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- Wealthy homeowners are increasingly opting for ice makers over freezers, The NYT reports.
- It's due to a desire for fresh meals over frozen food and a new trend of hidden appliances.
- Ice machines can cost as much as $3,800 and may be hard to get amid an ongoing appliance shortage.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
For some wealthy homeowners, freezers are becoming a thing of the past.
Freezers, used in many American kitchens as a place to house frozen food, ice cream, and, of course, ice, are falling out of favor among the wealthy, who prefer to eat fresh food, according to The New York Times' Caity Weaver.
It's leading some affluent homeowners to invest in luxury ice-makers that produce a seemingly endless supply of cubes – ice-makers that can be cleverly concealed behind a seamless panel that looks like any other cabinet, the other top trend in luxury kitchens, The Times reports.
These ice-makers aren't a cheap investment: An ice machine made by U-Line retails for $3,849, while a version from Hoshizaki costs $2,245. Both ice machines allow you to replace their standard, stainless steel doors with a cabinet that matches the rest of your kitchen.
As The Times notes, there are cheaper versions on the market, like a countertop style made by GE that costs $579 and produces little pellets of ice, up to 24 pounds of it per day. (And if you're on a tighter budget, Magic Chef makes one for $109.)
So is there any benefit to getting your ice from a nearly $4,000 machine instead of from your freezer? The research is iffy at best.
According to appliance-maker Thor Kitchen, standalone ice-makers are, obviously, more convenient than traditional ice cube trays, but also provide more instant gratification than a built-in ice-makers in refrigerators, since you usually have to wait for those machines to release another load of cubes. Ice-makers may also, in theory, be more hygienic than an open ice bin in your freezer and would likely come in handy during parties.
But take all this with a grain of salt: Thor offers its own under-counter ice machine capable of producing up to 50 pounds of ice per day.
Still, regardless of your desire for a fancy ice machine for your high-end kitchen, whether you'll actually be able to get yours hands on one is another story. An appliance shortage is hampering homeowners across the country due to a major spike in demand. Early on in the pandemic, wealthy people started buying up extra appliances - including freezers - in order to stockpile groceries. As lockdowns continued throughout 2020, many homeowners embarked on home improvement projects. Since then, appliance makers like Electrolux and Whirlpool have highlighted low inventory levels and order backlogs.
External factors are also making it difficult to buy new appliances. Factories shut-downs during the early months of the pandemic, shipping and logistics have been disrupted, and an ongoing chip shortage has made it difficult to produce smart appliances.
Robert Dietz, chief economist for the National Association of Home Builders, told Insider's Grace Kay earlier this year that prices for appliances have soared in 2021 and roughly 90% of appliance delivery dates have been delayed.