Commercial Ice Machine Guide: How Much Output Does Your Business Need?
Quick answerMost single-counter cafés, bars and bubble tea shops run comfortably on 60kg/24hr of undercounter ice output — enough for iced drinks, a blender station and a shaker without running short by mid-afternoon. Multi-station bars or high-volume bubble tea counters should size up or add a second unit rather than push one machine past its rated output.
Ice is the ingredient nobody budgets for and everybody runs out of. It doesn't show up on a food cost sheet the way milk or syrup does, so it's easy to undersize the machine that makes it — right up until 2pm on a warm Saturday when the bin's empty and every order behind the counter needs it. Here's how to size an ice machine against what you're actually serving, not just what fits under the counter.
How much ice does your business actually use?
| Business type | Typical daily ice use | Main draw |
|---|---|---|
| Small café, occasional iced drinks | 10–20kg | Iced coffee, cold drinks |
| Bubble tea counter | 30–60kg | Shaker, blender, iced tea base |
| Bar / cocktail counter | 40–70kg | Spirits service, blended cocktails |
| High-volume multi-station counter | 70kg+ | Multiple simultaneous stations — consider two machines |
These figures are per-service estimates, not per-cup — a single bubble tea shaker cycle can use a handful of cubes, but across a genuine Saturday rush that adds up fast. If you're running both a blender and a shaker off the same ice supply, size toward the upper end of your category.
Sizing an ice machine to your output
Ice machines are rated by output per 24 hours, not per hour — the unit makes ice continuously and holds it in an internal bin, so what matters is whether daily production plus bin capacity covers your peak day, not your peak minute. A 60kg/24hr machine that's kept running overnight will have a full bin by opening, giving you a head start before the first order even comes in.
Rather than buying to your average day, size to your busiest realistic day — a machine that just keeps up on a slow Tuesday will fall behind on a hot Saturday, and there's no fast way to make more ice once the bin's empty.
Water, drainage & where it sits
Undercounter ice machines need a cold water feed and a gravity drain — plan the position before installation day, since retrofitting a drain point is the most common (and most avoidable) install headache. Keep the machine somewhere with reasonable airflow around the back panel; a unit boxed into a tight, poorly ventilated cupboard will run hotter and produce less ice than its rated output.
Keloo's undercounter ice machine
Commercial Ice Cube Machine — Undercounter, 60kg/24h
£499.99
Compact undercounter footprint, sized for cafés, bars and bubble tea counters running a shaker and blender off the same supply.
View product →Frequently asked questions
Does an undercounter ice machine need a plumber to install?
Yes — it needs a cold water supply and a gravity drain connection, both of which should be fitted by a qualified plumber, ideally planned into your counter layout before the machine arrives rather than retrofitted after.
What happens if the ice bin fills up?
The machine automatically pauses production once the bin is full and resumes as ice is used, so it's safe to leave running continuously — it won't overproduce or overflow under normal operation.
Should a bubble tea shop and a bar share one ice machine?
If they're two closely-linked stations in the same small counter, one correctly-sized machine can serve both — but if either station runs at real volume independently, two smaller machines give you redundancy if one needs servicing.
How often does an ice machine need cleaning?
Plan on a full clean roughly every 3–6 months depending on water hardness in your area — scale buildup on the ice-forming plate is the main cause of reduced output over time, similar to a water boiler.
Need help sizing your setup?
Get in touch and we'll help you match equipment to your actual order volume.
Contact Keloo