Do you buy ice?

[Apple]

Just curious, no reason really...

I made my morning coffee and thought that a coffee smoothie would be good this afternoon (I use a Big Train brand mix, love the chocolate peanut butter). Anyway, I don't have any frozen coffee cubes (more flavor than just plain ice) right now but I do have a bag of store-bought ice in my freezer.

We don't put ice in things like Coke, so we rarely use it, usually just when I'm in the mood for something that uses it (grilled corn on the cob or smoothies). I bought a bag to use up some smoothie mix a while ago since I wanted it "right now" and not "when the water finally freezes sometime tomorrow." This morning I thought it was kind of silly (there's a word I rarely use ) to buy a bag of frozen water when I have ice trays and good tap water at home. But, it's only $1.50 for a big bag and that saves me time, both in "work" and in waiting for it to freeze. I also don't need to have a level area in my freezer for bagged ice, I can just throw it in where it fits.

Just curious how many other people buy it for little stuff like this. I know lots of people buy it to fill of coolers/ice chests (for that, if it's a planned trip, I try to freeze water in juice bottles and things like that so I don't have to buy so much).

[The J]

I buy it for parties or something where I need a lot of ice. I have an icemaker in my freezer, but I have to replace the line -- the copper line going to it got kinked so it was leaking. I'll do it before summer, since that's when I'm most likely to use ice.

[merryheart]

We use a lot of ice all year round. I always kept ice trays going as our ice maker hasn't worked since the warranty ran out 16 years ago. DH would never refill the trays after emptying enough for his glass. He finally got tired of me fussing and now he just buys bags of ice all the time. I hate the expense when it doesn't take but a day or two to get ahead of our ice usage IF the trays are emptied into the ice bin and immediately refilled. It comes our of his spending money so I guess it isn't up to me to worry about it!

[MN-Investor]

We have great water at home and I keep our ice supply constantly replenished. Both my DH (when he's home from work) and I drink ice water throughout the day.

At my mom's house, though, it's a different story! That town has a lot of minerals in the water, so when all the relatives come to visit there, we buy both gallons of water and bags of ice. I think my DH would refuse to live there just because of the water!

[Deleted]

Very, very rarely. Like maybe once in 10 years. In the summer the ice cube trays are kept full in the fridge for smoothies.

[isabella]

I did for almost two years, first the ice maker broke then the refrigerator died. I knew its days were numbered, between trip charge, diagnosing the ice maker problems and fixing it could of cost between $75-$150 or so to fix the ice maker. I thought for that much money I could buy a lot of bags of ice.

[Sharon]

I will buy ice if we are going to do something like make homemade ice cream. I will also buy ice if we are expecting a big storm and the power could potentially be out for several days. This ensures that the freezer is full and it will help keep things frozen. Also if the power were to be out and I would need to dig out the coolers for refridgeration then I will have the ice for that.

Usually what happens is I get 3 or 4 bags of ice for the freezer the power stays on and the ice gets used in the summer for camping or day trips to the lake.

[justwhoever]

Don't have any need for ice. no ice maker or trays. Put the drink in the fridge it will get cold enough lol.

[Becks]

Only for parties - otherwise just the good old trays in the freezer.

[TrixAre4Kids]

Only to fill the coolers when I go camping. My ice maker has a pretty big storage compartment, but it won't fill a couple coolers.

[kadee]

Since we both drink swt. tea 24/7/365...we go thru LOTS of ice!
I also use it when making our tea (in gal. jugs), I pour the hot tea into a funnel filled with ice to cool it on the way down!

Rarely buy ice! We have a working ice maker in our fridge plus I keep 4 ice trays filled. If we are going to be traveling, I just start making ice ahead in the trays & keep it in our big freezer until time to fill the ice chests.
If my ice maker breaks...I have a DH who can install a new one! ;D

[Peace77]

No. Why pay for something I can make for free? If we need more, it can be made ahead of time.

The exception would be if we are away from home and there isn't free ice available.

[kangarooks]

When warmer weather starts, we use a lot more ice but our icemaker does a great job keeping up. If we're going to have a house full of people, I'll try to empty the icemaker a few times ahead of time & keep it in the deep freeze. We only occasionally buy bagged ice-when we use our big coolers and making homemade ice cream.

[merryheart]

Peace, I wish I could make my DH understand that.

[Deleted]

I buy ice for parties. Otherwise my freezer makes enough ice for daily needs.

[busymom]

My fridge doesn't have an icemaker, so we make ours "the old fashioned way". The only time we buy ice is if we're entertaining, or to fill the cooler for a roadtrip.

[Peace77]

Peace, I wish I could make my DH understand that.

Some people think their time is more valuable than filling up ice trays .

If you have an ice maker, it takes more time to go to the store and lug it home than or putting ice from the ice maker into a bag

If you are going to use the ice in a cooler for an all day event or camping, the cooler will stay cold longer if you use containers such as washed milk jugs or washed water or soda bottles. Fill the bottles 90% full of water and freeze a day or more ahead of time.
When the ice melts, you can use the water in the bottles as drinking water.

[merryheart]

Peace, I think dH just doesn't want to do it. It is the convenience factor for him, unfortunately.

[Mad Dawg Wiccan]

Feb 6, 2011 13:14:14 GMT -5 The J said:

I buy it for parties or something where I need a lot of ice. I have an icemaker in my freezer, but I have to replace the line -- the copper line going to it got kinked so it was leaking. I'll do it before summer, since that's when I'm most likely to use ice.

J, you may not need to replace the line. Use a tubing cutter to remove the kinked section and install a coupler, much cheaper and a five minute fix.

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

A few summers ago, we had a really long heat wave ... 10 days over 110 ... and our swimming pool was HOT. So my wonderful DH filled up the hot tub with (cold) hose water, then added 80 pounds of ice ... and I stayed out in it until ALL that ice melted. I was one happy camper!