Why are undercounter Icemakers so expensive?

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that wont break.

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Good luck with that. I think they are so expensive because the manufacturers have to budget for the excess amount of warranty repairs. Maybe they are better now than they used to be.

Its supply and demand. Very small demographic has a need for them. They're typically small commercial units redesigned for residential use.

Agreed, but after having one, I don’t ever want to be without one. They’re great.

I don't know of any ice makers that refrigerate the ice - the cubes melt away through a floor drain.

For that reason a good floor drain connection under the ice maker is critical - lots of people seem to get clogs under their ice machines.

Our drain for the ice maker drain had so many issues that we replaced the ice maker with an under-counter bar fridge and were glad we did.

We moved into a house in the early 90s, and one of the first things my parents did was install an under counter ice machine and a trash compactor. I hated that trash compactor. Certain bags you had to use, and it was my responsibility to take the trash out and put the bags back in it. The ice maker had issues and I think they replaced it twice, and we only lived in that house for 10 years or so.

My dad has a townhouse now, and when he moved in it had a similar model. Under counter machine at a built in bar. Multiple repairs and one replacement later, it got so bad that he finally just disconnected it. He said he will eventually replace it with an under counter fridge but the problem is the ones that will fit in the space of an ice maker aren't that large.

I would avoid getting one. My fridge has a drawer freezer at the bottom with a large enough tray for ice that we rarely run out. If we need more for a dinner or party I just go buy a couple of 20 lb bags and toss them in my chest freezer in the basement until we need them.