Optimal Ice Temperature
Optimal ice temperature
Ice and brine temperature is the setting with the biggest effect on what your rink spends, and the one most rinks are afraid to touch. With REALice, moving it in the right direction costs you nothing in ice quality.
Why REALice ice needs to run warmer
REALice removes the micro air bubbles from the floodwater, so the water freezes readily and the ice holds up better. Left at a hot-water set point, that same water freezes too fast: you get heavy snow and brittle, scarring ice.
The fix isn't to change the water back. It's to raise the brine temperature by 3-5°F (about 2-3°C) and let the ice do what it's capable of.
If the ice gets worse after switching, raise the set point. Cold water at a hot-water brine temperature freezes too fast, which is what makes the snow and the brittle surface.
How far to go
Most rinks start at 16°F (-8.9°C). With REALice you can move to 18-19°F (-7.8 to -7.2°C) straight away, then keep going in small steps toward 23°F (-5°C), and some rinks reach 25°F (-3.9°C).
Industry guidance already points this way: O.R.F.A. notes that blade-to-ice glide is best at 28°F, while listing typical hockey ice at 22-24°F.
Go up 1-1.5°F at a time and wait a couple of days between steps. The ice needs time to stabilise before it tells you anything useful. When the quality finally drops off, come back down one step: that's your rink's sweet spot, and it's the baseline for next season.
Three ways to tell the ice is still too cold
Each of these is a reason to go up a step, not down. The snowball test, step by step →
Before you change anything
- Change one thing at a time. Set point, thickness, water volume and humidity all affect the ice; move two at once and you won't know which did what.
- Check your ice isn't too thick first. Thick ice feels soft at any temperature. Optimal ice thickness →
- Know how your brine temperature is actually measured and controlled. Some plants only move in whole degrees, in which case the return differential is the lever you have.
More from the Ice Academy: optimal ice thickness · optimal humidity levels · why REALice ice needs to run warmer
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