Q. What is the usual temperature of the ice?
A. The temperature of the ice varies from one facility to the next depending upon several factors: the temperature of the building, the insulation of the building, the outside temperature, how many people are in the building, who might be using the ice, etc. The ideal temperature of the interface between the ice surface and the air is 26°F. At that temperature, friction between skate blades and the ice surface is the least. However, after a resurface the ice might take longer to freeze and reach that temperature so the arena manager may set the refrigeration equipment to produce a lower ice temperature. Most arenas will have the ice temperature around 16° - 24°F for hockey with the ice temperature a little higher if being used only for figure skaters.