Northair HZB-12/SA Portable Countertop Ice Maker (Review)

Northair HZB-12/SA produces up to 26 lbs of ice in 24 hours – significantly less than other Northair ice makers we have written about before (Northair HZB-22/S makes up to 48 lbs in same time period whereas HZB-22BF 40 lbs) but just because it outputs less ice doesn’t mean it’s necessarily worse than them.

Ice production

Northair HZB-12/SA makes a batch of 9 bullet shaped ice cubes with hollow inside every 6-10 minutes. It can produce ice cubes in 2 different sizes however even the larger ice cubes are rather small. Despite them being small due to hollow inside they have large contact area and does a lot better job of cooling drinks that regular cubed shaped ice cubes.

Ice basket isn’t refrigerated so once ice cubes are made they will slowly melt there. Ice cubes also come out a bit wet so if you put them in a freezer they will freeze together.

Features

Northair HZB-12/SA has sensors that detect when ice basket is full or water reservoir empty – in such cases it will pause ice production and warn you through indicator lights. The water reservoir capacity if 2.2 liters which is about 74 oz.

Control panel

Control panel features 2 buttons (“On/Off” button and “ice cube size select” button) and 5 indicator lights – Two of them are warning indicators – one for full ice basket and other for empty water reservoir, two of them are for showing which ice cube size setting you have chosen, either small or large and the last indicator basically indicates that unit is turned on.

Conclusions

Northair HZB-12/SA is a decent ice maker for the price but it’s very similar to other “26 lbs/24h” ice makers so it doesn’t really stand out among competition. If you are looking for a good ice maker machine you might want to read our Best Portable/Countertop Ice Makers article.