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>Many of us do activities and demos with dry ice.  My question is:  How
>many of you have a dry ice machine on site?  If so, where did you get
>it?  Is it worth it or do you find it easier/cheaper to go to the
>grocery store as needed?

Since we have used it so infrequently, we have gotten it from a company in Chicago that manufactures dry ice.  They also deliver to us.  The ice is a block of about 8 slices that weighs 50 pounds, total.  I'm sure in the 15 years that I have been here,
we probably could have paid for the dry ice machine using the cost of getting the ice from somewhere else, but given the infrequent need, it's just easier to pay on an as-needed basis.  We may use it once a year, and sometimes not even that much.  You
can get lots and lots of dry ice comets out of one 50 pound block.

When I used to buy ice to use in programs, I liked the option of getting the sliced block of ice.  Since there is less ice surface area exposed than if it was a dry ice snow or pellets, it lasts longer.  If we just let the block sit in a cooler, it would
last at least 2 days, and sometimes we've gotten 3-4 days out of it, depending on how far in advance we've needed to get the ice here for an event & how well we've insulated it with towels.  Of course, we don't lock the cooler, and we don't store it in
an airtight room.  Gotta always remember dry ice safety!  

The company is extremely easy to work with.  They take credit cards and we can just call the day before we need the delivery.  I'd say all of that together is worth the cost of not getting the machine.

Hope this helps.

Michelle

Michelle Nichols, Master Educator - NASA Forum Programs
The Adler Planetarium
1300 S. Lake Shore Dr.
Chicago, IL  60605
312-322-0520 
312-322-2257 (fax)
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http://www.adlerplanetarium.org





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http://www.adlerplanetarium.org


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