I have one, we used it once. The ice smelled like mildew. The fix is to clean out the lines. I told the misses I would do that. That was ...6 years ago. Any day now...
Not all of us do, but they are quite common. it certainly doesnt suggest someones rich. Generally if your freezer doesnt have one, it just means the space for the fridge/ freezer is small. Ours tend to be bigger than those in europe is my understanding.
My parents have a fridge with an ice and water dispenser. We call those 'American fridges' in my country. I suppose they look like a typical American fridge, grey with two doors. They're definitely rare though. And a standard fridge is definitely smaller.
It's definitely common nowadays. In the 90s they were fancy/rare but I think most middle income families would have one now. It's just built into the fridge, along with a water dispenser.
And most importantly, most newer builds have the lines run for them. Anywhere thatās had a lot of construction in the past 20-30 years will have the lines run, thus more people with have the ice makers.
I knew someone in the mid 80s who had a water line on their fridge door. First time I remember seeing one. They also happened to be the richest people my parents knew
Mine is at 7 years now too, but the only problem I ever have is when it gets clogged with too much ice in the dispenser and if I force it, thereās suddenly an avalanche of ice that overflows the cup and onto the floor. Also, sometimes after Iāve filled my cup with ice, ten minutes later I hear it shoot out a random ice cube onto the floor, which my dog races to eat.
You think so? None of the places Iāve ever looked at or rented has had one. I purchased a fancy fridge last year though and I am surprised just how much I love it. Free ice! I donāt have to do anything! Cubes, crushed, ice balls for your drink? Itās always ready, and thereās always enough! š¤Æš§
Not surprised that rentals don't have one because I imagine most landlords are going for the cheapest simplest fridges that will generate the fewest calls from tenants.
The ice balls! Bought a fridge a year ago and didnāt realize it had one of those. Heard a very loud THUNK after about 24 hours or so, and opened the freezer to see a couple of them. Made me very happy.
Iāve been shopping for a new fridge so we can use the current one as a basement fridge and this hasnāt been my experience at all. Home Depot has every model available with an ice dispenser available without one also.
I should have probably specified. I went to 2 dedicated appliance stores, so they might lean a little towards the high end. They might also not carry cheaper models to help boost sales as well? I also live in the desert, so those factors may change availability.
They probably just stock what sells the most where as a general purpose big box stocks everything, but we saw tons of models without either at HD and Loweās.
I live in an apartment. I didn't buy mine at all. I don't have one. But it's no big deal.
It seems like a good bet that more than 50% of people do and anybody with a fancy refrigerator does.
Honestly, ice and water dispensers take up a lot of space. If you already have access to filtered water and an ice tray, it's economical to use a budget fridge.
Even the cheapest models are usually prepped for an ice maker at the very least. We recently bought some $350 basic white top freezer model Insignia branded fridge for the garage, even it has a spot and for an optional ice maker kit too and the kit isn't even that expensive. We obviously didn't opt for it because there's no water hookup in our garage, but if we ever had to push it to the kitchen we could buy that kit and have fresh ice easy and cheaper than buying a standalone ice maker. And personally I think these automatic ice makers with the tubs in the freezer instead of a dispenser are more reliable anyway.
When we moved into our house it didn't come with a fridge in the kitchen, we had to go out of our way to find a stainless steel model that *didn't* have an automatic ice dispenser. We eventually found a GE french door, bottom freezer model that had an ice maker in the freezer, no auto dispenser, and it had a water dispenser *inside* the fridge on the sidewall. We much prefer this over the in-door dispensers because those frequently leak and are less energy efficient. Bought that several years ago and haven't had a single issue, whereas our old side by side from the last apartment we were in needed some sort of service almost annually because it'd frequently leak, get jammed, or stop producing ice at all.
Many freezer/fridge combos these days come with one (including many less expensive models), and many homes have started to include the necessary plumbing over the last decade +.
Itās significantly more common now than 20 years ago due to that combination; itās not unusual to see them in homes, IMO.
I do thank goodness I like my ice. They usually come built in with the refrigerator. Like you can get cubed and crushed ice. Itās good for making at home ice cream.
Not everyone does, but most new refrigerators have them. Some of them make ice and drop it into a bin inside the freezer. Others have a dispenser in the outside of the door where you can just hold a cup underneath and fill it with ice.
All? No. Most? I'd assume so. Nearly 100% have refrigerators (almost 25% have two or more) and it's hard to find a fridge today that *doesn't* have an ice maker. Offhand I'd imagine 75% of homes probably have a fridge that makes ice, and the majority of those dispense through the door.
Now there's *also* a booming market for countertop or stand-alone residential ice makers. Last year it was a $2.5 billion industry and it's expected to[ triple by the end of the decade.](https://www.coolest-gadgets.com/portable-ice-maker-statistics) So people who have ice makers in their fridge are getting a bigger, dedicated unit so they can have even more ice.
So yeah, Americans generally have ice makers.
I donāt have an automatic one. I have an ice drawer that has a scoop in the freezer. I miss crushed ice dispenser but this expensive ass fridge came with the house, so we make it work lol
Cheap apartments usually don't have them because landlords buy the absolute bottom tier appliances they can. Other than that yeah basically everyone has them because, as stated, all but the absolute cheapest fridges come with them.
they're common but I don't have one. I am pretty sure my dad looked especially for a fridge without one. I'm not positive but an ice dispenser seems like something my dad would randomly hate.
Lol! Totally depends. As a kid growing up in the 90s in southern California we did have one at some point. Dad made enough to make such a fridge a priority. Moving out as an adult and to this day 19 years later I still work with the task of filling ice trays. I love cold water year round and add it to my water bottle a couple times a day, so the ice tray filling is just a normal part of my day. Having an automatic dispenser would probably be rad and exciting for me but also wholly unnecessary.
We bought a new refrigerator last year (the old one died), and it was difficult to find one that didnāt have a built in ice maker! I didnāt want one because it would be a hassle to run plumbing to the refrigerator, but it was $200 less than one without the ice maker. So we have it, but not hooked up.
If you mean where you put your glass into the door and push a lever where ice plops into it, I have never personally owned one. I did used to have one that made ice within the freezer, dumped it into a big tray until it fills full enough to push the stop lever into the off position..
But other than that Iāve only ever had ice cube trays you manually fill with water and put it in the designated ice tray hole in the freezer. I have a cute icehole.
Are you talking about the kind in the door that dispenses ice from the outside? Or one that has an ice bucket in the freezer that makes ice, but you have to open the freezer door to get your ice?
I have a feeling most of the comments in here are assuming one or the other without specifying.
I have a full-sized stainless steel fridge in my apartment and I do not have one. We use the ~nice~ ice cube trays with the silicone cover on them so we can drain excess water and then stack them on top of each other in the freezer.
I just bought one of those type refrigerators when I got my house. 50 years of not having one, but it's the goddamndedest thing! Ice and cold water come right out of the door! It's amazing!!
We had one in our old house. The box that held the mechanics for it took up valuable space in the freezer.
We decided when we moved to just get a little tabletop ice maker instead. No regrets.
We used to have one but my mom wanted a fancier fridge that we could put cabinet doors on so it blended better into our renovated kitchen so now we donāt have one. We didnāt need or want water access on the beer fridge so we bought a model that didnāt have water enabled features.
Growing up my parents (solidly middle class) always had an ice/water dispenser built into the fridge. Iāve lived in 5 separate apartment buildings and only my current has had one.
I donāt know anyone that doesnāt have one. We arenāt rich either, by any means. This is really fascinating to me. Because we donāt have a lot of other conveniences that people may have. Is this regional?
Is the only alternative the ice trays in the freezer? I had those growing up.
Yeah, at a gas station, in the fridge, sometimes literally just a building made to dispense bagged ice
You should look up videos of people pranking their friends with those. They're funny, wholesome pranks.
Like others said, they are extremely common. But I elected for a fridge without one because I have one of the water coolers that keep my water nice and cold.
I have one in my house. It is built into the freezer that also has an ice maker. It doubles to also dispense purified water.
When I lived in apartments I did not. One had an ice maker in the freezer but no dispenser. The other apartment had neither and I had to refill ice cube trays and place in the freezer.
Not all, but a lot of us. Built in ice makers that fill a tray you scoop from are more common than an external dispenser but you'll see plenty of both.Ā
We tend to have big fridges and even fairly cheap ones come with them.Ā Ā
Hell my 40-something year old GE has an ice maker.
I have never had one, nor have any of my siblings or my parents. The same is true of my wife's family. It may be something that is more common in some parts of the country than in others.
I think that the distribution is somewhat regional. I live in the Northeast. I have occasionally seen them, but they are far from being common or standard here. The place where I see them most often is in Florida.
Lol! Ok, this made me laugh. But yeah we love ice, man what can I say. Itās a default in a lot of our drinks, so another true stereotype for us haha. Maybe not everyone has one but most modern fridges come with them so itās more common than not in my experience.
We personally have automatic ice makers but not ice dispensers, never been a big deal for me to get ice out of the freezer. Sometimes I would prefer one of those countertop ice makers and more space in my freezer. But only if the ice maker made the "good ice."
My refrigerator has two ice makers, one in door and one in the freezer drawer. I didnāt grow up with one.
It should be noted that countertop ice makers (the kind that makes āthe good iceā seem to be getting popular, Costco is selling them for under $200.
I donāt have one. Iāve never had one anywhere Iāve lived, and I donāt know anyone who does have one. Iāve also stayed in some very high-end AirBNB homes in San Francisco and none have had these in any format.
Back in 80s two of my friends had the ones in the door but I never saw anyone use them so Iām not sure they worked.
I own my home and would have to plumb in a completely different area to hook one up. Not to mention our water is very hard so it would need a pre-filter system. in my general area people intentionally look for refrigerators that do not have ice and water built in due to the high mineral content of the water.
All but the very cheapest refrigerators have an automatic ice *maker* inside the freezer. Thereās usually a little water line that comes from the sink or somewhere else to feed it.
Most side-by-side refrigerators have a dispenser that will dispense ice through the door into a cup, but that is more mid-high level.
Americans like their ice.
We have one built into the freezer, but it is not connected to the water line. We make ice the way my grandparents did - by filling milk cartons and using an ice pick
I had them in the states. I also have had them in every country I have lived. The difference
is, outside the USA, I don't hook up to the water line to household water source. I either have a 5 gallon water bottle, with an electric water pump attached, or I get the models that have the water supply inside the fridge, that you will have to refill when it runs out.
They're pretty common now. A lot of newer houses have the plumbing built-in. The house my wife and I bought had a fridge with an ice maker/ water dispenser. I didn't think I would really use it, but I love it. I drink a lot more water. I recommend it. Unfortunately, they do take up quite a bit of space in the freezer.
I don't have an Automatic one. As in the kind where you can fill a glass directly from the door.
My fridge does make ice which we just grab with our hands to put in a glass.
They are pretty common. Some people don't like them because they take up room in the freezer. But nobody is going to bat an eye if you have one.
I have one in my refrigerator and another standalone one that makes pellet ice because my wife is boujee.
They're very common but not totally ubiquitous. Personally I don't have one because I hate them and rarely use ice anyway. It does have an automatic ice maker that I usually keep turned off, but no dispenser.
It actually took a lot of effort to find a refrigerator that didn't have ice and water dispensers on the door. Mine has a water dispenser inside (so you have to open the door to use it), which is the closest I could find to not having one at all on the kind of refrigerator I wanted, short of special ordering it and waiting 6 months for delivery. I used it once not long after we got the refrigerator and haven't used it at all in the years since.
Theyāre very common, whether itās the kind in the door that also dispenses water or the kind that just makes ice in the freezer that lands in a container and stops when the container is full. My RV has it, my garage fridge has one and my kitchen fridge is capable but the water line isnāt hooked up. All of them are the ones that just make ice in the freezer.
I think almost all newer fridges have the capabilities but older houses may not have a water line run to the fridge spot to hook it up.
Much like garbage disposals, it's something I always thought was standard in homes until I joined this sub and found out about a lot of regional differences. I've never seen a refrigerator without an ice maker/dispenser.
Things depend on where you live too. The lifestyles change state to state. I lived in NYC 1998-2007. There were certain things you NEVER saw in regular (not fancy) NYC apartment unless it was newly built
1-NEVER SAW BUILT IN ICE MACHINE
2- NO garbage disposal in sink
3- NO dishwashers
4- no washer/dryers in apt
NYC is one of the few places I know ppl who their entire lives never had a dishwasher. In the last 5-10 years they are more common & now added to many apts. the ppl I know who didnāt have one the last 30-40 years donāt use them from habit & still hand wash & just use them to place wet dishes ton dry
Older Cities like DC, Philly, San Francisco were probably similar before last 10-15 years. Iām sure that poor places in the south US also lacked the listed amenities that were common many other places
Mine has TWO ice makers! One dispenses from the door and one you have to scoop out from the freezer. It's a lot more than I need now, but it came in handy when I had a bigger family.
Most people here do. Some of the apartments I lived in in college didn't have them but the appliances there were old and/or cheap. Most fridges have them built in these days.
I canāt think of anyone without it. My garage refrigerator doesnāt have one though. What Iām currently seeing as a trend among friends is refrigerators that also make the big cube or sphere ice for whiskey and other alcoholic beverages.
I don't, and never have. A couple years ago I moved into an apartment that had updated appliances, and the brand new fridge does not have an ice making feature. I need to make ice the old fashioned way with a tray. And if I need a lot, I need to buy it.
No. I don't have one and I never have.
I have a fridge that makes ice, but I don't even have it hooked up to a water line right now. I ran pex through the ceiling when I remodeled the kitchen, I put a water hookup behind the fridge... and the other end of the pex is leaning against a water pipe in my laundry room, not connected to anything. I have ice trays where the fridge is supposed to dump the ice. But the fridge doesn't have a dispenser.
Yo what? I don't have one and im.the only person I know who doesn't have one, and it's because I bought the cheapest fridge in the store because I was in a jam at the time. This is the only time in my life I've never had one.
Those of us whose fridges don't have one on the door usually have an ice maker inside the freezer compartment. Some rental apartments do have old cheap fridges and for those we might have to use plastic ice trays. But most houses and newer apartments have a dispenser or an in-freezer ice maker.
American here. Having been to Europe a lot, Ireland inclusive, I honestly think that some of these "make fun of Americanisms for having something" are exactly that. There is absolutely no reason most Irish households cannot have an automatic ice-maker. Its an adherence to an idea that this is luxury, too American or both. [Here](https://www.nisbets.ie/nisbets-essentials-countertop-ice-machine-20kg-output/dc439)'s a countertop one for ā¬179.99. Here's another [one](https://www.harveynorman.ie/small-appliances/food-preparation/other-food-prep/morphy-richards-2.8l-ice-maker-980588.html) from another retailer for ā¬199. In the grand scheme of things its fine if you don't want one, but saying an automatic ice maker is for "the richest family" you know is simply ridiculous.
They are extremely common in USA once you meet a certain threshold where you're no longer considered "poor".
I still see regular baseline fridges in old apartments, low end homes in a trailer park, as a second fridge in people's garages or basements, along with weird places like a bait shop.
For most "average" or better homes, a new fridge is coming with a water/ice dispenser.
No. I usually just buy a big bag of ice every week or so for about $4. Iāve gone towards having the dumbest appliances possible for simplicity. Got tired of having to troubleshoot and repair crap.
Lots of people do have fridge ice dispensers. I had one at my parents house growing up but haven't had one in like 20 years, until last month when I moved into a place that has one.
I'm not planning on using it. I'm used to not having ice at this point and I don't care for it being extra stuff on a fridge that can break, so unless I have a good reason to have one, I don't see myself having a need for one.
Both of my sisters and their partners have and use theirs. I am perfectly happy with a basic active charcoal water pitcher I put in my fridge and no ice.
My experience is the opposite of yours, in that everyone has a cold water/ice dispenser in their fridge, unless they are poor. I would expect a fridge to have it, and would be surprised if someone didn't. It's only the most basic of basic fridges that don't include it.
Then again, in my area, a good number of people people have 2 fridges: the basic (usually an old fridge) in the garage for cold drinks, and a regular fridge in the kitchen for everything else.
Quite a few of new fridges have an ice makers. There are also small counter top ice makers that you just fill with water and plug in. These can vary in price depending on brand and size. So, while it's not uncommon to have one, it's also perfectly normal to have a bag or ice or ice trays.
They are very common in the US. I don't have one, because my fridge is across the kitchen and there's nowhere to run the water line from the sink. I'm fine with just buying a bag of ice at the store - friends had a leak in their line a year ago while they were out of town for two days. It took 10 months and a shitton of money to fix their house.
I donāt have one, but my parents got a fridge that does. Iād say itās common enough for folks in the suburbs but not necessarily an āeveryoneā thing.
Not everyone does, I don't have one in either fridge since they're older units and they're freezer on top fridge on bottom which makes it harder to have an automatic ice dispenser, they do both have automatic ice makers though but the one outside isn't hooked up. I think they're fairly ubiquitous unless you have an older fridge or have one that is freezer on top and fridge on bottom since that's a harder setup to have the whole dispenser mechanism.Ā
I grew up with one and have one now, but Iād say the places Iāve lived in college and since, itās been 50/50 whether I have one or not. Having an ice tray to refill isnāt a huge inconvenience for me, but having to use a brita filter for water is.
Nope. Through the door ice dispensers are plagued with humidity issues that inevitably shorten the life span of the unit. Got one that dispenses water inside the unit and makes ice the old fashioned way.
I donāt, but I know a lot of people who do. Usually people who live in either a new (built since the 1990s) house or one that has had a significant kitchen renovation since then. My house is 120 years old and the kitchen was last renovated in probably the 1950s so there is no water line anywhere except the sink.
I really wish I had an automatic ice dispenser though, I go through a lot of ice and am tired of filling up ice trays!
All? No. A lot? Yes.
I've never had one but I'm also the only person I know who's never had one.
I have one, we used it once. The ice smelled like mildew. The fix is to clean out the lines. I told the misses I would do that. That was ...6 years ago. Any day now...
When a man says he'll do a chore, he'll do the chore. No need to remind him every 6 months š
>When a man says he'll do a chore, he'll do the chore. No need to remind him every 6 ~~months~~ years š Fixed it for you.
Not all of us do, but they are quite common. it certainly doesnt suggest someones rich. Generally if your freezer doesnt have one, it just means the space for the fridge/ freezer is small. Ours tend to be bigger than those in europe is my understanding.
My parents have a fridge with an ice and water dispenser. We call those 'American fridges' in my country. I suppose they look like a typical American fridge, grey with two doors. They're definitely rare though. And a standard fridge is definitely smaller.
It's definitely common nowadays. In the 90s they were fancy/rare but I think most middle income families would have one now. It's just built into the fridge, along with a water dispenser.
And most importantly, most newer builds have the lines run for them. Anywhere thatās had a lot of construction in the past 20-30 years will have the lines run, thus more people with have the ice makers.
I knew someone in the mid 80s who had a water line on their fridge door. First time I remember seeing one. They also happened to be the richest people my parents knew
In their nicotine yellow fridge with fake wood door handles? Thatās the first one I saw.
This is exactly what I think as well. In the 1990's it was a sign of wealth, now it is not as they are very common.
Most refrigerators have automatic ice dispensers in them here.
Until they break in 3 years
Seven years going strong. Got the model with the aluminum gears instead of plastic.
Found the Samsung owner.
The new Samsung Bespoke line has supposedly fixed the issues of the older Samsung fridges. I have had mine for over a year now and love it.
16 years with one of my refrigerators, and the ice maker is about the only thing that hasnāt broke on it.
My fridge is from the 2000ās and itās ice dispenser still works perfectly fine
Yep. I got new parts and fixed mine then it broke again a year later. Now I have a stand alone ice maker.
Mine's still going strong after 7 years, but I've had to defrost like 4 times. The number of friends with completely broken ones though...
Mine is at 7 years now too, but the only problem I ever have is when it gets clogged with too much ice in the dispenser and if I force it, thereās suddenly an avalanche of ice that overflows the cup and onto the floor. Also, sometimes after Iāve filled my cup with ice, ten minutes later I hear it shoot out a random ice cube onto the floor, which my dog races to eat.
You think so? None of the places Iāve ever looked at or rented has had one. I purchased a fancy fridge last year though and I am surprised just how much I love it. Free ice! I donāt have to do anything! Cubes, crushed, ice balls for your drink? Itās always ready, and thereās always enough! š¤Æš§
Not surprised that rentals don't have one because I imagine most landlords are going for the cheapest simplest fridges that will generate the fewest calls from tenants.
The ice balls! Bought a fridge a year ago and didnāt realize it had one of those. Heard a very loud THUNK after about 24 hours or so, and opened the freezer to see a couple of them. Made me very happy.
Most refrigerators come with ice and water in them now. You basically have to buy the cheapest thing theyāre selling to get one without that.
> You basically have to buy the cheapest thing theyāre selling to get one without that. Or the most expensive one.
I just went shopping for a refrigerator and you had to special order one without an ice maker.
Iāve been shopping for a new fridge so we can use the current one as a basement fridge and this hasnāt been my experience at all. Home Depot has every model available with an ice dispenser available without one also.
I should have probably specified. I went to 2 dedicated appliance stores, so they might lean a little towards the high end. They might also not carry cheaper models to help boost sales as well? I also live in the desert, so those factors may change availability.
They probably just stock what sells the most where as a general purpose big box stocks everything, but we saw tons of models without either at HD and Loweās.
We recently got a new fridge, and I had to search far and wide to get one *without* an ice dispenser.
I live in an apartment. I didn't buy mine at all. I don't have one. But it's no big deal. It seems like a good bet that more than 50% of people do and anybody with a fancy refrigerator does.
Honestly, ice and water dispensers take up a lot of space. If you already have access to filtered water and an ice tray, it's economical to use a budget fridge.
Yeah I have two ice trays and that's all I really need.
Even the cheapest models are usually prepped for an ice maker at the very least. We recently bought some $350 basic white top freezer model Insignia branded fridge for the garage, even it has a spot and for an optional ice maker kit too and the kit isn't even that expensive. We obviously didn't opt for it because there's no water hookup in our garage, but if we ever had to push it to the kitchen we could buy that kit and have fresh ice easy and cheaper than buying a standalone ice maker. And personally I think these automatic ice makers with the tubs in the freezer instead of a dispenser are more reliable anyway. When we moved into our house it didn't come with a fridge in the kitchen, we had to go out of our way to find a stainless steel model that *didn't* have an automatic ice dispenser. We eventually found a GE french door, bottom freezer model that had an ice maker in the freezer, no auto dispenser, and it had a water dispenser *inside* the fridge on the sidewall. We much prefer this over the in-door dispensers because those frequently leak and are less energy efficient. Bought that several years ago and haven't had a single issue, whereas our old side by side from the last apartment we were in needed some sort of service almost annually because it'd frequently leak, get jammed, or stop producing ice at all.
Not quite true - they're optional in some mid-grade fridges.
They are built into most midgrade and higher level refrigerators. Very normal in even a modest home.
Many freezer/fridge combos these days come with one (including many less expensive models), and many homes have started to include the necessary plumbing over the last decade +. Itās significantly more common now than 20 years ago due to that combination; itās not unusual to see them in homes, IMO.
I do thank goodness I like my ice. They usually come built in with the refrigerator. Like you can get cubed and crushed ice. Itās good for making at home ice cream.
I don't have an autonatic ice dispenser. We do have an ice machine with a scooper. It's not connected to the refrgerator/freezer though.
Not everyone does, but most new refrigerators have them. Some of them make ice and drop it into a bin inside the freezer. Others have a dispenser in the outside of the door where you can just hold a cup underneath and fill it with ice.
All? No. Most? I'd assume so. Nearly 100% have refrigerators (almost 25% have two or more) and it's hard to find a fridge today that *doesn't* have an ice maker. Offhand I'd imagine 75% of homes probably have a fridge that makes ice, and the majority of those dispense through the door. Now there's *also* a booming market for countertop or stand-alone residential ice makers. Last year it was a $2.5 billion industry and it's expected to[ triple by the end of the decade.](https://www.coolest-gadgets.com/portable-ice-maker-statistics) So people who have ice makers in their fridge are getting a bigger, dedicated unit so they can have even more ice. So yeah, Americans generally have ice makers.
Yes. I have one.
I donāt have an automatic one. I have an ice drawer that has a scoop in the freezer. I miss crushed ice dispenser but this expensive ass fridge came with the house, so we make it work lol
Refrigerators with ice dispensers are like $100 more than comparable one without ā not exactly the amount to delineate wealthy from not.
I do not
Cheap apartments usually don't have them because landlords buy the absolute bottom tier appliances they can. Other than that yeah basically everyone has them because, as stated, all but the absolute cheapest fridges come with them.
They're common, but I wasn't willing to pay extra for one. They easily become a maintenance item.
I donāt, but it depends on what kind of refrigerator you have. I have a silicone ice tray that hold six larger ice cubes.
We have one, but its internal to the freezer and it goes into a bucket. Honestly we never use ice so we took the bucket out
We have an ice maker in the freezer but not a dispenser in the door.
Which is better. The ones in the door break more often.
Itās common but it wouldnāt be seen as weird or notable to not have one.
I donāt. Thatās my mark of how Iāll know Iāve made it.Ā
I donāt, but many people do.
I don't. I'm renting right now. Had one at the place and miss it more than I thought not having one now.
Theyāre common but not everyone has them. I donāt have one and prefer to make or buy ice.
they're common but I don't have one. I am pretty sure my dad looked especially for a fridge without one. I'm not positive but an ice dispenser seems like something my dad would randomly hate.
We had one in the eighties . But every fridge I've had since they are always broke. Lol
Lol! Totally depends. As a kid growing up in the 90s in southern California we did have one at some point. Dad made enough to make such a fridge a priority. Moving out as an adult and to this day 19 years later I still work with the task of filling ice trays. I love cold water year round and add it to my water bottle a couple times a day, so the ice tray filling is just a normal part of my day. Having an automatic dispenser would probably be rad and exciting for me but also wholly unnecessary.
I do but itās never worked. I like watching people try to use it then realize it doesnāt work. Iām sorry for that.
We bought a new refrigerator last year (the old one died), and it was difficult to find one that didnāt have a built in ice maker! I didnāt want one because it would be a hassle to run plumbing to the refrigerator, but it was $200 less than one without the ice maker. So we have it, but not hooked up.
Ain't got one. They aren't uncommon but *all* is hyperbole.
Our fridge has one but it doesn't work, so we make ice with a separate ice machine.
I do now but there have been times where I havenāt had one.
I do now but there have been times when I havenāt had one.
Iāve got two!! One ice and water in the door and one with just ice the freezer.
I have a cheap ice maker but I do not have an automatic ice dispenser. I usually just buy a bag of ice from the store.
We have one. Itās my favorite appliance!
They were fancy in the 90s. They're pretty common now.
Yes. And the fridge was relatively cheap too.
If you mean where you put your glass into the door and push a lever where ice plops into it, I have never personally owned one. I did used to have one that made ice within the freezer, dumped it into a big tray until it fills full enough to push the stop lever into the off position.. But other than that Iāve only ever had ice cube trays you manually fill with water and put it in the designated ice tray hole in the freezer. I have a cute icehole.
They are common enough that no one would bat an eye if they saw one in someone's house.
Iāve never had one. Only ice trays for freezer.
I gave up on my fridge one since it breaks all the time. I bought a counter top Iāve maker I absolutely recommend!!
Basically yes. Itās extremely common.
I have a broken one, heh
Are you talking about the kind in the door that dispenses ice from the outside? Or one that has an ice bucket in the freezer that makes ice, but you have to open the freezer door to get your ice? I have a feeling most of the comments in here are assuming one or the other without specifying.
Nope. Just a regular freezer
Yes
Not everyone, but it's probably more common than not these days.
I think all our refrigerators have had them for the past 40 years. It's good because I drink a lot of water and prefer ice in it.
I donāt. I donāt use ice regularly enough to get one.
I think I have like 1 friend who doesnāt
We do not. We have ice trays in my freezer š
Not myself as a bachelor. But my mother does.
I have a full-sized stainless steel fridge in my apartment and I do not have one. We use the ~nice~ ice cube trays with the silicone cover on them so we can drain excess water and then stack them on top of each other in the freezer.
I just bought one of those type refrigerators when I got my house. 50 years of not having one, but it's the goddamndedest thing! Ice and cold water come right out of the door! It's amazing!!
Are you talking about a stand-alone ice maker, or one built into the fridge/freezer? I would say most people do have one built into their fridge.
We had one in our old house. The box that held the mechanics for it took up valuable space in the freezer. We decided when we moved to just get a little tabletop ice maker instead. No regrets.
We used to have one but my mom wanted a fancier fridge that we could put cabinet doors on so it blended better into our renovated kitchen so now we donāt have one. We didnāt need or want water access on the beer fridge so we bought a model that didnāt have water enabled features.
Growing up my parents (solidly middle class) always had an ice/water dispenser built into the fridge. Iāve lived in 5 separate apartment buildings and only my current has had one.
I donāt know anyone that doesnāt have one. We arenāt rich either, by any means. This is really fascinating to me. Because we donāt have a lot of other conveniences that people may have. Is this regional? Is the only alternative the ice trays in the freezer? I had those growing up.
Yeah, at a gas station, in the fridge, sometimes literally just a building made to dispense bagged ice You should look up videos of people pranking their friends with those. They're funny, wholesome pranks.
Ice is a must, IMO. It's too hot not to have ice.
Yes. Built into the fridge/freezer.
Like others said, they are extremely common. But I elected for a fridge without one because I have one of the water coolers that keep my water nice and cold.
No, Iām too poor for that shit š I donāt even own an ice tray, it takes up too much space that I need to use for actual food.
I've never had one.
I just bought a fridge with two icemakers. I live in the desert. Ice is life.
My refrigerator is older than my home. It does not have an ice dispenser, but I long for one.
Out of all the houses Iāve been to only one person had a fridge without an ice dispenser. And I live in a poor area
Almost all refrigerator freezer has ice machine now.
I have one in my house. It is built into the freezer that also has an ice maker. It doubles to also dispense purified water. When I lived in apartments I did not. One had an ice maker in the freezer but no dispenser. The other apartment had neither and I had to refill ice cube trays and place in the freezer.
Not all, but a lot of us. Built in ice makers that fill a tray you scoop from are more common than an external dispenser but you'll see plenty of both.Ā We tend to have big fridges and even fairly cheap ones come with them.Ā Ā Hell my 40-something year old GE has an ice maker.
I have never had one, nor have any of my siblings or my parents. The same is true of my wife's family. It may be something that is more common in some parts of the country than in others.
I think that the distribution is somewhat regional. I live in the Northeast. I have occasionally seen them, but they are far from being common or standard here. The place where I see them most often is in Florida.
My fridge does not have one. Minnesota, USA. /EU shoe size 44. Bidet owner. Boxer briefs (with built-in pockets for the twig and berries).
I used to have an automatic ice dispenser. I donāt anymore, but I used to too.
Lol! Ok, this made me laugh. But yeah we love ice, man what can I say. Itās a default in a lot of our drinks, so another true stereotype for us haha. Maybe not everyone has one but most modern fridges come with them so itās more common than not in my experience.
We personally have automatic ice makers but not ice dispensers, never been a big deal for me to get ice out of the freezer. Sometimes I would prefer one of those countertop ice makers and more space in my freezer. But only if the ice maker made the "good ice."
My refrigerator has two ice makers, one in door and one in the freezer drawer. I didnāt grow up with one. It should be noted that countertop ice makers (the kind that makes āthe good iceā seem to be getting popular, Costco is selling them for under $200.
Our 25 year old fridge/freezer has one. Itās pretty common
Not by a long shot. If I were to guess I'd wager maybe 50-60 percent of people.
I donāt have an ice dispenser at home. I donāt use ice at home.
I've lived in several homes and never had one. But I've seen them in some homes I've visited.Ā
Many, maybe, not all.
I donāt have one. Iāve never had one anywhere Iāve lived, and I donāt know anyone who does have one. Iāve also stayed in some very high-end AirBNB homes in San Francisco and none have had these in any format. Back in 80s two of my friends had the ones in the door but I never saw anyone use them so Iām not sure they worked. I own my home and would have to plumb in a completely different area to hook one up. Not to mention our water is very hard so it would need a pre-filter system. in my general area people intentionally look for refrigerators that do not have ice and water built in due to the high mineral content of the water.
I personally don't, but I know a decent amount of people who have ice dispensers in their fridge.
I purposefully bought a fridge without one, just another thing that breaks
No, but I'm also on my first apartment. All my friends family home does, and I think my family got a new fridge since I moved out that has one
I've never had one. None of my friends had them growing up and no one I know has one now.
All but the very cheapest refrigerators have an automatic ice *maker* inside the freezer. Thereās usually a little water line that comes from the sink or somewhere else to feed it. Most side-by-side refrigerators have a dispenser that will dispense ice through the door into a cup, but that is more mid-high level. Americans like their ice.
Hell yes and let me tell you, my husband is addicted to overflowing ice in his drinks and travels with ice cube trays.
We also have separate ice machine for small cube ice (because I havenāt found a freezer that makes this kind of ice as part of the whole unit.)
It's very common but no, not **all** of us.
We have one built into the freezer, but it is not connected to the water line. We make ice the way my grandparents did - by filling milk cartons and using an ice pick
I had them in the states. I also have had them in every country I have lived. The difference is, outside the USA, I don't hook up to the water line to household water source. I either have a 5 gallon water bottle, with an electric water pump attached, or I get the models that have the water supply inside the fridge, that you will have to refill when it runs out.
I don't but my fridge is ancient.
Not all. I have ice trays. I don't use them.
They're pretty common now. A lot of newer houses have the plumbing built-in. The house my wife and I bought had a fridge with an ice maker/ water dispenser. I didn't think I would really use it, but I love it. I drink a lot more water. I recommend it. Unfortunately, they do take up quite a bit of space in the freezer.
I don't have an Automatic one. As in the kind where you can fill a glass directly from the door. My fridge does make ice which we just grab with our hands to put in a glass.
They are pretty common. Some people don't like them because they take up room in the freezer. But nobody is going to bat an eye if you have one. I have one in my refrigerator and another standalone one that makes pellet ice because my wife is boujee.
I donāt have one and am definitely in the minority here
I don't have a water line to my fridge, so no.
They are built into our refrigerators. Not a big deal. .
They're very common but not totally ubiquitous. Personally I don't have one because I hate them and rarely use ice anyway. It does have an automatic ice maker that I usually keep turned off, but no dispenser. It actually took a lot of effort to find a refrigerator that didn't have ice and water dispensers on the door. Mine has a water dispenser inside (so you have to open the door to use it), which is the closest I could find to not having one at all on the kind of refrigerator I wanted, short of special ordering it and waiting 6 months for delivery. I used it once not long after we got the refrigerator and haven't used it at all in the years since.
Theyāre very common, whether itās the kind in the door that also dispenses water or the kind that just makes ice in the freezer that lands in a container and stops when the container is full. My RV has it, my garage fridge has one and my kitchen fridge is capable but the water line isnāt hooked up. All of them are the ones that just make ice in the freezer. I think almost all newer fridges have the capabilities but older houses may not have a water line run to the fridge spot to hook it up.
I technically have one, but it's broken. It's a fairly standard addition to new refrigerators.
Like built in the fridge or a stand alone on counter?
Yes, at least a ice maker in the freezer
It's kind of like this: Do you own a reasonably updated home? You probably have one. Do you rent some shitty apartment? You probably don't have one.
Much like garbage disposals, it's something I always thought was standard in homes until I joined this sub and found out about a lot of regional differences. I've never seen a refrigerator without an ice maker/dispenser.
Things depend on where you live too. The lifestyles change state to state. I lived in NYC 1998-2007. There were certain things you NEVER saw in regular (not fancy) NYC apartment unless it was newly built 1-NEVER SAW BUILT IN ICE MACHINE 2- NO garbage disposal in sink 3- NO dishwashers 4- no washer/dryers in apt NYC is one of the few places I know ppl who their entire lives never had a dishwasher. In the last 5-10 years they are more common & now added to many apts. the ppl I know who didnāt have one the last 30-40 years donāt use them from habit & still hand wash & just use them to place wet dishes ton dry Older Cities like DC, Philly, San Francisco were probably similar before last 10-15 years. Iām sure that poor places in the south US also lacked the listed amenities that were common many other places
Mine has TWO ice makers! One dispenses from the door and one you have to scoop out from the freezer. It's a lot more than I need now, but it came in handy when I had a bigger family.
Most people here do. Some of the apartments I lived in in college didn't have them but the appliances there were old and/or cheap. Most fridges have them built in these days.
I canāt think of anyone without it. My garage refrigerator doesnāt have one though. What Iām currently seeing as a trend among friends is refrigerators that also make the big cube or sphere ice for whiskey and other alcoholic beverages.
They are quite common. When the one in our fridge broke, I bought a countertop one. They're pretty cheap.
I do not, but I know people who do. Edit Iwas thinking of refrigerator/freezers that dispense ice
Apt renter in Chicago no In laws in the suburbs yes
yes. universal really
I donāt use ice, but even I have one.
My wife and I specifically chose not to get one because you have more fridge space if there's not.
I've had them on and off since the early 90s
I don't, and never have. A couple years ago I moved into an apartment that had updated appliances, and the brand new fridge does not have an ice making feature. I need to make ice the old fashioned way with a tray. And if I need a lot, I need to buy it.
The cheapest fridges don't have them. However most midrange and almost all high end fridges do. Americans like Ice.
No. I don't have one and I never have. I have a fridge that makes ice, but I don't even have it hooked up to a water line right now. I ran pex through the ceiling when I remodeled the kitchen, I put a water hookup behind the fridge... and the other end of the pex is leaning against a water pipe in my laundry room, not connected to anything. I have ice trays where the fridge is supposed to dump the ice. But the fridge doesn't have a dispenser.
i associate them w rich people that have fridges with the freezer on the bottom
Its pretty standard in modern fridges but a modern refrigerator isn't necessarily standard in a home
I have the ice maker in the bottom drawer freezer, but i have a smaller fridge/freezer. Everybody I know has one though
Yo what? I don't have one and im.the only person I know who doesn't have one, and it's because I bought the cheapest fridge in the store because I was in a jam at the time. This is the only time in my life I've never had one.
Those of us whose fridges don't have one on the door usually have an ice maker inside the freezer compartment. Some rental apartments do have old cheap fridges and for those we might have to use plastic ice trays. But most houses and newer apartments have a dispenser or an in-freezer ice maker.
I have an ice tray box, but most new fridges have ice dispensers, at least the middle range to end range priced ones do.
A lot of people have ice trays that hold a bunch of ice cubes.
Many do. Super common
Not everyone, but they're pretty common.
They're built into a lot of refrigerators, and now they have freestanding ones that make ice on your counter if you can't get it from your fridge.
My refrigerator has two actually. One in-door and one in the freezer for larger cubes. It's not unusual these days.
I purposely didn't get a fridge with one, but many people I know have one.
I've never actually had one, but I know a lot of people who do. They are extremely common in the US, but not so much the part of the US I live in now.
Nah, our fridge is old as fuckā¦.. when I eventually redo my kitchen sometime in the next decade, Iāll get one with an ice dispenser.
Don't have one but I don't miss it. My fridge is over 20 years old and it does what it needs to do - keeps the food cold.
Itās a pretty standard feature on fridges these days.
Yes. Extremely common in today's refrigerators, so you don't have to go to the gas station and buy ice.
It depends on the fridge. Our apartment has a really old fridge so we use ice trays. My parents had an ice dispenser built into their fridge.
I did have to specifically order a fridge that had the ice maker but no dispenser.
American here. Having been to Europe a lot, Ireland inclusive, I honestly think that some of these "make fun of Americanisms for having something" are exactly that. There is absolutely no reason most Irish households cannot have an automatic ice-maker. Its an adherence to an idea that this is luxury, too American or both. [Here](https://www.nisbets.ie/nisbets-essentials-countertop-ice-machine-20kg-output/dc439)'s a countertop one for ā¬179.99. Here's another [one](https://www.harveynorman.ie/small-appliances/food-preparation/other-food-prep/morphy-richards-2.8l-ice-maker-980588.html) from another retailer for ā¬199. In the grand scheme of things its fine if you don't want one, but saying an automatic ice maker is for "the richest family" you know is simply ridiculous.
They are extremely common in USA once you meet a certain threshold where you're no longer considered "poor". I still see regular baseline fridges in old apartments, low end homes in a trailer park, as a second fridge in people's garages or basements, along with weird places like a bait shop. For most "average" or better homes, a new fridge is coming with a water/ice dispenser.
No. I usually just buy a big bag of ice every week or so for about $4. Iāve gone towards having the dumbest appliances possible for simplicity. Got tired of having to troubleshoot and repair crap.
Lots of people do have fridge ice dispensers. I had one at my parents house growing up but haven't had one in like 20 years, until last month when I moved into a place that has one. I'm not planning on using it. I'm used to not having ice at this point and I don't care for it being extra stuff on a fridge that can break, so unless I have a good reason to have one, I don't see myself having a need for one. Both of my sisters and their partners have and use theirs. I am perfectly happy with a basic active charcoal water pitcher I put in my fridge and no ice.
We have two fridges that make ice ā one downstairs and one in our upstairs bar Ice is a lifestyle š
Iāve never had one, I think itās a waste of valuable refrigerator space as well as an expensive luxury.
In every hospital I worked at we had a stand alone one in every department. We had a fridge in high school with one, but I havenāt had one since.
My experience is the opposite of yours, in that everyone has a cold water/ice dispenser in their fridge, unless they are poor. I would expect a fridge to have it, and would be surprised if someone didn't. It's only the most basic of basic fridges that don't include it. Then again, in my area, a good number of people people have 2 fridges: the basic (usually an old fridge) in the garage for cold drinks, and a regular fridge in the kitchen for everything else.
Quite a few of new fridges have an ice makers. There are also small counter top ice makers that you just fill with water and plug in. These can vary in price depending on brand and size. So, while it's not uncommon to have one, it's also perfectly normal to have a bag or ice or ice trays.
They are very common in the US. I don't have one, because my fridge is across the kitchen and there's nowhere to run the water line from the sink. I'm fine with just buying a bag of ice at the store - friends had a leak in their line a year ago while they were out of town for two days. It took 10 months and a shitton of money to fix their house.
I donāt have one, but my parents got a fridge that does. Iād say itās common enough for folks in the suburbs but not necessarily an āeveryoneā thing.
They are very common on refrigerators here. Ā
Not everyone does, I don't have one in either fridge since they're older units and they're freezer on top fridge on bottom which makes it harder to have an automatic ice dispenser, they do both have automatic ice makers though but the one outside isn't hooked up. I think they're fairly ubiquitous unless you have an older fridge or have one that is freezer on top and fridge on bottom since that's a harder setup to have the whole dispenser mechanism.Ā
I grew up with one and have one now, but Iād say the places Iāve lived in college and since, itās been 50/50 whether I have one or not. Having an ice tray to refill isnāt a huge inconvenience for me, but having to use a brita filter for water is.
Nope. Through the door ice dispensers are plagued with humidity issues that inevitably shorten the life span of the unit. Got one that dispenses water inside the unit and makes ice the old fashioned way.
Have one. Have had for about 20 years. Never going back.
I donāt, but I know a lot of people who do. Usually people who live in either a new (built since the 1990s) house or one that has had a significant kitchen renovation since then. My house is 120 years old and the kitchen was last renovated in probably the 1950s so there is no water line anywhere except the sink. I really wish I had an automatic ice dispenser though, I go through a lot of ice and am tired of filling up ice trays!