I will give you the benefit of me having researched this to the nth degree for months.

IMO Manitowoc makes the second best undercounter residential ice maker. They don't make a custom panel version under their brand name. They do make one for Sub-Zero. Below is an open-box version for $2499

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SUB-ZERO-15-UNDERCOUNTER-PANEL-READY-ICE-MAKER-UC-15IP-/200637964035?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0amp;hash=item2eb6f45f03

The best IMO is Hoshizaki below is a link for one for $1468 plus shipping. Brand new. Japanese company but made in the USA. Service can be significantly more expensive than Scotsman but rarely needs it.I think 48 of 50 largest fast food chains are now specifing Hoshizaki for low cost of operation.

This is for the top-hat ice version.They do make a pebble ice version for alot more money.

IMO Scotsman is average.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hoshizaki

FWIW.....IMHO.....unless you are completely nuts about your ice....just buy the stuff and forget it. If you are, indeed, nuts about it you'll be starting with RO supply to the ice-maker. Are you with me so far?

Machines that will give you clear, reasonably-sized (actually quite big deal...check it out.) clear cubes are expensive, troublesome, PIA's. If you NEED it, nothing else will do. If you don't or are marginal, you're about to spend and ton of money and significant aggravation. Water bill and electric bill will increase. The machines themselves are inherently troublesome.

If you're a hotel or can otherwise expense it off, go for it. Otherwise, research....a lot.

clear cubes are expensive, troublesome, PIA's.

Hoshizaki is expensive but not troublesome nor a PIA.

Water bill increase is negligle. The unit of measure the water company charges you,a CCF, equals 748 gallons. I pay $2.18 per CCF. You need 54 gallons of water per 100 lbs of ice. Machine stores 22 lbs of ice and can make 55 lbs per 24 hrs. About 15 lbs will melt and drain every 24 hrs if you do not use any ice to keep ice fresh.

Electric bill can be significant.

You are looking at about 10 KWH per 100 lbs of ice.

I pay $0.11 per KWH.

My guess is if you were considering a 48" fridge and other luxury appliances you are not living paycheck to paycheck.

Pay attention to deeageaux....I don't own one. Apparently he/she does.

Sticking by my RO water comment, though. Your ice will taste like the water it's made from. If you have good-tasting tap-water, no worries. If you live where I do and your city water tastes bad and has other bad stuff in it, there's no alternative.

Thanks for the input. Service may be an issue. We are in a small town about an hour NE of Atlanta. Who services Hoshzaki? Is this something that anyone can work on or do I need someone familiar with that brand?

These units are made in Peachtree City Georgia.

About 90 miles from Athens Georgia.

Most appliance service companies can handle this.

The reason Hoshizaki can be significantly more expensive to service is parts cost not because it requires specialized training/knowledge above that of a normal refirgeration tech.

I have had many of them through the years, and yes, they are generally a PIA.

We have a kitchenaid currently, that is about 10 years old now. It was a real problem for the first few years. I found some online information about repair and maintenance, and DH learned some simple cleaning techniqes that has made all the difference.

It is doing so well now, that we are ordering a new one for the kitchen addition. The old one will stay in service in the game room.

We were in a situation similar to yours; a planned 48" would not fit as well as the architect had envisioned (not the only thing we had to change.) So we opted for a 36" all-fridge and a separate all-freezer. We were also going to put in an ice-maker, but after reading all the info here, we worried about reliablilty, cost, and the noise factor in our great room. We ended up putting an all-freezer with ice-maker in our pantry and will have plenty of room to make up and store ice or just buy and store it. We will also have an old freezer in our garage until my husband convices me we don't need it anymore.

gharborwa - we might have had the same architect ;) Plenty of issues here as well, although most were caught before building. This, however, was not.

We are putting an all freezer, no icemaker, in our laundry room (not super close but down the back hall)and fridge/freezer drawers on the opposite side of our kitchen. This will have an icemaker but we were planning on taking the bin out for extra freezer storage because it is sort of inconvenient for filling up glasses (across the kitchen in the kids snack station area). The icemaker would be much more convenient - in the island across from the glasses storage.

I have heard terrible things about the KA icemaker but my friend with the scotsman says her sister has one that works great - they clean the coils out from under it regularly and never a problem.

Why not get a set of freezer drawers with a conventional ice maker built in?

Gives you a lot of flexibility (not a one trick pony)and has a standard icemaker that will allow regular service avenues should you ever need it. They are also a lot more quiet than a dedicated ice machine.

I like the sub zero, but there are others available.

antss - we don't have room for them in the island and we are doing fridge/freezer drawers across the kitchen from where the dishes and glassware are kept. This will have an icemaker but I was planning on turning it off and using the extra storage space (we will have no other freezer in the kitchen). I don't want to have to walk across the kitchen 5 times to fill up glasses for meals - that is the main reason.

Also, big difference in price from an icemaker and SZ freezer drawers - those things are pricey!

Have you price a stand alone ice machine?

I hear you on the rest.

Maybe this will work for you?

Here is a link that might be useful: mini me ice maker

Umm....so $1,275.00 is some kind of bargain? Did you link the right site?

Athensmom, if anyone suggests KitchenAid, place both hands tightly over your ears and run away from them chanting incantations to the ice gods.

Ha ha ha kitchendetective - made me laugh out loud :). Yep, I had gathered that already . . .

antss - we actually have wired/plumbed for an icemaker in the island. It was on the plans so the plumber did it, even though we decided with a 48" fridge we weren't going to get one. He was just going to cap it off for "future use". Well, now that we have gotten the first cabinet drawings back (the kitchen was just the architects rendering and we didn't have the cabinets totally nailed down when construction started), we see that the 48" won't work, hence the switch.

We have 3 boys and entertain lots of soon to be teenagers so an ice machine will probably come in handy. I think we will go with the Hoshisaki - seems like a good machine at a reasonable price. Higher than the basic ones but not SZ range. It is the only one I can find that I don't read terrible things about! I also read that Wendy's specs them in all their restaurants after expanding into Japan and realizing that the ice machines worked better with less service than whatever they were using in the USA.

We had a Manitowoc at our last house and LOVED it! If we could have brought it with us, we would have. I was so happy to get anything other than that KitchenAid! We went through THREE of those awful things! In our new house, we don't, as of yet, have an icemaker and I seriously miss it! I am glad to hear of the Hoshisaki, also. We have a perfect place for one but I need to decide if I'm going to re-do the entire island or not. Probably yes. I can't wait to get my ice back!

Remember to maintain it. Hoshisaki or not, they all need periodic cleaning.

HoshiZaki not HoshiSaki.

All ice machines need periodic cleaning, how often depends on water quality. If you have super soft water then not very often.

To add to "deegeaux" info above, regardless of water conditions, any brand clear ice maker (one that circulates water over a freezing surface) should be inspected and cleaned on at least a semi-annual schedule. More often with hard water. An ice maker is NOT maintenence free!
This is the most neglected step that leads to performance issues and service calls.

Equally important is the installation. Poor installs are a major cause of dissatisfaction. A gravity drain is preferable. Pump to drain models add cost, complexity and maintenence.

"Pump to drain models add cost, complexity and maintenence. "

+ noise !

Hoshizaki service manual says "clean at least once a year, water conditions may warrant cleaning more regularly."

IMHO, "water conditions" more-or-less govern the quality of the ice produced. If you have lousy water, you'll have lousy ice plus more frequent maintenance.

Can anyone describe a gravity drain and a pump to drain model?
Gravity drain sounds like the way a sink drain works.
So would a pump drain have to pump the excess water to a nearby sink drain?

I have designed my kitchen with an icemaker and an all-refrigerator,
with the all-freezer in the laundry room, similar to athensmomof3.
Really appreciate the great information in this thread!

I think the reliability of icemakers is very dependent on the hardness of the water.
Hard water takes its toll on all plumbing parts. My RO system supplier also told me
that the amount of chlorine in your water has a large impact on the plumbing fixtures.
Chlorine is very damaging to o-rings and plastic parts. Per the RO system maintenance man,
the closer your home to the water treatment plant, the higher the chlorine,
the more damage to the plumbing fixtures. He said that in order to maintain
the necessary chlorine level at the furthest point from the plant,
the chlorine level has to be higher close to the plant. I haven't verified what
he said but it makes sense.

Nanj - you have got it exactly right. Gravity drain is just that, like the drain in a sink. Pump is when you have to add a pump to pump (push) the water from the melted ice to a nearby drainage pipe, like a sink. Yes, gravity drains are better if it can be done. And you might already know this if you have been shopping for an ice maker but unlike a typical freezer ice maker, the ice in a stand-alone ice-maker is constantly making new ice and ice that isn't used is melting and draining, thus the need for a drain.

So - does anyone have a Hoshizaki? I would love to know where they bought it (as of now I have only found two places online, one of which is the ebay link posted above) and I also want to know what the ice looks like. Can someone post a picture? I know, odd request but I don't want to spend over a thousand $$'s on a machine that makes ice in a shape I don't like. That would really annoy me.