The most popular household appliance today is the refrigerator. Modern models of refrigeration units allow you to store a large amount of food in the apartment without worrying that they may deteriorate.
Constant increase in consumer demands makes manufacturers improve their equipment. This is especially true of kitchen appliances, which are an indispensable assistant to a modern housewife. It is to this category that refrigeration equipment with an ice maker belongs. Answering the question, ice generator in the refrigerator - what is it, is not very difficult if you know the principle of operation and types of generators.
Ice Maker Purpose
In hot summer weather, it is nice to drink cool water to quench your thirst. At a party with friends, various iced cocktails are very popular. But sometimes a simple refrigerator can not cope with such a load.
This is the reason why the refrigerator ice maker was developed, which is designed to make food ice, as well as to cool water.
Such a device turns pre-filtered water into ice cubes, which are then transferred to a special container. You need to know that the ice generator in the refrigerator is a design that can be connected directly to the water supply network, as well as filled with water manually. Automatic devices that use running water are expensive and are often in demand in the food service industry. Samsung refrigerator manufacturers have long been building ice makers into many of their models.
Benefits of Ice Maker Refrigerators
Despite the fact that refrigerators with an ice maker appeared on the market of household appliances quite recently, they managed to gain great popularity among many housewives, as they have wide functional abilities and quality indicators.
These units have the following positive characteristics:
- possibility of automatic production of ice, while the state and temperature of the system are maintained without human intervention;
- versatility of the device allows the generator to be used both at home and in the field of catering.
- refrigerators with an ice maker are as technical as the most economical models;
- modern design of the device will perfectly fit into the interior of any apartment.
Ice shapes
With a special mill, ice can take on various shapes.
- The ice cube is verygood for cooling various drinks, melts slowly, so it is widely used in restaurants and bars.
- Scaly-shaped ice resembles fragments or chips. Widely used for cooling food, as well as for medical purposes (compresses).
- The most popular among cafes and bars is granular ice, as it is relatively soft and easy to chew.
- The original crescent or hexagonal shape is in demand in restaurants to add aesthetics to dishes.
Remember that the icemaker in the refrigerator is a design that produces a product of a certain shape.
The principle of operation of the ice maker
To figure out what it is - an ice maker in the refrigerator, you need to understand how it works.
The system works in several steps:
- Power is supplied to the water valve, it opens, water flows into a special container for freezing.
- The equipment of the refrigeration unit freezes water for a certain period of time. The role of the generator at this stage is only to control the temperature of the liquid. The freezing process is based on the principle of air or water cooling.
- After the formation of ice, a special engine starts the blades that push the finished product into the storage tank.
Then the whole technological process is repeated.
Types of ice makers
Ice machines can be divided into the following types according to performance:
- industrial, which are capable of producing a large amount of ice, are most often used in catering establishments;
- household ice makers, which are most often built into a home refrigeration unit.
According to the method of filling water:
- generators with automatic filling that are connected to the public water network;
- flood-type generators, the working tank of which is filled with water manually.
Ice formation can occur in two ways:
- brine, in which freezing occurs due to a liquid with a temperature of up to -10 ℃;
- using a compressor where ice is formed on the unit's evaporator.
The freezing unit can be cooled:
- by air;
- water cooling is used in rooms where there is little space for air circulation.
Modern manufacturers produce refrigerators with an ice generator on the door. This design allows you to fill the drinking container with chilled water without opening the door of the main unit.
Fridge with water connection
Ice generators that are connected to the plumbing system operate in automatic mode. A removable flask for water filtration is installed on the back wall of such a unit, which is equipped with replaceable cartridges. One cartridge is enough to effectively purify water for six months at the worst quality of liquid.
Connection technologyice maker looks like this:
- A special separate tap cuts into the central water supply system.
- A pipe (plastic or metal) is connected to the stopcock. The length must be calculated so that it is enough to connect to the unit without tension.
- The other end of the connecting pipe is connected to the inlet pipe, which is located on the rear wall of the unit. In case of poor water quality, experts recommend installing an additional cleaning filter at the inlet.
Two-door refrigerator with an ice maker, which has a large volume (500-600 liters), operates in automatic mode with a mandatory water connection.
Features of built-in refrigerators with ice maker
Built-in structures can have one or two cabinets, the height of which reaches two meters. There are built-in refrigerators with an ice maker that operate both in automatic mode and in manual water filling mode.
The feature of such units is:
- high space efficiency;
- the presence of special furniture hinges that allow you to open the refrigerator door without much effort;
- special overlays make it easy to change the appearance of the front panel.
The built-in refrigerator with an ice maker must be located in a goodventilated area. It must be installed at a distance of at least 50 cm from the stove and sink, while the refrigerator should retreat five centimeters from the wall.
The refrigerator with icemaker will fit perfectly into the interior of any room. At the same time, the presence of additional functions allows you to increase the comfort of its use. Although the price of refrigerators with a generator can be considered high, they are becoming increasingly popular with consumers.
