The usual ice refrigerator is an insulated cabinet equipped with a tray or tank at the top used for holding blocks of ice. Shelves for food are located below the ice compartment.
Cold air flows downward from the ice compartment and cools the food on the shelves below.
Temperatures range from 40 degrees to 50 degrees fahrenheit. The warm air rises from the bottom compartment of cabinet up the sides of the back of the cabinet, flows over the ice, cools again and flows back down the opposing side of the cabinet cooling off the contents of the shelves. The advantage the ice refrigerator has over more modern systems, is that food does not dry out easily. The ice refrigerator maintains a high level of humidity. Until the development of the modern refrigerator, natural ice refrigeration was widely used.