I would hate to make a $3,500 mistake and find out it's Extremely Loud and or unreliable. believe me I have been searching for about a month now and I can't even find a display item

I will look through my notes tonight to see what I found. Compared to other appliances I researched heavily and had lots of data/reviews, this one was more gut feel / leap of faith based on reputation of manufacturer, aesthetics, and the fact that I was buying other True appliances for the bar area.

I looked through my appliance notes on Evernote and didn't find any links to any reviews from someone who provided first-hand experience. The links I found were more from websites like Yale Appliance and other industry reviews, which to be honest, seemed superficial. I ultimately decided I liked the looks/features of True enough to purchase it despite the lack of deep reviews, driven partially by brand reputation and the product warranty. It seems that from what I can tell, most ice makers have some degree of noise to them. If you find any other references let me know, otherwise I am hoping to report happy news about the product when it is installed and we are back in the house post-remodel!

thanks for the information. I need to purchase one that can accept a custom panel as I am replacing a trash compactor in my Center Island. I have yet to find a single one that doesn't have some awful reviews. Not a single one. it sounds like they all break frequently and are expensive to fix almost making them disposable. also they all seem to be Extremely Loud and because I need a pump they are all in the mid $3,000 and up range. I don't mind spending the money if it's not going to make a racket and break. people must own the true, I am really surprised there is not a single review. I reached out to true and even they didn't respond. they do have a 3-year warranty however. decisions decisions

Awesome - that is great to hear Rich! Sounds like we are pretty much in the same boat in terms of requirements and the research into these items. If you do end up getting to check out the unit in person it would be great to get your perspective on it. Ultimately I was OK with the leap of faith based on brand reputation, product warranty, and aesthetics, and the fact that there didn't seem to be a perfect choice in terms of completely avoiding the reliability risk and noise issues of ice makers. I also trusted the advice of my local salesperson (Albert Lee Appliance in Seattle), whose recommendations and advice on other appliances I chose was credible and consistent with online information I found. It won't be a few months (~July) until project is done and I hopefully have some real world experience to share. If you get yours sooner would love to hear how it goes. Good luck with your remodel!

if I wind up getting the true in the next few weeks I will definitely make a bunch of videos and throw them on YouTube and send you the link. number one there are absolutely no customer-based videos and number two if I make a mistake it can potentially prevent you from making the same one. FYI I believe there is a $150 rebate that is not very well advertised. go to the AJ Madison website and search for the ice maker and there was a link to a current rebate of $150. unfortunately true has a minimum price policy so I don't think there are any Bargains to be had at all it was somewhere around 3460 or some odd number like that

Okay. ordered. it should be here in a couple of weeks. I'll keep you posted.

I'm not sure if you are interested, but there is a hvac guy I follow on you tube. he hooked up thr true in this video



I'm planning to do it myself so it's helpful

well, it's installed. Fantastic purchase but I know why they are the most repaired appliance. if you are interested in my opinion let me know. You won't be sorry getting the True. I'm very glad I did

Most standalone icemakers are crap. Don't even get me started about U-Line. Scottsman has equally bad reputation. I had another manufacturer recommend Perlick to me and this is what I have now...so far so good.

Thanks for the pictures Rich! I am glad you are happy with it. Can you elaborate on "I know why they are the most repaired appliance."? I can guess, but would be curious to get your opinion based on having the product in hand. I am excited for our renovation to get to the point where I can have and enjoy this!

Okay, here it goes....... First off, compared with everything I read, the True is whisper quiet. it is in the middle of the run of cabinets and there is a granite counter on top. I was thinking of getting something that made small ice nuggets but those have an auger and I hear they are very loud. this unit is whisper quiet. you cannot hear it running at all. When you open the door when it's making ice what is the equivalent of a waterfall pretty much. Constant running water.
The reason I believe these things break so often is that it's "in motion" 24/7. and in freezer ice maker makes ice which stays Frozen until you use it. the compartment where the ice is stored is not even refrigerated. That keeps the ice fresh. so the machine is in a constant state of making ice, spraying water to make ice, ice melting and being pumped down the drain. it is almost always doing something. and I think that kind of constant action lends itself to breaking. I hook it up to a surge protector to try to save the circuit board if we have an electrical Spike. I have well water with a water softener where I live and there's about 500 parts per million of mineral which is pretty much the natural enemy of these machines so in my basement I hooked up a reverse osmosis system with a calcium cartridge that brings it to about 25 parts per million. after that filter I put a commercial ice machine Endurice cartridge made for commercial ice machine. that has some kind of slime inhibitor specifically for ice machine. We will see how that holds up. hopefully it will last. So far the True rep I spoke to did not exaggerate at all with respect to the noise.
there is also that $150 rebate that's not advertised. It's good through 2018

So have you been happy with the True ice maker? Was trying to decide between True and Sub Zero. Thanks

So far it's been great. ice is crystal clear and machine is quiet. Led colors are nice too

Do any of you happen to know if True ice makers can come with a pump to drain?

How did you rationalize paying such a premium price? I had an Electrolux ice maker that gave us a lot of trouble and died. I am hooked on great easy ice now thought.

I want to buy something reliable and great - but am a bit concerned with the super high prices.

We've been back in the house for ~2 months now and I've been able to use the ice maker a fair amount. I am really happy with the purchase. I don't have any other machine to compare it to, but so far, the ice has been clear, beautiful, and plentiful! I find myself having whiskey on the rocks in the evening a bit more before, just to use the ice maker (or maybe another reason)? Anyway...

I like the clear ice, the LED colors inside the ice maker, and the overall fit and finish of the unit is very solid. As for noise, it is generally very quiet, and I don't notice it much, but I would echo the previous comments where it is pretty much doing something. The unit is pretty well insulated, so the noise is not noticeable. The main exception is that when a new batch of ice is dumped into the hopper, you will hear that for sure. When the ice maker was first filling up, I was a bit worried about whether it was a mistake to put the unit it a prominent area (living room bar), but it was more pronounced at the beginning since the ice hopper was empty (more distant to fall = bigger crashing sound) and was dumping new ice every 30 minutes. Once the unit was filled up, the ice dumps have become less frequent, and less loud. From other forum posts I have read, I think all ice makers have this issue, so it doesn't seem like there's any avoiding this if you want clear fresh ice.

Bottom line: pricey, but I have had no regrets about getting this. Hope this helps!

Joe

Joe,

Congrats on the remodel and the new True ice machine! The LED colors look great. Good to finally see some reviews, pictures, etc. Like your wet bar, nice stuff.

Below are two pictures of my subzero UC-15i, 3 years old and running flawlessly. I saw some questions earlier in the thread about noise, custom paneling an ice machine, etc. Figured these pics would be useful. I had heard the subzero was one of the quietest on the market, and it is generally, except when the ice drops. I added some sound dampening material to the backside of panel because when the ice drops it is pretty loud. I can say that I've seen many other ice machines since then and these things are always somewhat noisy no matter what, especially when the ice drops, there's no way around it. And they are running quite often because the ice is constantly melting, but that's the only way to have it if you want clear, fresh ice. Knowing that the True has insulation probably helps quite a bit, so I wouldn't be surprised if it's the quietest out of them all. True is know to be very high quality.

I looked at the videos and the true and subzero seem very similar in design and quality. And their prices are about equal (Roughly $3,500).

If this thing ever dies I'd probably get the true for the LED colors alone.

Congrats again, we use our ice machine several times a day and once you go clear ice, you won't go back to the freezer stuff ever again.

Chris: The true comes with a pump and is outdoor rated, I don't think you can get it any other way. The subzero has four models, one with a pump and one without, and outdoor rated and not outdoor rated. Very cool that True simply puts everything into one model at a similar price.

Joe: Did you install your true with the pump activated or did you disable it and use a gravity drain?

Hi Art,

The pump is active on mine. I think we had the option of doing a gravity drain in the location that we installed, but given that it had the pump installed, I think it drains out through the adjacent bar sink drain. I wasn't sure whether there was an option to disable the pump on the True machine.

Pump can be disabled, but since true has a quality/quiet pump then in some ways a pump can be better.

Just be sure it's connected to an open site drain/air gap if draining to the adjacent bar sink/drain pipe. Most residential plumbers don't do this properly in my experience. Ice machine drains get gross very quickly and you need proper drainage.

We purchased the True undercounted Ice Maker, but we are very unhappy with the noise. All the comments here are saying it is whisper quiet (a prominent reason why we order this unit); however, I hear mine running all the time - with the door shut. I understand the thud of the ice cubes dropping - they are big, but hearing the motor running reminds me of the old style dishwashers. Note: My 2 Thermador dishwashers are truly whisper quiet. I am regretting my decision to purchase this appliance. We have owned lower end appliances that did not make this much noise.

I have a True in order for my remodel. Everyone still happy or any updates? Main worry is noise!

We have the True ice maker in our kitchen & it does make a lot of noise when the ice cubes drop. I would recommend putting it in a basement bar, but not in your main living area.

No such thing as a quiet ice machine, unfortunately.

We just installed a True ice maker in our basement wet bar. We love it! I added a water filter line to my sink as well. We love having clear ice in our filtered water during the COVID at home workdays and for a cocktail in the evening. The ice cubes are large, clear and seemingly bottomless with the 70lb daily capacity. LED lighting is a great touch and the quality is second to none. Best in class by far!

Considering an undercounter ice maker in the kitchen and leaning towards either the True or the SubZero. Would love to hear if the owners in this thread continue to like theirs. I'm OK with noise when the ice drops (to be expected), but would like to know if you find them noisy all the time now that you've had them for a few years.

Still loving my Subzero UC-15 every day. I don't really notice the noise anymore, I did when I first got an undercounter ice machine, but got used to it pretty quick. The location of the ice machine is important, ours is in a wet bar. But the glory of clear ice far outweighs the noise :)

can anyone share a picture of the actual ice cube produced by the True ice maker? Is it an actual cube or is it round?

It makes top hat style ice (same as subzero). Do a youtube search, you'll find a few videos showing the ice.

Is the ice the slow melt?

We have the 15” True ice machine. It is LOUD. We have in installed in a wet bar near the kitchen. I agree with the others that the ice dropping is very loud. Whenever I clean it out, I do it in the morning so we don’t wake up the house at night with crashing ice cubes. Our unit is almost 3 years old and the LED indicator stopped working. It also gets moldy very fast, so I find I have to take it apart more often than 6 months. One of my neighbors has a machine that makes the soft ice cubes(like at Chick-fil-A) and her machine is so much quieter.

Hi! Thank you for your comment. I am considering purchasing the True refrigerator (that does not include a ice maker) and the true ice machine for my kitchen remodel. This is such a difficult decision. If I do not purchase the ice maker, I will have to go with a SUBZERO frig. But I am concerned about the maintenance that you speak of. How often do you have to take this unit apart? I thought the clean button helped with this ...

It’s very easy to clean. It’s a cycle, and you need a new filter every year which is around 95 from true. They have a great video on you tube going through the entire cleaning process.

here is a link to it. https://youtu.be/jQhjdznQupw I would assume it’s exactly the same as the Subzero. I got the True and it is great. It has a better warranty than the SZ and that is very important as these things run 24/7/365. I have a vid up on you tube detailing my machine. we use it daily. ps you want a machine with a pump drain, not a gravity drain.

Why pump and not gravity?

True design flaw.

I just replaced a True Residential Ice maker after suffering through two major leaks that destroyed a ceiling and a floor. The True model has a design flaw in the rear drain hose connection that is prone to leaking. True uses a "push to connect" fitting for their drain rear hose vs a more secure and reliable clamp connection. The push to connect fitting will fail over time just from the wear of water running through the line.. Models from Scotsman use the clamp connection.

True Customer Service offered no solution other that to ask me to cut the hose and reconnect it. I did this and the unit leaked 4 months later creating additional water damage.

I installed a Scotsman SCCG30 and immediately noticed the clamp type connection on their drain hose. I feel much better with Scotsman despite the lack of the fancy lighting that came with the True Model. Unfortunately, I am out of pocket thousands from this "Truly terrible" product experience.

@Joseph Guinta

Thanks for the information. In this picture is the flawed connection at the ”1” in the upper right corner?

If that is the push to connect port for the exterior drain hose, then yes. It is hard to determine in that picture. The hoses shown in the lower 3 pictures show that drain hose. The hose connects in the rear through that fitting.

Valerie Kahrs do you know what brand of nugget ice machine your neighbor has. Would like to find a quite, reliable one.

I have two True undercounter ice makers, one in kitchen and one in basement wet bar. Ordered True brand during a remodel based on recommendation of our long time decorator. They are somewhere 6-7 years old, some of the first True made They have been maintenance and relaibility nightmares since almost day one.

I have both a follet nugget ice maker which ic a countertop model and the True Residential ice maker. Both can be slightly noisy from time to time. both are well made and both serve their purpose. the nugget ice machine is great for chewing ice, however it melt super fast. the top hat ice maker makes large solid ice which takes longer to melt. i feed both of these with a reverse osmosis system with three tanks in series. True requires a drain, because it has a pump, you can run a line 3/8” to the kitchen drain. both work great and require annual cleaning. i paid for a pro to do it the first time, now i do it myself. very easy to do.

Looking into this as well, I priced both brands out and they came to around the same ($7150 CAD) so unsure if i want to take the leap on that price tag. Originally purchased a Whirpool when we first built our house 10 years ago and the damn thing did not work a day in its life. It is still sitting there looking pretty. I am far to nervous to spend money on something that wont work.

I recently purchased an open box Sub-Zero panel-ready UC-15I from a local dealer in Tampa. When I picked up the unit, it looked lightly used rather than "open box". I was given a fair discount on the item, but given its questionable history I asked if I could test the unit before install. The dealer agreed to let me test the unit in our garage (borrowing water line for our garage fridge) and was mortified by the level of noise the thing made while making ice - not the ice tumbling down into the bucket but just the compressor (and whatever else) running to freeze a batch of ice. Granted, this was the level of noise the thing made in open air, but I can't imagine being able to bring it down to a level that would be reasonable for an appliance that will be working continuously ~8-10 hours day. OTOH, we also have a cheap Frigidaire freezer/fridge (with ice maker) and chest freezer sitting in open air in the garage that are both silent as a mouse.

Using a decibel meter, the back of the unit near the compressor measured 65dBa, and from the front of the unit over 57dBa. See pictures attached. To put that in perspective the loudest published spec for cheap residential dishwashers is 62dBa (a Frigidaire model). And apparently some "quiet" home vacuums can be as "low" as 70dBa. These ice machines must be a marketer's dream: "You'll love our new WhizBang Ice Machine, it produces stellar clear ice, and is SO quiet that it is only markedly louder than a $250 dishwasher and quieter than the quietest handheld vacuum (but not appreciably), but don't worry it will only run like that half the day!"

The thing is every manufacturer provides noise specs for dishwashers and vacuums, but a dishwasher may run 2 hours a day for a typical family (and usually at the end of the day), and a vacuum may be run a couple of hours every week! So I don't see how these things are designed at all for their use case, which is likely entertaining friends and family, and thus located in an easy to access area for guests to help themselves to drinks. For us, our plan was to have an ice machine built into the side of our new peninsula between the formal kitchen and family room area. Who is going to buy a $4000-5000 appliance that is meant for entertaining and then squirrel it away in a basement or hidden in a closet?

I reached out to the dealer to ask if our "open-box" Sub-Zero UC-15I was simply a bad/problematic unit (in which case I could simply have gotten it serviced by SZ), or if this is typical of the whole line? The dealer claimed they were going to talk with SZ rep about it and get back to me, but that never happened. Instead they suggested this was typical of all ice machines. So in the end we returned it back to the store and agreed reluctantly to a rather large store credit (with really nothing else I need).

If we do end up putting in a unit such as the hugely expensive True or other quality unit (which we heard is >$5000 in late 2024 dollars - has inflation on these units almost doubled their price in 5 years?), I am curious if I am going to have to redesign the end cabinet to add 2" of sound absorbing material to stifle compressor noise to some reasonable level? If anyone has measured their installed True or Sub-Zero ice machines with a decibel meter while the compressor is generating ice and can provide additional feedback, I would be eternally grateful (as will I'm sure many others who are heading down this rabbit hole). Cheap decibel meters can be found on Amazon for under $20 (https://www.amazon.com/s?k=decibel+meter). My own is quite a bit more expensive unit that can be purchased at Guitar Center (https://www.guitarcenter.com/American-Recorder-Technologies/Sound-Level-Meter-1273887987091.gc).

Actually, I'd be interested in getting feedback on noise readings on any installed under counter ice machines (JennAir/KA/Whirpool, Scotsman, Hoshizaki, Yale, True, Sub-Zero, Manitowoc, Viking, ULine, Perlick, XO, etc.).

In any event, I hope my readings on the Sub-Zero UC-15I are enlightening to some - if I get feedback from Sub-Zero and learn that I had an atypically "bad' unit, I will be sure to provide that additional information. Sub-Zero is a great company and makes quality products like our classic 36" fridge/freezer, which at 18yo is still working perfectly (including its ice machine!), and is the only appliance we are not replacing for our kitchen remodel (at least not yet)!

This is a rabbit hole indeed. I’ve wrapped my head around spending $5,000 for an ice machine but the fact that the reviews are all over the place and so negative when they are negatice is giving me pause.

We decided to punt on a fancy ice machine and instead redesign our cabinets for an under counter dual freezer with ice machine (standard ice, which will be fine and accessible for entertaining). The nice thing is that the Sub-Zero unit I ordered since my last post (ID-30FI 30" dual drawer freezer) is about the same price as their standalone fancy 15" ice machine or the True unit, but obviously a lot more functional day-to-day. So not as "gourmet" as the clear ice, but honestly we won't miss having clear ice as we aren't huge liquor drinkers anyway. Hoping that fancy bags of ice becomes more of a national thing in the not too distant future, if I want to make a perfect holiday cocktail.

Betancur: An ice machine is a luxury investment that is high maintenance. I recommend the True because of the 3 year warranty and they make their own machine, but subzero is also good, just less warranty at 2 years.

Fog: You can always buy craft ice molds and put them in your freezer drawers. The good molds make clear ice, and you can pick different shapes (sphere, cube, etc.). So you get the best of both worlds, enjoy.

Since I keep getting notifications on this six-year-old post I made on this thread, I might as well give anyone interested my "long term" follow up with my True icemaker. It's been about six years. Still working perfectly. I had one issue about four years ago which was covered under warranty for free. They told me they changed the design and updated my machine.

I Change the filter and do a full cleaning once a year. The ice it makes is still as good as day one. We use it all the time and to me it was worth the expense Even though I don't put ice in my drinks that often, the rest of my family does. The filter is about $100 a year. And it's maybe another $40 for the descaler solution But you can easily Do it yourself. It's not particularly noisy But it does run almost all the time Since the ice is constantly melting and the machine is making more. If something happened to this one, I would buy another one exactly the same.

We recently purchased this ice maker and had it installed. We are happy with the ice this produces, but I would say it is much, much louder than we anticipated. It is one thing for the water fill and ice drop to make noise, but the compressor on this makes very loud, constant buzzing noise. Based on my experience I would onky recommend someone install this in an outdoor area or a place far from where you may want to relax or talk with others

I'm currently researching under counter ice makers. Money is not an issue. I just want one that is quiet and makes small ice cubes so that when they fall you can't hear them. And I do not want nuggets. If anyone loves their ice makers please shout out.

What you want does not exist. Would have to settle for nugget if you want quiet.