Cowsar Countertop Nugget Ice Maker

What Cowsar publishes

136 watts, the lowest published draw here

Cowsar's specification block prints Wattage: 136 watts. On this site's standard scenario of four running hours a day at 18 cents per kWh, that is about $2.94 a month — the lowest figure for any nugget machine here.

The comparisons are worth laying out, because this is the number most buyers never get at this price. The Gevi V2.0's manual prints 170 W, about $3.67. The Frigidaire Gallery EFIC255's manual prints 185 W, about $4.00. GE publishes no wattage at all for any Opal, only a current rating, so every Opal figure on this site is a ceiling rather than a bill.

Two caveats belong with the number. First, the source: 136 W sits in a product-page specification block, not in an owner's manual, so it carries the weaker tier and there is no manual to check it against. Second, efficiency is not the same as cheapness: at 34 lbs a day and 136 W the machine works out at about 4.0 watts per daily pound, which is close to the Frigidaire's 4.2 and not the step change the headline figure suggests. The arithmetic behind all of this is on the running-cost page.

The smallest nugget body on this site

The specification block gives 11.3"D x 8.66"W x 12.68"H, and the description adds a net weight of 20.68 lbs. Set against the rest of the nugget field, that is genuinely small.

Height is the measurement that rules machines out, because a standard counter-to-cabinet gap is about 18 inches and most nugget machines are 16.5 to 17 inches tall before you add the lid clearance to fill them. At 12.68 inches this one has room to spare. The full fitting argument is on nugget ice makers for small kitchens, and it is also why this is a sensible machine for a dorm room.

One important gap: Cowsar publishes no installation clearance. Every manual on this site that states one asks for between 3 and 6 inches, so budget for that air gap even though this maker never mentions it.

The number the brand cannot agree with itself about

Cowsar's product page says Capacity: 34 Pounds and first ice in 7 minutes. A catalog search on 22 September 2026 returned eight Cowsar nugget listings on sale at the same time. They claim 33 lbs a day, 35 lbs a day and 44 lbs a day, and first ice in 6 or 7 minutes, on machines whose photographs and descriptions are largely interchangeable. The listing this page links claims 35 lbs and 7 minutes.

There is a second reason to treat these figures loosely: this body is not only sold as a Cowsar. The VEVOR HZB-15N/S and the AGLUCKY 15NB publish dimensions within a tenth of an inch of these, with the same reservoir, weight and cleaning claims - and wattages of 160 W and 310 W against the 136 W here.

It is worth being fair about scale here. A household drinking three iced drinks a person per day needs a few pounds, not thirty-four, so the difference between 33 and 35 lbs is irrelevant in practice. What the contradiction actually tells you is how much weight to put on any unverifiable number from this brand — including, unfortunately, the 136 W.

What is not published at all

• No voltage or current. Unusual alongside a wattage, and it means there is no nameplate to size a circuit or an inverter from. The reasoning about both figures is on electrical requirements.
• No ice basket capacity. The number that decides how many glasses you get in a row, and the one most makers at this price omit.
• No operating temperature range, despite a display that shows the ambient temperature and description copy telling you to keep the environment suitable. Four machines here publish a range; this is not one of them, which is what keeps it off the garage page.
• No warranty term and no clearance figure. Both are standard omissions at this end of the market and both are worth knowing before you buy.

The cleaning cycle, and what it is not

Cowsar describes a self-cleaning cycle started by holding the Ice/Clean button for five seconds and running for about 15 minutes, with a reservoir of roughly 1.1 liters. That is a shorter cycle than Silonn's documented 30 minutes and much shorter than GE's 55-minute descale.

Length is not the point, though. A cycle run on plain water circulates water through the pump and lines, which is worth having, and does not dissolve mineral scale or remove biofilm. Those are two different jobs needing an acid and a detergent respectively, set out on descaling and how to clean a nugget ice maker. A 1.1 liter reservoir also means the standing water in this machine turns over faster than in a big-tank machine, which helps taste if you use it daily and does nothing if you do not.

Against the documented alternatives

Three machines sit near this one in price, and they line up neatly by how much each maker is willing to put in writing.

If the decision is between the two cheapest, the honest framing is that Cowsar publishes a handful of checkable figures and Kismile publishes none. If you can stretch, the Gevi V2.0 is the machine at this end of the market with a real manual behind it.

Who should buy this

• Buy it if height is your constraint. At 12.68 inches it is the one nugget machine that fits under a low shelf or a wall cabinet without a fight.
• Buy it if you want the lowest published running cost in the nugget field, and you accept that the figure comes from a product page.
• Buy it if the machine has to move — 20.68 lbs is the lightest claimed weight of any nugget machine here, which matters for a dorm, a camper or a cupboard-to-counter routine.
• Skip it if the daily rating is what you are buying. The brand claims three different numbers across interchangeable listings and names no model.
• Skip it if you need a bin capacity, a clearance figure or an operating range. None of the three is published.
• Skip it if you want figures from a manual rather than a product page. The budget field ranked on what each maker publishes is on the budget nugget roundup.