

the scc50 is a little fancier and has an interior light, a water quality sensor

Brilliance nugget= SCN60. Makes sonic type ice 80 lbs per day

there are probably some other details I'm forgetting.... I found shopping for an icemaker very confusing and some websites have incorrect information.... The people at Scotsman were very good about giving me info but you have to be pretty educated about ice makers to know what questions to ask. Hope this helps a little.

oh.. One last thing, all doors are field reversible, they come right hinge but it looks very easy to switch. All models should have an inline water filter, reverse osmosis can cause problems unless it is post treated ( I'm still not real clear on water filters)

Shopping for an Icemaker as well, hence reading comments on Houzz. I thought I wanted a model with a pump but I've read that with a whole house Reverse Osmosis system you should only get the gravity drain models. I further read about the noise and wondered if it was the drain pumps making all the noise. Since we have a drain underneath the location of the icemaker, it seems the gravity drain would work fine. Am I missing something? For you icemaker owners: is it the drain pumps making some/most of the noise? I further read that hardly any models have a cooling feature, therefore, it will make the ice and the cabinet is basically a Styrofoam cooler wrapped in plastic/metal. This means, if you don't use the ice, it will eventually melt. I hope they have a small hole in the bottom that continually drains the melted water down the drain or will I end up with a bin full of water with fresh cubes landing on top? Is there anyway to slow ice production down-in other words, I'm sure we won't use 50 lbs a day, seems wasteful to make it constantly and let it melt away??

Very few of the undercounted ice makers have freezers. Those that do will not produce "clear ice" (like you have in restaurants), but will produce traditional "crescent-shaped" ice like in normal freezers. Yes, they act as styrofoam coolers with drains in them and the ice slowly melts. The used Scotsman I bought does have a drain pump in it, but I won't need it because I'll gravity drain it right into my sink drain.. They normally have a drain line that your plumber connects into your sink drain. It's only when you don't have a drain close by that you need the pump. No, you won't be reaching into a pool of water to get ice - unless the drain gets backed up! The Scotsman ice maker I just got puts out 30 lbs. a day which is plenty. We have a French-door refrigerator/freezer and the icemaker in the door puts out hardly any ice - so that's why we got the Scotsman (we use ice a lot for smoothies and cold drinks here in San Diego. Good luck!

Megan...we are getting the Scotsman in the nugget ice... pump model with stainless steel door. I didn't realize there was a gravity model. Do you have an opinion as to which one is better..pump or gravity? Thanks.

i just looked at the specs and schematics on the back of the machine. There is place for a drain hose. Does our plumber need to put in a drain or does this drain into the nearby sink plumbing?

thanks for any info. Glad I saw this thread.

Vonzie...just read your post. So, am I reading this right. If my Scotsman ice maker is next to a sink I do not need the pump model? Thank you.

Should be next to a sink drain. It also depends on whether you're on a crawl space/basement or slab on grade.

Vonzie or anyone in the know....we are on a basement. This is my beverage center on first floor/kitchen and ice maker is next to sink. the appliance guy spec'd my bid for the pump model and now I'm wondering if he chose the wrong model.

Do you think I need the gravity model? Thank you.

I would ask your plumber and contractor

i think if you can get away with out the pump it is better ( and cheaper)... One less thing to break, My ice maker is going next to a sink on our first floor remodel but my contractor said I needed the pump model to pump the water to the drain even though it is a very short span

we do have a basement below, but I didn't investigate what it would take to get a drain down there ...at this point I just want the simplest solution.

Enjoy you nugget ice... I had a hard time deciding between that and the gourmet.... They should make a machine that can switch between the two.... Although I would hate to think how much they would charge for that!

Megan...I love the nugget ice. The nugget ice is the only reason I'm getting an ice maker instead of using the frig ice maker.

I've read that the pump icemaker is louder than the gravity. My house is new but it sounds like you and I are both on a basement and next to a sink.

i'm still not sure that either of us need the pump model.

more research tomorrow.

Is the noise from the sound of rushing water? or mechanical type noises?

My Scotsman is up and running for the first time today, and I am so far very happy with it. It makes ice super fast and ( we have been without ice for 2 months now during the remodel) it is the greatest ice.

The “top hats” are a bit larger than I was thinking, but they are reallly neat.

So far I’m very happy and glad we put it in. The door reversed really easily and it looks very nice.

Hey Megan, I know it's an old thread, but mind giving the update after having & using your ice maker for 4 years? I'd love to know any reflections as we're planning a remodel. Things like: are you happy with it overall? Any annoyances you wish you'd foreseen? Do you recommend top hat? Thank you!

we have the same icemaker but with the nugget ice about the same amount of time. it has performed flawlessly. we love it.

i would post more details but ive had problems posting.

Ilovered, How is the noise?

My house is open. a few kitchen noises that do not bther me. the icemaker is just another quiet background noise that doesnt bother me.

hey guys I have two Scotsman ice machines one is nugget and the other top hat. I bought the top hat not realizing I got the commercial version. It is gravity drained so no noise from a pump however the noise the machine makes while making ice is deafening. Do you guys know if the residential version of the top hat is as quite as the nugget?

Phil

Phil did you get the SCC50 brilliance cuber model? That is the one we are thinking of getting but your comment about the noise worries me. Ours is in a bar connected to a family room and near a bedroom

The top hat machines are not close to the nugget machine as far as noise levels. They make the ice in completely different ways. The nugget machine make almost no noise when it is making the ice. It basically pushes the water up through a large rotating chilled tube that forms the ice and as it rotates the slices off the ice into nuggets kind of like a pasta machine. If you want the chewable ice this is the way to go. The one thing to make sure of is to have the best water you can going into the machine. It uses almost 100% of the water for ice production so whatever is in the water will be in the ice. The top hat machines are nosier that the nugget machines just because of the way that the ice in made. But they are perfect crystal clear because of the way that the ice is made. If you do have a true commercial machine I think the SCC models will be quieter just because commercial equipment is generally noisier. If you want ice for a bar and want clear ice for cocktails the top hat machine is the way to go. If you can go with the gravity drain machine and not have the pump to get the water out that will save some money and also be quieter when the machine is running.

Never ever buy a Scotsman ice maker! Worst piece of junk i have ever owned in my life. As the owner of an architectural firm specializing in designing churches, i spec’ed a lot of ice machines, fortunately not residential ones like this hunk of metal. i would feel terribly guilty if we had. My family has had our Scotsman for 3 years. I should say we have owned 2 of them in 3 years, because the manufacturer had to replace the first one after it broke down 3 times in the first 8 weeks we owned it. We thought we had just gotten a lemon. But now i see this priduct is is a whole tree of them. Our second unit has been working for only 6 months total in almost the entire 3 years. The new one has been repaired 6 times now. And we have cleaned it twice a year, to the tune of $400 per cleaning. So we spent $4500 for the initial investment, and over $2000 in cleaning it. We threw good money after bad. There is no excuse for a product being this unreliable. if you are looking to buy a residential ice maker, i would strongly suggest you look elsewhere besides at Scotsman. Meanwhile, ours has been working for 3 weeks now, and is starting to make significant noise (meaning it is on it way to being broken again). I woule literally GIVE this piece of garbage to anyone who would come and get it out of our signt. BUYER BEWARE!