VenueIce

Size the machine by the business, then compare brands.

Ice machine for a daycare (childcare center)

Updated 2026-10-22. Independent guide — not a dealer quote.

A daycare or childcare center is a few separate ice jobs in a small kitchen, not a school enrollment and not a restaurant day. Children drink water. Snack is often a carton and a cracker. Someone wants a cold pack for a bump. Staff want ice in their own cups. Putting every enrolled child on a school cafeteria 1 or 1.5 lb row, or parking the 331 lb flaker in the toddler room because a dealer page says flake is for childcare, is how the center buys a machine the bin cannot serve — or a hard cube a small child can get a hand on.

The charts opened for this page do not print a daycare, childcare, or lb-per-child row. We do not invent one. Count the cups you actually fill, the adults who take ice, and the occasional pack. Say which published line you used.

This is a planning page from published application factors and current OEM and retailer pages. It is not a dealer quote, not a review score, not medical advice, and not a licensing or health-code opinion. Check with your local licensing/health authority before you treat any ice type, bin door, or cleaning interval as allowed in a licensed center. Confirm electrical, plumbing, and clearance with the people who inspect the building.

Who this is for

  • Family childcare and small centers whose ice is staff drinks plus water cups, with a cold pack once in a while.
  • Larger centers that run a real iced-drink service at snack and lunch and need the bin to survive that window.
  • Directors and facilities deciding a cubelet undercounter in a staff kitchen versus a half-dice cabinet versus a dispenser children cannot reach into.

It is not the school cafeteria lunch-rush page. That guide is K-12 and campus dining. It is not the office break-room page, though staff drinks use that office row. It is not the hospital 10 lb/bed page. Patient ice is a different building.

What actually uses ice

Keep four lines. Add a line only when that job exists.

Line What to count What it is not
Water cups Cups you fill with ice, at the size you pour Enrollment. A milk carton. A sippy with no ice
Snacks Ice only if the snack is an iced cup or sits on a cold well you can measure Crackers, fruit, and yogurt cups with no ice
First-aid cold packs The bag you weigh on the days you use one A reason to buy a 300 lb flaker for two bumps a week
Staff drinks Adults who take ice, on an office row The same adult already counted as the person filling children’s cups

A teacher who fills twenty cups and then ices one coffee is on the cup line for the twenty and on the staff line for the coffee. The twenty children are not also “1 lb cafeteria customers.”

Published factors — and the missing daycare row

Kitchen Spot, GoFoodservice, KaTom’s sizing article, and the live Tundra buying-guide post do not print daycare. The nearest rows are school cafeteria, office, a counted water glass, and healthcare cafeteria. Those are dealer / buyer-guide rules of thumb, not a manufacturer warranty and not a lab measurement. We do not average them into a VenueIce lb/child.

Published line Factor What the source is talking about
Daycare / childcare No row Kitchen Spot’s application chart, GoFoodservice’s business-type table (last updated Sep 20, 2026), KaTom’s quick-reference table (article dateModified 2026-09-14), and the live Tundra post. None of them name daycare, childcare, or a lb-per-child cell.
The Kitchen Spot, school cafeteria 1 lb per person Cafeteria row. Chart marked add 20%. Written for a school cafeteria, not a licensed childcare roster.
GoFoodservice, schools / cafeteria 1.5 lb per student Schools block. Their rooms calculator’s 20% language is on the printed 100 / 250 / 500 / 1,000 cells. No 20-child or 48-child cell. We do not invent one.
KaTom, school cafeterias 1 lb per diner if drinks are iced “Most secondary schools have limited ice needs, since they generally deal exclusively in carton and other non-fountain drinks.” Use 1 lb only when there is beverage service with ice. Table header: Guidelines (+20% for Safety).
The Kitchen Spot, office use 1.5 lb per employee Staff drinks. Same chart, add 20%.
GoFoodservice, office 1.5 lb per employee cubed; 2 lb per employee flaked / cubelet Pick the row that matches the ice. Do not add 1.5 and 2 on the same person.
The Kitchen Spot, water glass 4 oz per 10 oz glass (6 oz per 12 oz glass) Table-service glass. A sippy that is not a 10 oz glass is not this row.
KaTom, water 5 oz for every 7- to 10-ounce glass Restaurant water brought before the order. Same caveat: the glass has to be that size.
GoFoodservice, water glass 4 oz per 10 oz glass Restaurant block, same 4 oz figure as Kitchen Spot.
The Kitchen Spot, hospital cafeteria 1 lb per person Staff / visitor meal ice on that chart. GoFoodservice healthcare cafeteria is the same 1 lb per person. A daycare snack is not this row unless you are actually serving that meal.
Tundra, cafeteria 1 lb per person Their live chart. Healthcare patients on the same post are 10 lb per bed, and healthcare cafeteria is 1 lb per person. Still no daycare cell.
GoFoodservice, flake “Healthcare (packs and bends for injuries)” Ice-type table. Dealer application sentence. Not a lb/day formula.
The Kitchen Spot, hot room 15% or more less make A 90° kitchen and ~70° water. A closed dish closet in August is that room.
The Kitchen Spot, usual bin Expect 10–20% less than the printed bin pounds Ice peaks and the machine shuts off. A daycare that turns ice every weekday is not their church / one-or-two-days-a-week exception.

The VenueIce sizing table has a school row and an office row. It does not have a daycare row. Start from counted cups plus the office line for staff. Use the school 1 lb or 1.5 lb row only when the center actually ices drinks the way that cafeteria row describes, and say you borrowed a school row. Do not stack a school row on the same cups. Sixteen fluid ounces is 1 lb. That conversion is arithmetic, not a published daycare factor.

Worked small center — 20 children, 4 staff

Milk cartons and crackers at snack. One water service in a 10 oz glass, which is the only cup size these charts price. No cold well. No fountain. Cold packs happen, and they are not in the daily total.

Staff, pick one office row:

  • Kitchen Spot office 1.5 lb: 4 × 1.5 = 6 lb. Chart +20%: 7.2 lb
  • GoFoodservice office cubelet / flake 2 lb, if that is the ice: 4 × 2 = 8 lb. Do not also add the 1.5 lb cube row, and do not stack Kitchen Spot’s 20% on top unless you label the stack

Children, one service, and only because the glass is 10 oz:

  • Kitchen Spot / GoFoodservice 4 oz: 20 × 4 oz = 80 oz ÷ 16 = 5 lb
  • KaTom 5 oz on a 7- to 10-oz glass: 20 × 5 oz = 100 oz ÷ 16 = 6.25 lb

One service plus Kitchen Spot staff with the 20% already on the staff line: 5 + 7.2 = 12.2 lb, or 6.25 + 7.2 = 13.45 lb if the water line is KaTom’s 5 oz. A second identical service (lunch) doubles the cup line only: 10 + 7.2 = 17.2 lb on the 4 oz glass. Snacks that are cartons stay at zero. A cold pack is extra on the day you fill a bag. Weigh the bag. We do not assign it a pound.

Wrong stack, shown so it stays off the worksheet: school 1 lb × 20 = 20 lb, or GoFoodservice school 1.5 × 20 = 30 lb, added to the cups. Those children were already the cups. KaTom’s carton sentence is the closer school analogy when the drink is a carton: limited ice, not 1 lb per enrolled child.

12–17 lb is a compact undercounter day. A Hoshizaki C-80BAK is approximately 92 lb / up to 92 on the current product page, with a 27 lb bin. A Hoshizaki AM-50BAK is approximately 54 lb with the same 27 lb bin. Both of those figures are 24-hour make. The bin is the constraint, and on this small day it is not tight: Kitchen Spot’s 20% less on 27 lb is 21.6 lb usable, which still covers 17.2 lb if the bin starts full. The AM-50 is the wrong shape of ice for the section below. The C-80 is the cubelet in that cabinet family.

Worked 48-child center with two iced services

Same 10 oz glass, filled at snack and again at lunch. Eight staff. Still no cold well. Still no invented lb/child.

Cups, Kitchen Spot / GoFoodservice 4 oz: 48 × 2 × 4 oz = 384 oz ÷ 16 = 24 lb.

Staff, GoFoodservice cubelet 2 lb (the ice in the worked cabinet below): 8 × 2 = 16 lb.

Those two charts added, and labeled as two charts: 40 lb. Kitchen Spot’s 20% is not already inside the 24 lb or the 16 lb. If you add it once to the 40: 48 lb. Do not add it twice.

School rows, only if you are borrowing them instead of the cups:

  • Kitchen Spot 1 lb: 48 × 1 = 48 lb; chart +20% = 57.6 lb
  • GoFoodservice 1.5 lb: 48 × 1.5 = 72 lb. Their calculator does not print a 48-student cell. Applying the same 20% their other cells use is 86.4 lb, and you have to say you did that. It is not a printed cell

Do not add 24 lb of cups on top of 48 lb of “students.”

How the cabinets in this directory sit on 40 lb (counted) and 57.6 lb (borrowed school row, one buffer):

  • C-80BAK up to 92 lb on the product page covers 40 and 57.6 as a 24-hour headline. The spec PDF has 70/50 and 90/70 headers; a clean 90/70 production cell did not extract, so that column is omitted. The bin is 27 lb. After Kitchen Spot’s 20% less: 21.6 lb usable. The 24 lb cup line alone misses that pile if it leaves before the machine refills. Make during a 2-hour window at 92 ÷ 24 × 2 h ≈ 7.7 lb. That split is arithmetic, not an OEM hourly guarantee. On paper, 21.6 + 7.7 ≈ 29 lb against a 24 lb cup pull if the bin starts at the lower pile, and it misses a 40 lb pull in the same window.
  • Manitowoc UYF-0140A 100 lb @ 90/70 (137 lb @ 70/50) covers 40 and 57.6 as make. The bin is 90 lb. After 20% less: 72 lb usable, which covers this 48-child day as stored ice. It is a half-dice cube. Read the size caution before you put it in a child’s cup.
  • Scotsman HID525 380 lb @ 90/70 (500 lb @ 70/50) covers the day as make. The hopper is 25 lb. Make in 2 hours at 380 ÷ 24 × 2 ≈ 31.7 lb. On paper, 25 + 31.7 ≈ 56.7 lb if the hopper starts full, which covers a 40 lb window and sits just under a 57.6 lb window. The hopper, not the 380 lb day, is the constraint. This cabinet is the reach tool in the placement section. It is a lot of machine for 40 lb.

A center that borrows the 86.4 lb stacked school figure is past the C-80 bin by a wide margin and past a clean reading of the C-80 headline only if you also derate for a hot closet. Kitchen Spot’s “15% or more” on 92 is about 78 lb, and “or more” means the closet can be lower. That derate is their sentence applied to a brochure number, not a printed 90/70 cell. UYF-0140A at 100 lb @ 90/70 still covers 86.4 as make. The 72 lb usable pile does not, if the ice leaves in one window.

UYF-0190A on the same NEO sheet is 193 / 140 lb in the same 90 lb bin. More make. The stored-ice number does not grow.

Modular nugget heads already in this directory — Manitowoc RNP0320A and Ice-O-Matic GEM0450A — are head-only machines. A 40 lb snack day does not need one. Open the directory page before you treat either as the center’s plant. Pounds stay on those pages.

Cube type — smaller ice, and a choking-size caution

This is general guidance, not a swallow study, not a licensing rule, and not health-code advice. Check with your local licensing/health authority. A smaller piece is not a promise that a child can have it.

Dealer pages name flake when the worry is choking. They name nugget / cubelet as the chewable drink ice. Half-dice is a smaller hard cube than a full dice, and it is still a hard cube.

Ice What the page we opened actually says Piece size we could cite Daycare reading
Flake Tundra’s live post: flake “reduces choking hazards, making it ideal for healthcare and childcare applications,” and recommends it for “hospital and daycare cafeterias.” KaTom’s flake guide: popular in healthcare “without posing a choking hazard,” and “If you want ice to display and chill items or you’re concerned about consumers choking, get flake ice.” KaTom also says flake melts quickly and is rarely the right ice for restaurant drinks. No flake dimension on those two pages. Omitted. Dealer sentences, not a medical clearance. The flake cabinet in this directory is a 331 lb undercounter. That is a display / pack machine, not the 12 lb water day above.
Mini cubelet / nugget Hoshizaki C-80BAK: “mini cubelet” / “nugget-style.” GoFoodservice: cubelet/nugget is “chewable ice,” less dense than cubes. KaTom’s nugget section: chewable, and drier than flake so it dispenses more reliably. C-80 spec drawing (03/11/26) prints approximate inch marks 1/4, 3/8, 1/2, 5/8. KaTom’s C-80BAK page assigns them: 1/4 in inner L × 5/8 in outer L × 3/8 in W × 1/2 in H. The drink-ice match for a small center in this directory. Soft and small. Still a piece. Not a license to put it in every cup.
Half-dice Manitowoc NEO sheet: half-dice 3/8″ × 1-1/8″ × 7/8″. Tundra lists half-dice as dense drink ice. Nobody on the pages above calls half-dice a childcare ice. 3/8″ × 1-1/8″ × 7/8″ on the NEO sheet opened 2026-10-22. The long edge is 1-1/8″. A hard cube. Larger on that long edge than the cubelet marks above. Fine for a staff soda. A poor default for a toddler cup.
Top hat / full cube AM-50BAK is a top-hat cube in the same 15″ cabinet as the C-80. GoFoodservice files top hat / gourmet as a designer cube for offices and suites. Top-hat dimensions were not on the HTML page we opened. Omitted. Hard cube. The 54 lb make can cover the small-center day. The shape is the reason not to choose it for children’s cups.

Shape math for the four families is cube vs half-dice vs nugget vs flake. A buying comparison of nugget machines is best commercial nugget ice machine.

First-aid packs. GoFoodservice’s flake row is “packs and bends for injuries.” Tundra’s flake line is the childcare sentence. A zip bag for a bump is ounces, on some days, not every day. Commercial gel packs never touch the ice machine. Buy the F-330BAK when the center wants flake as a real product — a daycare cafeteria that took Tundra’s flake recommendation, or packs often enough to keep a flake bin turning. Do not buy it so the first-aid kit has ice. Flake melts fast (KaTom). Drink ice and pack ice can be two machines. Kitchen Spot’s multiple-machine note is exactly that split.

Snacks on ice. A well you fill is Kitchen Spot’s salad-bar 35 lb per cubic foot, and it is usually flake. A plate of apple slices is not a cubic foot of display. Leave it at zero until you can measure the well.

Undercounter vs modular vs a dispenser

GoFoodservice draws the split this page uses. Undercounter: self-contained, production and bin in one cabinet, their band 50–500 lb/day make and 7–250 lb storage, “best for” bars, small restaurants, cafes, offices. Dispenser: “Anywhere an ice machine may be accessed by someone other than staff or employees, a dispenser is the best choice,” because people cannot reach into the stored ice. Their dispenser band is 200–800 lb/day and 8–250 lb storage. Modular head + bin: staff access, higher production, a second SKU for the bin.

Job Typical form Do not use it for
Staff kitchen, day under ~20 lb, children cannot open the door Self-contained cubelet undercounter (C-80) A classroom corner. A top-hat cube in children’s cups
Two iced services whose pull exceeds a 27 lb bin Larger self-contained bin (UYF-0140, 90 lb) if half-dice is acceptable for staff, or a dispenser if children meet the chute Assuming half-dice is the childcare ice
Ice point in a hallway or room children use Sealed dispenser (HID525) An open bin at child height
Flake for a real cafeteria or for packs you make all week Self-contained flaker (F-330) Two ice packs a month
Stored ice past the 90 lb undercounter bin Modular head + bin, staff only A 40 lb snack day

Self-contained undercounter is one 115 V cabinet. No separate bin to order. The built-in bin is the snack limit. Form-factor background: undercounter vs modular vs countertop.

Modular separates the head and the bin. Order the bin, and any top kit, from the head’s compatibility list. A daycare that is still on the 12–40 lb examples has not reached that plant.

Dispenser keeps hands out of the ice. That is the “locked bin” outcome when the cabinet itself has no lock. Background: ice dispenser vs ice bin.

Where it sits — out of reach

An undercounter is under a counter, which is inside a child’s reach if the child can stand at the door. “Undercounter” does not mean “children cannot get to it.”

  • Put the cabinet in a kitchen or closet the children do not enter. The control is the room door, not the ice door.
  • The product pages opened on 2026-10-22 for C-80BAK, AM-50BAK, and F-330BAK do not list a lock. C-80 is a swing door. F-330 is a drop-down door. The NEO sheet describes a forward-sliding bin and a removable bin, not a lock. Do not assume a hasp that is not on the sheet. If a later accessory lock exists, it was not on these pages.
  • If children can walk up to the ice, use a dispenser. GoFoodservice’s sentence is the buyer-guide version of that. HID525 is the self-contained nugget dispenser in this directory: touch-free or push-button, sealed refrigeration, 25 lb hopper. Scotsman files it under Healthcare / Ice-Water and also names break rooms and office suites. That is channel copy, not a childcare endorsement and not a swallow clearance.
  • A scoop in an open bin is a staff tool. The same contamination point GoFoodservice names for public access is the point a child meets if the bin faces the play floor.
  • We are not writing a mounting height. Nothing opened here prints “install above X inches for childcare.”

Current cabinets (OEM sheets)

Figures opened 2026-10-22. Street prices are in the budget section, not in this table. Full citations are below.

Model Ice Cited make Storage Cabinet / power Daycare note
Hoshizaki C-80BAK Mini cubelet Product page: approximately 92 lb, up to 92. 90/70 production omitted — not a clean cell on the HTML or the text extract of the 03/11/26 PDF 27 lb 14.875″ × 22.625″ × 33.5″; 115/60/1, 2.8 A, 15 A max fuse, 6 ft NEMA 5-15P Default small-center cabinet in this directory when the ice should be cubelet and the room is staff-only. Front-in / front-out. Less than 34″ tall. R290. 1,400 BTU/h. 8.5 kWh and 12 gal per 100 lb @ 90/70. Hoshizaki’s copy: hotel suite, office breakroom, or kitchen.
Hoshizaki AM-50BAK Top hat Approximately 54 lb, up to 54. 90/70 production not on the HTML — omitted 27 lb Same 14.875″ × 22.625″ × 33.5″ family; 115/60/1, 2.0 A, 15 A max fuse, 6 ft 5-15P Same cabinet idea, hard cube. Covers the 12–17 lb day as make. Wrong shape for children’s cups. 9 kWh and 65 gal per 100 lb @ 90/70 on the product page. 1,400 BTU/h.
Manitowoc UYF-0140A Half-dice NEO sheet 6501D 6/22: 137 / 100 lb 90 lb (90% of volume × 33 lb/ft³) 26″ × 28.50″ × 38.50″ on 6″ legs; 115/60/1, 5 A, 15 A max fuse, 6 ft NEMA 5-15P The bin that covers a 48-child counted day after pile-up. Half-dice is 3/8″ × 1-1/8″ × 7/8″. 38.5″ with legs will not hide under a 34″ counter. R-404A on this family sheet. 9.2 kWh and 16.7 gal per 100 lb @ 90/70. Air in the right, out the left.
Hoshizaki F-330BAK Flake Product page: up to 331 lb. 90/70 production not on that HTML — omitted 80 lb (2.7 ft³, AHRI 820, 30 lb/ft³) 24″ × 26″ × 39″; 115/60/1, 6.3 A, 15 A max fuse, 8 ft 5-15P Flake cabinet when flake is actually the job. 39″ tall. ENERGY STAR on the product page. R290. 3,400 BTU/h. 4.29 kWh and 12 gal per 100 lb @ 90/70. CleanCycle24 is a 2 second purge each hour, not the sanitize interval.
Scotsman HID525 H² nugget Product page: 500 lb @ 70/50, 380 lb @ 90/70. Summary says those cells are the air-cooled model 25 lb hopper 21.25″ × 24.38″ × 35″; 115/60/1, 15 A max fuse, 7.5 ft NEMA 5-15P Dispenser when children can reach the station. R290. 4.18 kWh and 12.0 gal per 100 lb. 6,800 BTU/h. Touch-free or push-button. Water-cooled is listed; its 90/70 cell was not in the summary — omitted.

The C-80 spec PDF dated 03/11/26 also lists an ADA suffix, C-80BAK-AD, at 31.5″ high. That is a different suffix. The directory page is the 33.5″ C-80BAK. The same PDF says Energy Star Qualified. The HTML overview we opened did not repeat that badge. Webstaurant’s spec table lists plug types NEMA 5-15P and NEMA L6-30P; the OEM page and the PDF say 5-15P, and Webstaurant’s own badge on that listing says 5-15P. We are not using L6-30P.

KaTom’s live page titled C-80BAK (the URL still contains C80BAJ) says 92 lb in the product-details line and, in a different paragraph, 80 lb at 70°F air / 50°F water. The same page prints 1,850 BTU. Hoshizaki’s page prints approximately 92 lb and 1,400 BTU/h. We use the OEM page for make and heat. The 80 lb sentence and the 1,850 BTU line stay labeled as that retailer’s conflict, not as a second rating.

A Webstaurant UYF-0140A listing opened the same day points at replacement UYP0140A-161B and prints 150 lb on that banner. The NEO sheet’s UYF row remains 137 / 100. Do not swap in 150. The replacement is not the directory model.

Cleaning

Ice in a cup is food. A childcare kitchen does not get a special interval from this site. Follow that model’s current manual.

The published brand floors — they are not one number — are written up on how to clean a commercial ice machine. Pink, black, or brown film is slime and mold: discard the ice, then clean and sanitize with what that manual names. This page is not a service recipe and not a health-department letter.

Tundra’s live post says to clean the bin and production parts at least once a month. That is a dealer sentence on an older article that is still up. It is not the OEM floor on the clean page, and it is not a licensing interval. If the manual says a longer minimum, the manual still allows “more often.” Hard water and a warm room are reasons to go sooner. They are not a number we invent.

C-80 copy says the water circuit comes apart for cleaning. F-330’s CleanCycle24 purge is hourly and two seconds long. It does not replace the sanitize. HID525’s page says the bin, spouts, air filter, sink, and grill come out for cleaning, and that antimicrobial compounds are molded into some parts. A molded additive is not a skipped cleaning.

Water filter

The C-80 spec PDF names H9320-51 and says to read the filter sheet for the configuration. That is the cartridge to start from for this cubelet cabinet. The filters and descalers page records Hoshizaki’s own limit: the 4HC-H family is not recommended for flakers. Do not move the C-80’s cartridge onto an F-330BAK unless the F-330 sheet says to. The F-330 HTML we opened did not name a cartridge. Omitted, on purpose.

A filter is not a sterilizer and not a substitute for the clean-and-sanitize cycle. Refrigerator cartridges that starve the inlet are how harvest fails. C-80 and F-330 pages list about 10–113 psig. The NEO sheet lists 20–80 psi. Too little pressure and the machine misses harvest.

Budget

Prices below were read on 2026-10-22 from the URLs in the sources. They are shelf listings, not a quote and not a manufacturer MSRP. Hoshizaki and Manitowoc pages used here for specs do not print an MSRP. “Contact us for details” means MAP: the number on the page is what we cite, and the cart can differ. Install labor was not printed. Both retailer pages offer a ZIP check for installation and no dollar rate. Call for that quote. The purchase page for other cabinets is how much a commercial ice machine costs. Figures there were read on an earlier date. We are not reprinting them as if we re-opened every listing today.

Listing opened 2026-10-22 Price on that page What the dollars buy
WebstaurantStore C-80BAK $4,610.00/Each, and Contact us for details MAP / call. Cabinet with the 27 lb bin. Yield line 92 lb matches the OEM page. The same page shows warranty coverage starting at $164.55. That is an add-on, not the cabinet.
KaTom page titled C-80BAK $4,610.00/Each, and Contact us for details! Same displayed cabinet price, same MAP line. URL slug still says C80BAJ. Title and MPN on the page say C-80BAK. See the 80 lb vs 92 lb conflict above. Do not average the prices; they match.
WebstaurantStore UYF-0140A $2,780.00/Each This listing. No “contact us” line on the price block we read. The page’s replacement banner names UYP0140A-161B at 150 lb and does not put that replacement’s price in the block we are citing. $2,780 is not a price for the replacement, and 150 lb is not the NEO sheet’s UYF rating.

GoFoodservice’s FAQ, on the same article as the consumption table, says commercial machines “range from $1,500–$2,000 for small undercounter units (50–100 lbs/day).” That sentence does not describe the C-80 listing we opened. A 92 lb cubelet cabinet at $4,610 MAP is outside that FAQ band. Use the named page, not the band.

HID525 and F-330BAK prices were not opened on this pass. Omitted. Filter cartridges and nickel-safe cleaner are separate from the cabinet; shelf prices for those live on the cost guide and the filter guide. Electricity and water are energy and water use, once you have a utility rate. We are not turning 8.5 kWh/100 lb into a dollar figure here.

A smaller gourmet or top-hat cabinet is not automatically the cheaper one. The AM-50 makes less ice, uses more water per 100 lb on the OEM page (65 gal vs 12 gal on the C-80), and is the wrong shape for this room. Dollars were not opened for the AM-50 on this pass.

What this page is not

  • Not a lb-per-child formula. The charts we opened do not have one.
  • Not the school cafeteria page. 1 lb and 1.5 lb per student stay on ice machine for a school cafeteria unless you are explicitly borrowing that row for a center that ices drinks.
  • Not an office page. Staff drinks can use the office row. The rest of the building cannot. See ice machine for an office.
  • Not medical or licensing advice. Flake and cubelet notes above are dealer and OEM descriptions. Check with your local licensing/health authority.
  • Not a code letter. NSF/ANSI 12 is printed on the NEO sheet. We do not turn that mark, or a KaTom “NSF” line, into an approval.
  • Not a review. No scores and no borrowed retailer reviews.
  • Not a price list beyond the three listings opened on 2026-10-22.

Sources

  1. The Kitchen Spot, Ice Machines: Sizing for Application — school cafeteria 1 lb per person; office 1.5 lb per employee; hospital cafeteria 1 lb per person; water glasses 4 oz per 10 oz and 6 oz per 12 oz; chart add 20%; 90° kitchen can cut make by 15% or more; expect the bin to hold 10–20% less than the printed pounds. No daycare row (retrieved 2026-10-22).
  2. GoFoodservice, Commercial Ice Machine Guide — office cubed 1.5 lb per employee, flaked/cubelet 2 lb per employee; schools cafeteria 1.5 lb per student; healthcare cafeteria 1 lb per person; water glass 4 oz per 10 oz glass; flake “Healthcare (packs and bends for injuries)”; cubelet/nugget “chewable”; dispenser when someone other than staff can reach the ice; undercounter 50–500 lb/day and 7–250 lb storage; dispenser 200–800 lb/day and 8–250 lb; FAQ band $1,500–$2,000 for small undercounters (50–100 lb/day). No daycare row. Last updated Sep 20, 2026 (retrieved 2026-10-22).
  3. KaTom, Guidelines for How Much Ice Your Commercial Kitchen Needs — school cafeterias 1 lb per diner only with iced beverage service; carton / non-fountain schools have “limited ice needs”; water 5 oz per 7- to 10-oz glass; header +20% for safety. No daycare row. dateModified 2026-09-14 (retrieved 2026-10-22).
  4. KaTom, cubers-to-flakers buying guide — flake “without posing a choking hazard” in healthcare; “if you’re concerned about consumers choking, get flake ice”; flake melts quickly; nugget is chewable and drier than flake (retrieved 2026-10-22).
  5. Tundra Restaurant Supply, Commercial Ice Machine Buying Guide — flake “reduces choking hazards, making it ideal for healthcare and childcare applications,” recommended for “hospital and daycare cafeterias”; cafeteria 1 lb per person; healthcare cafeteria 1 lb per person; patients 10 lb per bed; clean “at least once a month” (dealer sentence). No daycare lb row. Live page retrieved 2026-10-22.
  6. Hoshizaki, C-80BAK product page — approximately 92 lb, 27 lb bin, 14.875″ × 22.625″ × 33.5″, 115 V, 2.8 A, 6 ft NEMA 5-15P, R290, 1,400 BTU/h, 8.5 kWh and 12 gal per 100 lb @ 90/70, water 10–113 psig (retrieved 2026-10-22). C-80BAK spec PDF dated 03/11/26 — same 92 lb headline, mini-cubelet drawing marks 1/4, 3/8, 1/2, 5/8 in, filter H9320-51, Energy Star Qualified on the PDF, ADA suffix 31.5″ high. 90/70 production cell not extracted cleanly.
  7. Hoshizaki, AM-50BAK product page — approximately 54 lb, 27 lb bin, same cabinet family, 2.0 A, 5-15P, R290, 1,400 BTU/h, 9 kWh and 65 gal per 100 lb @ 90/70 (retrieved 2026-10-22).
  8. Hoshizaki, F-330BAK product page — up to 331 lb, 80 lb bin, 24″ × 26″ × 39″, 6.3 A, 8 ft 5-15P, R290, 3,400 BTU/h, 4.29 kWh and 12 gal per 100 lb @ 90/70, CleanCycle24 2 second purge each hour, ENERGY STAR on the page (retrieved 2026-10-22).
  9. Manitowoc, NEO 140/190 family sheet — UYF-0140A 137 / 100 lb, UYF-0190A 193 / 140 lb, 90 lb bin, 26″ × 28.50″ × 38.50″ on 6″ legs, half-dice 3/8″ × 1-1/8″ × 7/8″, 115 V, U-140 5 A / U-190 6 A, 15 A max fuse, 6 ft NEMA 5-15P, R-404A, 20–80 psi, NSF/ANSI 12. Footer 6501D 6/22 (retrieved 2026-10-22).
  10. Scotsman, HID525 product page — 500 / 380 lb air-cooled, 25 lb storage, 21.25″ × 24.38″ × 35″, 115/60/1, 15 A max fuse, 7.5 ft NEMA 5-15P, R290, 4.18 kWh and 12.0 gal per 100 lb, 6,800 BTU/h (retrieved 2026-10-22).
  11. WebstaurantStore, C-80BAK — $4,610.00/Each and Contact us for details; 92 lb and 27 lb; coverage starting at $164.55 (retrieved 2026-10-22). KaTom, C-80BAK listing — $4,610.00/Each and Contact us for details; cubelet size assignment; conflicting 80 lb at 70/50 and 1,850 BTU beside a 92 lb details line (retrieved 2026-10-22).
  12. WebstaurantStore, UYF-0140A — $2,780.00/Each; replacement banner names UYP0140A-161B at 150 lb without a replacement price in that block (retrieved 2026-10-22).

If two sheets disagree, we say so and prefer the latest OEM page or PDF. On the C-80, that is Hoshizaki’s 92 lb and 1,400 BTU/h, not KaTom’s 80 lb paragraph or 1,850 BTU. On the UYF, that is the NEO sheet’s 137 / 100, not the replacement banner’s 150.