Guthrie about to get iced over

Guthrie residents will now have a new option when it comes to their ice. Yes, ice.

Electrician’s were on hand Friday morning putting the final touches together on the new Ice House America located in a parking lot in the 12oo block of South Division. The machine could be set up ready to go as early as Friday, or early next week.

The company, operated by a Florida man, has sold 2,221 units that operate in nine states.

The machine, about the size of an extended-cab van, offers an alternative to the indoor coolers that mean a trip inside a grocery or convenience stores and heftier price tag for less ice.

See how it works.

Ice House units sell 16-pound bags of ice, or 20 pounds unbagged, for $2.00. The bagged price is about 50 percent of the typical supermarket price.

The unit is open 24 hours a day.

The units are topped with an electric ice maker that dumps 35 pounds of ice into a bin at the rear of the unit every eight minutes. An auger then moves the ice toward a scale toward the middle of the unit which weighs the ice before sliding it into a bag that slides down a chute leading outside to the customer.

Unbagged ice in 20-pound quantities goes to another chute that’s released when the customer pulls a handle.

Ice House units are 24 feet long, 8 feet wide and 9 feet high. Unit owners typically rent space from shopping centers or owners of land near locations where people would need ice and connect the units to water and electricity.

The Florida Times-Union contributed to this article.