Undercounter Ice Maker Size Finder

How to use the ice maker size finder

1. Measure the opening: the width between the cabinets, the height from the floor to the underside of the countertop, and, if you can, the depth to the wall.
2. Say where the water can drain: a floor drain or standpipe under the machine, or only a drain higher up, such as the sink’s — then, if you know them, how far the water must climb and how long the hose runs.
3. You get which 15″ ice makers read go in by their makers’ own sheets, the height they all take, and whether each one drains as sold, needs its maker’s pump kit, or is too far for its pump.

The rule behind the numbers

A built-in ice maker breathes through its front — KitchenAid: “The ice maker may be closed in on the top and three sides” — so it slides into an opening the width of a 15″ cabinet. Each maker prints the opening: KitchenAid’s and Whirlpool’s shared guide asks 15″ wide, 34–34½″ high and 24″ deep (15¾″ wide with the hinge-side spacer, which keeps the door clear of the cabinet beside it); GE Profile’s sheets draw 15″, 34–35″ and 24″; Sub-Zero’s 15″, 34½″ and 24″.

The drain decides the rest. Ice makers melt and rinse into a drain all the time — Sub-Zero: “A drain must be provided for all models.” A gravity model needs one below it: KitchenAid asks a 1½–2″ standpipe right under the drain tube, a 1″ air gap and a fall of ¼″ per foot of run. With only the sink’s drain higher up, a pump lifts the water: KitchenAid’s goes 10 ft up and 100 ft along, less 10 ft of run for each foot it climbs.

Each ice maker’s opening

“+” means at least. Each row is the maker’s own document: KitchenAid’s and Whirlpool’s Ice Maker Use & Care Guide W11686966A and their Detailed Planning Dimensions, GE’s Dimensions and Installation Information for each model, Sub-Zero’s Quick Reference sheets. Scotsman’s CU50 sheet prints the machine (14⅞″ × 22″ × 34⅜″) but no opening, so it is not a row; its pump model comes with a 10′ drain tube.

Five worked examples

A 15″ opening 34½″ high, the standard counter. It takes all seven ice makers read.

The same opening ¼″ taller, 34¾″ — an old floor taken up, or a counter raised. GE Profile and Sub-Zero still go in; KitchenAid and Whirlpool are ¼″ over their 34½″ top.

A 34¼″ opening, over a new floor. KitchenAid, Whirlpool and GE Profile go in; Sub-Zero’s sheet asks ¼″ more.

A bar with only the sink’s drain, higher up. Two drain as sold — KitchenAid’s KUIX535H and Sub-Zero’s DEU1550IP, pumps built in; the gravity models need their maker’s pump kit.

The sink’s drain 4 ft up and 70 ft of hose away. KitchenAid’s pump reaches 60 ft of run at a 4 ft climb — 10 ft less for each foot — so it is too far; move the drain or shorten the run.

Common mistakes

• Measuring to the top of the countertop. The height is from the floor to the underside of the countertop. A new floor or a thicker tile takes height away.
• Forgetting the drain. Every ice maker drains. A gravity model with no floor drain or standpipe below it needs a pump — KitchenAid’s and Whirlpool’s kit 1901A, GE’s UPK3.
• A closed drain line. KitchenAid: “Do not connect the outlet end of the drain tube to a closed pipe system” — keep the 1″ air gap, or drain water backs up into the bin.
• A door against a wall. KitchenAid and Whirlpool ask 2″ from the hinge side to a wall for the door to open 90°, 6⅞″ for 118°, 13¼″ for 180°.
• Blocking the grille. KitchenAid: “To ensure proper ventilation … the front side must be completely unobstructed.”

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