IR News
Hoshizaki to Make Major Upgrade to Cube Ice Maker Models
Transitioning from HFCs to Natural Refrigerants1
HOSHIZAKI CORPORATION (Head office: Toyoake City, Aichi; President & CEO: Yasuhiro Kobayashi; hereafter “Hoshizaki”) will make major upgrades to its cube ice maker models with daily ice making capacities ranging from 20 kg to 115 kg. The upgrades will involve switching from HFCs to natural refrigerants1 for all 22 models in the range (one countertop model, nine undercounter models, five self-contained models, three sliding-door models, and four modular models). Hoshizaki will start shipping the new models successively from early April 2025 and will sell them through its 15 sales companies nationwide.
Cube Ice Maker
Left: Undercounter IM-25P Right: Self-contained IM-95P
■Promoting the Transition to Natural Refrigerants in Ice Makers as Well as Commercial Refrigerators
As Hoshizaki shifts from HFC-based to HFC-free models, it is actively adopting natural refrigerants, which are substances that exist naturally in the environment, rather than being produced by humans. The company was among the first both in Japan and internationally to develop commercial refrigerators using natural refrigerants. By the end of 2024, it had completed the conversion to natural refrigerants for all standard commercial refrigerators2 for the Japanese market. It has already added some new models to its range of ice makers, but with these upgrades, the upgraded cube ice makers will all have natural refrigerants.
Switching to natural refrigerants substantially lowers3 the impact on global warming compared to previous models that use HFCs. As a manufacturer of products that use refrigerant gases, the company will make a major contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions throughout a product’s entire life cycle by mitigating the impact that the CFCs/HCFCs/HFCs used in its products have on the environment.
■ Improved Hygiene, Design, and Operability
- ●Product ranges
- ・Equipped with “cold-retention control” that maintains the ice-making environment even more hygienically (excluding countertop model)
The upgraded models have been equipped with “cold-retention control,” which had previously been introduced with the 180 kg and 230 kg cube ice makers. If the ambient temperature outside the ice maker is higher than a certain level when the storage bin fills up, it controls the ice making chamber at a low temperature even when ice is not being made. Due to the heavy nature of cold air, cold air reaches into the storage bin, further inhibiting the rise in temperature to levels that are conducive to bacteria growth. - ・New external design (excluding countertop and modular models)
In addition to a redesign of the front air intake/exhaust louver, the handle color has been changed from black to gray to blend in with stainless-steel-based kitchen environments.
Air intake/exhaust louver: Left: Previous model; Right: New model
- ・Consideration of day-to-day care: check lamp, filter lamp, easy detaching and re-attaching of filter4
Whereas the previous models displayed only error codes using a seven-segment5 display, “check” and “filter” lamps have been added. Because the filter requires regular cleaning, the structure has been changed to allow the filter to be detached and re-attached from the front, eliminating the need to remove the front cover. - ・Connectivity to Hoshizaki Connect Wi-Fi for conversion to IoT
The upgraded models are compatible with Hoshizaki Connect Wi-Fi, a service launched in January 2024 that involves attaching a Wi-Fi module to equipment for the management of operating and temperature data by cloud servers.
■Product Launch Lineup
(Power is single-phase for all models except four 115 kg models, which are three-phase)
| Type | Models | Daily ice making capacity | Dimensions (W x D x H in mm) |
Type features |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Countertop | 1 model | 20kg | 450 × 450 × 630 | Hoshizaki’s smallest ice maker, suitable for offices, schools, and other locations with limited space for installation. |
| Undercounter | 9 models | 25–95kg | 395–1000 × 450–600 × 770–800 | The top can also be used as a worktable. Hoshizaki’s most shipped type of ice maker. |
| Self-contained | 5 models | 75–115kg | 700 × 525 × 1200 | Due to its vertical design, ice can be easily retrieved without having to bend down. |
| Sliding door | 3 models | 35–55kg | 500–630 × 450–525 × 800 | Fitted with a sliding door to save space when opening and closing the ice making chamber. |
| Modular | 4 models | 90–115kg | 930 × 545 × 10406 | Highly expandable type, featuring a combination of an ice making unit and storage bin, enabling ice storage capacity to be increased even after installation. |
■Price (Representative models only)
| Type | Model | Daily ice making capacity | Dimensions (W x D x H in mm) |
Standard price (excl. tax) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Countertop | IM-20CP | 20kg | 450 × 450 × 630 | 465,000 JPY |
| Undercounter | IM-25P | 25kg | 395 × 450 × 770 | 491,000 JPY |
| Self-contained | IM-95P | 95kg | 700 × 525 × 1200 | 1,227,000 JPY |
| Modular | IM-90DP-ST | 90kg | 930 × 545 × 10406 | 1,337,000 JPY |
1. Natural refrigerants refer to substances that exist naturally in the environment and are used as refrigerants for freezing and air conditioning. These eco-friendly refrigerants have an ozone depletion potential (ODP) of zero and a very low global warming potential (GWP). The GWP is a value indicating the potential of a greenhouse gas to warm the earth when the value for carbon dioxide (CO2) is set at 1. Hoshizaki uses isobutane (R-600a) and propane (R-290); according to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) OzonAction Kigali Fact Sheet 3 (released in 2017), the GWP for these substances is 3, while the World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO) Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion: 2022 (released in October 2022) puts it at <<1 (significantly less than 1).
2. Excludes some derivative models and special-order models.
3. Previous models of the products announced in this press release used R-134a or R-404A as their refrigerant gas. According to the UNEP OzonAction Kigali Fact Sheet 3, their GWP values are 1430 (R-134a) and 3922 (R-404A).
4. The filter lamp and front filter features are not available on water-cooled models (equipped with a water-based refrigeration unit) as they do not have a filter. The countertop model does not have seven-segment or light display. The previous versions of the countertop and stackable modular models already had filters accessible from the front.
5. The kind of display format used in calculators, etc., in which seven bar-like segments are used to display numbers and letters.
6. Height includes legs.
Reference
■Cube Ice
A cube ice maker is an ice machine that makes clear ice cubes of about 3 cm for use in beverages such as juice and soft drinks, iced coffee, water, and spirits mixed with water. The ice is formed by water being sprayed from below into an ice making chamber that has been refrigerated to -25°C. Keeping the water flowing while freezing it gradually removes impurities, resulting in clear, slow-melting ice. Cube ice makers account for approximately 70% of Hoshizaki’s standard lineup of ice makers in the Japanese market.
Cube Ice Making System
■ Hoshizaki’s Advanced Technology and Service System
https://www.hoshizaki.co.jp/p/f-refrigerator/nr/#service (Japanese only)
■ The Refrigerant Gas Transition Away from HFCs
HFCs do not deplete the ozone layer, but as greenhouse gases, they have an extremely high global warming potential (GWP) ranging from several tens of times to more than ten thousand times that of carbon dioxide (CO2), according to the Ministry of the Environment’s portal site on the Fluorocarbon Emissions Control Act. Therefore, international society at large has shown a growing interest in the shift from HFCs to HFC-free alternatives. In October 2016, the 28th Meeting of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol held in Kigali, Rwanda, amended the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (which entered into force in January 1989) to make mandatory systemized cuts to the production and consumption of HFCs (the Kigali Amendment). Today, 163 countries (including EU) have ratified, accepted, or approved the Kigali Amendment (according to the United Nations website as of November 12, 2024).
Japan accepted the Kigali Amendment in December 2018. In 2019, Japan added HFCs as specified substances under the Act on the Protection of the Ozone Layer Through the Control of Specified Substances, etc. and Other Measures and revised its Fluorocarbon Emissions Control Act. Furthermore, to achieve the target for reduction of HFC emissions (a 55% reduction by fiscal 2030 compared with fiscal 2013) set in the Plan for Global Warming Countermeasures (the government’s comprehensive plan based on the Act on Promotion of Global Warming Countermeasures), Japan is promoting implementation of measures throughout the CFCs/HCFCs/HFCs lifecycle, including mitigating the impact that CFCs/HCFCs/HFCs used in products have on the environment.